I agree with Bobby’s analysis of this morning’s Washington Post profile by Karen DeYoung of John Brennan, and would add these thoughts:
Eliminating CIA’s Drone Capacities. Count me as skeptical that we will see drone targeting capacities moved out of … Read more »
Splayed across the front page of the Washington Post this morning is the headline “U.S. Set to Keep Kill Lists for Years: ‘Disposition Matrix’ Secretly Crafted: Blueprint Would Guide Hunt for Terrorists.” The piece, by Greg Miller, is part … Read more »
A few months ago, Jack posed an interesting question: Whatever happened to the Periodic Review Board (PRB) system for Guantanamo detainees that the president created in his executive order?
In March 2011, the Obama administration issued an Executive Order
Earlier today I argued that a Romney administration would not pursue significantly different counterterrorism policies than a second Obama administration. Below I note three caveats to this claim, and I describe what I think is most at stake in the … Read more »
Further to Bobby’s and my posts on news reports of US government discussions around ways to address groups such as AQIM taking root in Africa – including discussion of US military and intelligence advisers, among other policy alternatives – Ashley … Read more »
Bobby posted a day ago about an important Wall Street Journal news story talking about the US government considering options for pursuing an increasing active and dangerous branch-franchise-affiliate of Al Qaeda, Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM). They include … Read more »
This article in the Wall Street Journal, by Julian Barnes and Siobhan Gorman, draws attention to US government plans to ramp up counterterrorism efforts in Libya, including in particular efforts targeting al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (“AQIM”), in the … Read more »
Per Ben‘s and Bobby‘s responses to my post from earlier this week, I think one point needs to be made crystal clear: If Ben and Bobby are correct, then the phrase “substantial support” in the March 13 brief… Read more »
I’d like to expand on Ben’s post below in relation to Hedges and the First Amendment, focusing on the “material support”/”substantial support” issue. (I’m having to write quickly, so please excuse any typos in what follows.)
Specifically, I’d like to … Read more »
Based on the voluminous media and blog coverage of last week’s decision in Hedges v. Obama, in which Judge Forrest permanently enjoined at least part of the detention provision of the FY2012 NDAA [section 1021(b)(2)], one of two things … Read more »
David Remes—who, in addition to representing several Guantanamo detainees, is a member of the plaintiffs’ legal team in Hedges v. Obama—sent in this note yesterday:
The debate on this blog about Judge Forrest’s decision has focused almost entirely on
Raha Wala of Human Rights First writes in with the following response to my comments on Hedges. My thoughts follow his critique and very-cautious defense of Judge Forrest:
Ben’s post on Judge Forrest’s opinion in Hedges I think provided
I don’t have a lot to add to Ben’s analysis of Judge Forrest’s decision yesterday in Hedges v. Obama, permanently enjoining section 1021(b)(2) of the FY2012 NDAA (Just to refresh our memories, that section authorizes the detention of “A … Read more »
I have now read through Judge Forrest’s opinion in Hedges—all 112 pages of it. I have done so only briskly, and I have surely missed things in my haste. But here are some initial thoughts.
The opinion is shockingly … Read more »
I haven’t read it yet, but here it is.
I’m happy to report that I’ve recently completed drafting an article that has been much on my mind for the past few years. Beyond the Battlefield, Beyond al Qaeda: The Destabilizing Legal Architecture of Counterterrorism (Michigan Law Review, forthcoming 2013) … Read more »
Over at the political science blog The Monkey Cage, UNC-Charlotte professor James Igoe Walsh shares some polling research on American views about the use of force. He conducted an online experimental survey to test the impact of using drone … Read more »
From Courthouse New Service:
Invoking the mass detention of Japanese-Americans during World War II, a federal judge on Tuesday appeared ready to uphold her injunction against the law that lets the U.S. military detain indefinitely anyone it suspects of
I am on vacation, and blogging only minimally, so I missed this week’s hearing before Judge Katherine Forrest on the plaintiff’s request for a permanent injunction in Hedges. Seeing as how the argument took place in New York, I … Read more »
By now you’ve pored over last week’s complaint in Al-Aulaqi et al v. Panetta et al. I’ve only got one cent to add to the already quite robust discussion of the lawsuit, and it has to do with the last … Read more »
Craig Whitlock has a very interesting piece in the Washington Post today, the main thrust of which is to describe the military’s efforts to establish aerial surveillance capacity across wide swaths of Africa, in support of both counterterrorism and foreign … Read more »
A few final thoughts on the topic of DC Circuit fidelity to Hamdi and Boumediene, for the three people still paying attention to us (hi Mom!). Steve’s reply to my intervention helps me better understand his position, and I’m … Read more »
At the risk of boring readers who have long-since grown tired of this exchange, let me just offer three quick responses to Bobby’s thoughtful intervention in the back-and-forth between Ben and me on whether the D.C. Circuit really did actively … Read more »
Steve and Ben are having an interesting exchange about an important question: whether the DC Circuit’s caselaw in GTMO habeas proceedings has produced a set of substantive and procedural rules at variance with the positions established by the Supreme Court … Read more »
Ben asks: “What are the specific ‘requirements’ the Supreme Court laid out in Boumediene or Hamdi that the D.C. Circuit has refused to honor such that habeas review is not ‘meaningful’ within the meaning of Boumediene?”
