I have a long review in the New Republic of Mark Mazzetti’s excellent new book, The Way of the Knife. The first half of the review simply summarizes the book, the main point of which is to demonstrate how … Read more »
Last week a group of major human rights NGOs sent this letter to the President on U.S. targeted killing practices. It calls on the Obama administration to “publicly disclose key targeted killing standards and criteria; ensure that U.S. lethal force … Read more »
What do the Governments of Saudi Arabia and Sri Lanka and former Attorneys General William Barr, Ed Meese, and Dick Thornburgh have in common?
Answer: They all believe that the Supreme Court should grant the petition for certiorari of former … Read more »
The lawyers’ reason is twofold, apparently: first, a possible lapse in the security of computer networks operated by military commission defense counsel; and second, the disclosure of privileged defense emails to prosecutors by court security personnel.
James Connell III, an … Read more »
In case you missed it: on March 15, attorneys for the Miami Herald’s Carol Rosenberg filed this FOIA action against the Department of Defense (h/t Legal Times). Rosenberg’s complaint begins as follows:
1. This is an action under the
As Ben and Gregory McNeal posted earlier, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Counterterrorism and Human Rights, Ben Emmerson, issued this statement on March 14 after a three-day visit to Pakistan, in which he concluded that U.S. drone strikes are, … Read more »
So we learn from this announcement, released this afternoon by the Department of Defense:
Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel has designated Honorable Paul L. Oostburg Sanz to serve as the convening authority for military commissions.
Mr. Oostburg Sanz is
Following up on Wells’ post, I increasingly think that the shift in drone authorities from CIA to DOD first reported by Dan Klaidman might not amount to much in substance, and that any proposed changes face many hurdles in … Read more »
Lawfarers are by now steeped in this news: the White House apparently intends to diminish the CIA’s responsibility for drone strikes, and to transfer that responsibility, over time, to the Department of Defense. That’s gist of Dan Klaidman’s recent reporting… Read more »
As Jack mentioned, Dan Klaidman of the Daily Beast reported today that “the White House is poised to sign off on a plan to shift the CIA’s lethal targeting program to the Defense Department.”
Over at ForeignPolicy.com, I just … Read more »
That is the title of Dan Klaidman’s important story:
Three senior U.S. officials tell The Daily Beast that the White House is poised to sign off on a plan to shift the CIA’s lethal targeting program to the Defense
Former Pentagon General Counsel Jeh Johnson is, at this hour, giving this speech at Fordham Law School in New York:
Keynote address at the Center on National Security at Fordham Law School:
A “Drone Court”: Some Pros and Cons
by
Judge Garland’s persuasive opinion in the ACLU FOIA case is important but narrow, and its significance for intelligence community transparency is entirely unclear.
Recall that the CIA had refused to respond to the ACLU request for records pertaining to drone … Read more »
The Washington Post editorial page has recently been promoting development of a U.S. cyber-strategy through robust public debate. Today’s editorial continues that argument: It begins by saying that “A recent report by a task force of the Defense Science Board … Read more »
In the latest twist in the long-running ATS and TVPA suit against him, former Somali Defense Minister Mohamed Ali Samantar filed on Monday for certiorari after the Fourth Circuit’s surprising decision last October denying him immunity on the basis that … Read more »
Carrie Cordero, Georgetown’s Director of National Security Studies and a former Justice Department official, writes in with the following useful compilation of administration warnings about the effects of sequestration on national security:
One might think it would have been
NSA General Counsel Rajesh De gave the following address at Georgetown Law School on Wednesday:
Remarks of
Rajesh De, General Counsel, National Security Agency
Georgetown Law School, February 27, 2013
(as prepared for delivery)
Thank you for the introduction and
Former Obama administration Acting and Deputy Solicitor General Neal Katyal has an interesting op-ed today in the NYT that criticizes the idea of an Article III “drone court” and proposes instead a “National Security Court” inside Article II in which … Read more »
From Stars and Stripes:
If “Guantanamo Prisoners to Receive GI Bill Benefits” sounds like a joke… that’s because it is. But the headline on the popular satirical military news site The Duffel Blog alarmed one Kentucky resident
They can be found here, and (as is typical, and from the nominee’s perspective, desirable), they contain little news.
In response to Question 7 on the CIA’s paramilitary role, Brennan says: “The CIA, a successor to the Office of … Read more »
You’ll find a copy here.
