The Afghanistan International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) reports that Gen. John R. Allen, commander of United States Forces–Afganistan, and Abdul Rahim Wardak, Afghan Minister of Defense, have “shoulder-to-shoulder signed an agreement on the process by which Afghan National Security Forces … Read more »
On September 14, General John R. Allen, who succeeded David Petraeus as the commander of U.S. Forces Afghanistan, presided over the change of the command of Rule of Law Field Force – Afghanistan from Brigadier General Mark Martins (whom Lawfare … Read more »
In the Fall of 2002, a month or so after I started work in the Defense Department General Counsel’s office, I had a chat with Rear Admiral Michael Lohr, who at the time was the Judge Advocate General of the … Read more »
My contribution to Lawfare’s 10th Anniversary Project concerns the role of the military in strengthening justice institutions in countries struggling to emerge from instability, a topic on which my personal and professional views have changed as a result of … Read more »
Michael Yon, whose dispatches from the field are always interesting (and typically include copious photography to give you a feel for what he has seen), recently traveled with General Martins in connection with the stand-up of the NATO Rule of … Read more »
Kandahar–Among the ceremonies in Afghanistan on this past July 4th was one having more to do with Afghans and their international partners than with the United States troops stationed here, though we Americans saw strong connections between our allies’ … Read more »
Defense Ministers from the 48 nations of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) today endorsed the NATO Rule of Law Field Support Mission (NROLFSM). The press release describes the mission as follows:
Governance and service delivery in Afghanistan remain key
I was inexpressibly moved yesterday when I opened a surprise package that showed up in my office from a military base in Afghanistan. The package contained this cup, along with a note from Brig. General Mark Martins, whose amazing posts … Read more »
Last Monday Harvard Law School conferred its medal of freedom on one of its graduates, General Mark Martins, Commander of the Rule of Law Field Force -Afghanistan. The Harvard National Security Journal has just posted the speech, with slides… Read more »
In a speech today that criticized NATO coalition partners for their diminishing contributions to the Afghanistan effort, Secretary of Defense Gates said something remarkable about the rule of law in the context of the Afghanistan transition:
[A]s we consider the
Earlier today, General Mark Martins participated (by teleconference) in a press conference in order to bring folks up to speed on the Rule of Law-Field Force’s (ROLFF) latest activities in Afghanistan (for prior discussions of this topic by General Martins … Read more »
[This is the second of two posts from Tom Nachbar of the University of Virginia on the topic of lawfare. In addition to his role as a law professor at UVA, Tom has the distinction of serving as an Army … Read more »
Jacob Bronsther, a third-year student at NYU Law School, who spent time as a Fulbright Scholar studying the the Muslim community in Mauritius, sent Brig. Gen. Mark Martins comments on his guest posts, which Gen. Martins encouraged him to submit … Read more »
We are very pleased to present this guest post by Professor Tom Nachbar, who teaches antitrust, communications law, and constitutional law at the University of Virginia. Tom is also an Army Reserve judge advocate, and has worked on both … Read more »
Parwan, Friday, November 19, 2010 — The week’s posts up until now—written on a Blackberry while we moved or found small spaces of time between engagements—position me finally to move from the definitional and philosophical matters I pondered yesterday in … Read more »
Khost, Thursday, November 18, 2010 — Having outlined, in theory as well as in practice, the military’s and ROLFF’s proper counterinsurgency (COIN) role in Afghanistan, it is time to blog more pointedly—to “drill down,” as the great 101st… Read more »
Kandahar City, Wednesday, November 17, 2010 — Counterinsurgency (COIN) theory—for that is what my last post describes—is only that: theory. The current reality in Afghanistan is that the rule of law remains mostly just a worthy goal. To evaluate whether … Read more »
Here, via the excellent Secrecy News, and just in time for General Martins’ posts on the subject, is a new CRS Report entitled: Afghanistan: U.S. Rule of Law and Justice Sector Assistance.
Kandahar, Tuesday, November 16, 2010 – Whether contemporary U.S. counterinsurgency operations (COIN) and legal institution-building are “an attractive form of lawfare,” as Jack proposed in his 8 September post, is a question of both theory and practice. A good … Read more »
Kabul, Monday, November 15, 2010 – Jack Goldsmith invited me more than two months ago to write in this space about our military’s involvement in efforts to build the rule of law in Afghanistan. In his initial post, Jack wondered … Read more »
(By Benjamin Wittes, Jack Goldsmith, and Robert Chesney)
We are thrilled to be joined this week by a guest blogger: Brigadier General Mark Martins. General Martins commands the Rule of Law Field Force–Afghanistan, which is a military operation of unique … Read more »
Friday, May 24, 2013
Coverage of President Obama’s speech yesterday is plentiful: Here are Peter Baker of the New York Times, Karen DeYoung and Greg Miller of the Washington Post, and Mark Mazzetti of the Times with an analysis of the key points of the speech. Scott Wilson of the Post also provides a rundown of the speech, and cites Ben. The Associated Press reports on lifting the transfer ban on Yemeni detainees, and Colleen McCain Nelson, Adam Entous, and Julia E. Barnes… Read more »