I’ve answered … Read more »
That’s the outcome of orders from the Supreme Court today, an across-the-board denial of review in seven Guantanamo habeas cases: Latif, Al-Bihani, Uthman, Almerfedi, Al-Kandari, Al-Madhwani, and Al-Alwi. For good measure, the Court also voted not to take up … Read more »
In all the last two days’ coverage of the Obama administration’s targeting program — including this lengthy NYT piece, Dan Klaidman’s book excerpt, and today’s NYT editorial — there’s a remarkable lack of discussion of Congress. (As far … Read more »
By now you’ve gotten the lowdown – from Steve, Bobby, Ben or from some or all of them – about yesterday’s puzzling decision in Hedges v. Obama. I won’t reiterate their points, other than to say that … Read more »
A few reflections on Hedges v. Obama, enjoining at least some aspects of section 1021 of the NDAA:
A Self-Inflicted Wound? Let me begin by saying that I agree with Steve: it does seem from the opinion that … Read more »
I’ve now had more of a chance to read through Judge Forrest’s decision Wednesday in Hedges v. Obama, which (seems to) enter a preliminary injunction against some or all of section 1021 of the FY2012 National Defense Authorization Act. … Read more »
Ben is a far better wordsmith than I–”a little cowardly” communicates a lot more in a lot less than my post from Tuesday afternoon about why the House Armed Services Committee’s version of the FY2013 National Defense Authorization Act does … Read more »
The debate over the Smith-Amash amendment to the NDAA continues. Yesterday, we posted a letter written by former administration attorneys general criticizing that amendment, among others. Today, it’s twenty-seven retired admirals and generals writing in support of the Smith-Amash Amendment … Read more »
Over at DefCon Hill, Jeremy Herb shares a letter written by former Attorneys General Edwin Meese III and Michael Mukasey and former Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff to House Armed Services Committee Buck McKeon criticizing the various amendments that … Read more »
I have thus far stayed fairly mum on the FY2013 National Defense Authorization Act, if for no other reason than the 150 exams (now 80) that I have to grade. That said, there’s an alarming meme emerging from the House … Read more »
As Bobby noted previously, Rep. Adam Smith and others are proposing amendments to this year’s NDAA that would make certain changes to the detention-related provisions implemented by last year’s NDAA. Among other things, the Smith Amendment would effectively prohibit the … Read more »
A quick note updating readers on the progress of the draft NDAA FY’13: Chairman McKeon’s bill passed HASC last night in the wee hours. Next stop: the floor, where we are likely to see, among other things, debate over an … Read more »
HASC Chairman Buck McKeon today released a draft NDAA for FY ’13, which will head to the full committee for markup on the 9th. The text of the bill as it currently stands is posted here, McKeon’s announcement and … Read more »
Yesterday I posted a lengthy response to Gabor Rona’s critique of the Brennan speech, and Gabor has now replied to my comments. Alas, we seem to be speaking past one another in various ways (for example, I critiqued what I … Read more »
Over at Opinio Juris, Gabor Rona of Human Rights First offers an extended critique of John Brennan’s speech on the use of lethal force. It is an interesting and provocative post, leading me to share a few thoughts in response.… Read more »
Very glad to have joined the Lawfare team. I look forward to more sustained blogging once the spring grading season is over. For now, I’ll offer just a quick thought on the speech John Brennan delivered yesterday, and on the … Read more »
John Brennan’s speech yesterday was important for at least three reasons: (1) it marked the first official White House acknowledgment that “the United States Government conducts targeted strikes against specific al-Qa’ida terrorists, sometimes using remotely piloted aircraft, often referred to … Read more »
THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
EMBARGOED UNTIL DELIVERY
April 30, 2012
Remarks of John O. Brennan – As Prepared for Delivery
Assistant to the President for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism
Woodrow Wilson International Center for … Read more »
Last October, I wrote an op-ed in the Washington Post entitled “Will Drone Strikes Become Obama’s Guantanamo?” in which I said that “the administration needs to work harder to explain and defend its use of drones as lawful … Read more »
Is al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) so distinct from the original al Qaeda network (“core al Qaeda”) that the use of force against AQAP cannot be justified, as a matter of U.S. domestic law, under the 9/18/01 AUMF? … Read more »
Rumor has it that sometime this week (perhaps as early as tomorrow), Congressmen Scott Rigell (R-VA) and Jeff Landry (R-LA) will introduce a bill titled the “Right to Habeas Corpus Act.” In short, the bill would “firmly state that … Read more »
Former NSC Legal Adviser Richard Klingler, now a partner at Sidley Austin, writes in with the following important observation in relation to Holder’s speech and my commentary thereon. He raises a really interesting question regarding whether Holder meant to … Read more »
In this post, I focus on the portion of the speech addressing the targeted use of lethal force, including against US citizens. To cut to the chase, the heart of the discussion comes when the Attorney General articulated a multi-factor … Read more »
As promised, Attorney General Holder delivered an address on law and national security today at Northwestern Law. The speech covered an array of topics, including a defense of the legitimacy of military commissions, a strong argument for the importance—from a … Read more »
While the experience is fresh, I thought I’d share some reflections on this morning’s Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on the Due Process Guarantee Act. [The SJC hearing page has copies of the witness statements (including my own), and … Read more »
Wednesday, May 22, 2013
In one of the strangest stories I’ve come across in a long time—and there have been many—news reports say an FBI agent shot and killed an Orlando man with ties to deceased Boston bombing suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev. Ibragim Todashev was not suspected of playing a role in the bombings, but, during questioning, confessed nevertheless to playing a role in a triple homicide in the Boston area. After his confession, Todashev allegedly… Read more »