The Chief Prosecutor’s statement naturally overviews the week’s proceedings; one portion, however, addresses an issue not formally included on the docket but likely of interest to Lawfare readers:
Conspiracy as a Separate, Stand-Alone Offense
The Post ran an important story on Saturday, building on its earlier reporting concerning the development of a “disposition matrix” and other tools for the management of the counterterrorism enterprise. The new piece is by Greg Miller, Ellen Nakashima, and … Read more »
The American Society of International Law has released a new “ASIL Insight” on law applicable to autonomous weapon systems. (ASIL Insights are short, descriptive pieces on topical issues meant as non-technical “backgrounders” for journalists, the general public, and anyone looking … Read more »
As Wells noted, the Guantánamo Military Commission Convening Authority has declined to adopt Chief Prosecutor Brig. Gen. Mark Martins’s recommendation to withdraw the conspiracy charges against Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and the other 9/11 defendants. Withdrawal, which can be done … Read more »
Remember the Chief Prosecutor’s tactical recommendation to pull standalone conspiracy charges in the 9/11 case—in light of the D.C. Circuit’s analysis in Hamdan II, and the strong likelihood that the same court (or the Supreme Court) would follow … Read more »
Judge Colleen McMahon of the District Court of the Southern District of New York has granted summary judgment to the government in the consolidated FOIA cases brought by the New York Times and the ACLU. The plaintiffs were seeking information … Read more »
Bryant Walker Smith (a fellow at Stanford’s Center for Internet and Society) has authored a new CIS White Paper on whether self-driving cars are, or can be, legal in the United States. His answer is … Automated Vehicles are Probably … Read more »
Secretary of Defense Leon E. Panetta delivered a wide-ranging address on December 18, 2012 at the National Press Club in Washington DC on the United States’ overall national security strategy. The speech was part valedictory lap prior to Panetta stepping … Read more »
So what exactly is in the NDAA conference report that is prompting the agitation for a presidential veto? Here is a quick and dirty summary of “Subtitle D—Counterterrorism”—along with an explanation of why President Obama ought to veto the bill … Read more »
The Secretary of Defense has released the attached memo on the implications of the fiscal cliff and sequestration on the Department of Defense. Read it here.
Politico reports that Senate and House negotiators have reached an agreement on the NDAA, with votes in both houses expected later this week…and then, on to the White House. The full text is available here. As for the highlights, … Read more »
A colleague just pointed this out to me today. Buried in the Senate-approved NDAA is Section 936, which would require the Pentagon to “establish a process” for defense contractors that have classified information on their networks to report any … Read more »
U.S. District Judge John D. Bates has granted summary judgment to the Pentagon in a Freedom of Information Act cast brought by the International Counsel Bureau and the law firm of Pillsbury, Winthrop, Shaw Pittman. The decision opens:
International Counsel
Raha Wala of Human Rights First writes in with this comment on Jeh Johnson’s Oxford Speech:
Ken and Jack are right that DoD General Counsel Jeh Johnson, in his remarks at the Oxford Union, made a serious attempt to
Jeh Johnson, the Department of Defense’s General Counsel, will resign effective midnight on December 31 of this year. According to his resignation letter, Johnson plans to take some time off, and then to return to private practice.
One of the things that has struck me about the debate concerning cybersecurity legislation is that we don’t have a really good baseline of existing legal authorities for the protection of cyberspace. Slowly, that is changing. Here is one offering … Read more »
I agree entirely with Ken that DOD General Counsel Jeh Johnson’s speech on the end-of-conflict with al Qaeda “makes a serious attempt to grapple with the conditions defining the endgame” and is “a significant articulation of the US government’s view … Read more »
At this hour, Pentagon General Counsel Jeh Johnson is giving the following speech at the Oxford Union in England:
“The Conflict Against Al Qaeda and its Affiliates: How Will It End?”
Jeh Charles Johnson
General Counsel of the U.S. Department
Here’s the Obama Administration’s statement of policy regarding the Senate’s version of the NDAA for FY2013. The document begins as follows:
The Administration appreciates the Senate Armed Services Committee’s continued support for our national defense and supports a large number
Lots of news coverage this morning about this GAO report, released yesterday by Senator Dianne Feinstein, on housing Guantanamo detainees in the United States. Here’s Spencer Ackerman of Wired Danger Room. Here’s the Associated Press. Here’s the executive … Read more »
Speaking of autonomous weapons systems, which Matt and Ken and Human Rights Watch all were, the Department of Defense has issued a directive entitled “Autonomy in Weapon Systems.” It declares:
It is DoD policy that:
a. Autonomous and
A source sent me a copy of this email, apparently from Senator Rand Paul’s office last week to Republican Senate legislative directors about a coming amendment by the senator to restrict military detention of U.S. citizens under last year’s NDAA:… Read more »
District Judge Paul L. Friedman has denied a motion for relief from judgment filed by habeas petitioner Hussain Salem Mohammad Almerfedi. (The court’s classified opinion is dated October 26; a redacted version was not released until yesterday.)
Almerfedi prevailed before … Read more »
I agree with much of what Jack says in his recent post about the counterterrorism issues likely to face President Obama in his second term. But there’s one aspect of how Jack frames the discussion that I disagree with somewhat. … 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
Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta’s speech last week on cyber is more significant than has been reported. Most of the coverage focused on Panetta’s grave warnings about cyber threats facing the nation, but the speech’s real significance, I think, concerns … Read more »
Or, at least, that’s what CTV News is reporting:
After years of detention at the U.S. naval base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, Omar Khadr has returned to Canada to serve the rest of his sentence at a maximum security
The DoD has distributed a memo to its employees explaining its stance on Mark Owen’s book No Easy Day, and I’ve got it right here (they even give the book an acronym!). It lays out guidelines for how Pentagon … Read more »
The Defense Science Board recently issued a new study on The Role of Autonomy in DoD Systems. Spencer Ackerman has a good story summarizing and explaining its conclusions:
The Pentagon’s science advisers want military robots to operate with far
“How the hell can we run sensitive operations here that go after enemies if people are allowed to do that?,” asked Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta, on CBS, in response to the revelations about the Bin Laden mission by … Read more »
Friday, May 17, 2013
The Department of Justice’s Inspector General released an interim report on the Department’s handling of “known or suspected” terrorists who have entered the government’s witness protection program. The report found, among other things, that information on some program participants had not been turned over to no-fly list authorities; and, that two such people could not be located—though one… Read more »
