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Posts by Benjamin Wittes

Benjamin Wittes is a Senior Fellow in Governance Studies at the Brookings Institution, where he co-directs the Harvard Law School-Brookings Project on Law and Security. He is the author of several books and a member of the Hoover Institution's Task Force on National Security and Law. Full bio »

No SCOTUS Action on GTMO Cases

By Benjamin Wittes
Monday, May 21, 2012 at 10:10 AM

The Supreme Court orders list just came down, and there appears to have been no cert action on any of the Guantanamo cases on which cert decisions were expected.… Read more »

Reader Response on the Question of Lawfare Swag

By Benjamin Wittes
Saturday, May 19, 2012 at 4:11 PM

My personal favorite response to our reader survey came from a “government lawyer” in response to our question of whether we should make Lawfare-branded merchandise available. “You are right to be sensitive,” wrote this person. “It is in bad … Read more »

Hedges Brief and Transcript

By Benjamin Wittes
Friday, May 18, 2012 at 9:44 AM

I haven’t read these yet, but here is the government’s supplemental brief in Hedges, and the transcript of the  hearing in the district court. I’ll have comments on them, if appropriate, once I’ve had a chance to read.… Read more »

Empty Wheel on Domestic Drones

By Benjamin Wittes
Thursday, May 17, 2012 at 6:18 PM

Over at the Empty Wheel blog, The Estimable Ms. Wheel critiques my critique of Friedersdorf and Krauthammer on domestic drones from earlier today—and she has a point which warrants a somewhat-mortified clarification from me.

In my post—responding to the … Read more »

The Government’s Litigating Position in Hedges

By Benjamin Wittes
Thursday, May 17, 2012 at 4:13 PM

In my post this morning on Hedges, I wondered whether government counsel had made the court aware of the Obama administration’s strong position against military detention for citizens and for anyone captured domestically. The answer appears to be that it … Read more »

Charles Krauthammer and Conor Friedersdorf Reveal How Little they Know About Domestic Drones

By Benjamin Wittes
Thursday, May 17, 2012 at 12:33 PM

As Raffaela noted earlier, Atlantic blogger Conor Friedersdorf has written in praise (sort of) of conservative columnist Charles Krauthammer for the latter’s opposition to domestic drones. I would consider this a heartwarming example of a cross-ideological meeting of the … Read more »

A Few Thoughts on Hedges

By Benjamin Wittes
Thursday, May 17, 2012 at 8:14 AM

I am as perplexed by yesterday’s Hedges decision as either Steve and Bobby—and largely agree with both of their posts on the subject. As they have both beaten me to the punch, I will not reiterate their several points … Read more »

The Lawfare Readership Survey

By Benjamin Wittes
Wednesday, May 16, 2012 at 11:20 AM

For those who may have missed this, I’m moving it back to the top of the blog. The more responses we get, the more useful it will be.

We’d love to get feedback on the site. We’d also like to … Read more »

Some Thoughts on the New NDAA and the Smith-Amash Amendment

By Benjamin Wittes
Wednesday, May 16, 2012 at 10:31 AM

I have largely refrained from commenting on the machinations over this year’s NDAA—in part because I’m still a little worn out from last year’s NDAA, and in part because the issue seems to me a bit of tempest in a … Read more »

Lawfare Podcast Episode #11: Jennifer Daskal on the Geography of the Battlefield

By Benjamin Wittes
Tuesday, May 15, 2012 at 4:02 PM

Ken already wrote up Jen Daskal’s new article, “The Geography of the Battlefield: A Framework for Detention and Targeting Outside of the ‘Hot’ Conflict Zone,” so I won’t summarize it again here. It’s a particularly thoughtful piece and … Read more »

Readings: Haridimos Thravalos on Conspiracy and Military Commisions: The Extended Dance Version

By Benjamin Wittes
Monday, May 14, 2012 at 4:00 PM

Back in March, I posted a guest post by Haridimos Thravalos on the history of conspiracy prosecutions in military commissions. Thravalos’s post prompted responses from Steve and from Kevin Jon Heller; it showed up immediately in government briefs in Read more »

Peter Margulies on Targeting and the Geography of War

By Benjamin Wittes
Friday, May 11, 2012 at 7:18 AM

Peter Margulies of Roger Williams University School of Law writes in with the following summary of a recent Naval War College and Roger Williams workshop:

John Brennan’s recent speech on targeting away from the battlefield has spawned controversy among distinguished

Read more »

Nashiri v. MacDonald Dismissed

By Benjamin Wittes
Friday, May 11, 2012 at 7:11 AM

The case of Nashiri v. MacDonald has been dismissed. You may recall that Abd Al-Rahim Hussein Muhammed Al-Nashiri brought a suit against the military commissions Convening Authority, Bruce MacDonald in U.S. District Court in Washington state, claiming that … Read more »

Comments on the New Seton Hall Report

By Benjamin Wittes
Thursday, May 10, 2012 at 12:10 PM

I have now read the new Seton Hall report to which I linked earlier and I have to say: I am perplexed.

The report’s thesis, in a nutshell, seems to boil down to two propositions: that the D.C. Circuit’s Al AdahiRead more »

Breaking News: DOD Issues Implementing Guidelines for Guantanamo Periodic Review

By Benjamin Wittes
Thursday, May 10, 2012 at 10:00 AM

Here they are.… Read more »