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 »
The fourth installment in the Hoover Institution’s series of short essays on national security challenges for the Obama administration’s second term is now out. It is by yet another Lawfare member—Matt—and is entitled, “Executive-Congressional Relations and National Security.” … Read more »
The New York Times has a news analysis piece by this morning the excellent Charlie Savage, which requires a moment’s reflection. Charlie is about as good a reporter as there is out there on Lawfare-related matters, and he has … Read more »
Despite the unsurprising focus on domestic policy in President Obama’s second inaugural address today, his speech was not entirely devoid of national security issues. “We will defend our people and uphold our values through strength of arms and rule of … Read more »
I have an op-ed in today’s New York Times entitled “Obama’s Weakness on Treaties” arguing that the Obama Administration needs to work harder to get Senate approval of treaties in its second term. Here are a few excerpts:… 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
No, you didn’t read that wrong. And no, this isn’t an episode of South Park.
The Center for Constitutional Rights and the Canadian Centre for International Justice have filed a complaint with the Geneva-based U.N. Committee Against Torture—which oversees compliance … Read more »
Georgetown law professor David Cole has a new article up on SSRN, “Where Liberty Lies: Civil Society and Individual Rights after 9/11.” It offers something of a retrospective on the role of civil society organizations in defending a vision of … Read more »
I spent a flight out to Minnesota yesterday reflecting on Jack’s and Trevor’s discussion over the weekend of Obama’s first term, his coming second term, the Bush administration, and the now-will-never-be Romney administration. I agree with nearly everything both Trevor … Read more »
Attorneys for Senators John McCain, Lindsey Graham, and Kelly Ayotte—all members of the Senate Committee on Armed Services—have filed an amicus brief in support of the government in Hedges v. Obama. (Background here.)
From the brief’s “Introduction and Summary … Read more »
While I am sure we differ in emphasis and details, I agree with the thrust of Trevor’s latest post. As I argued in my last two books, the early Bush administration approach to presidential power was, in reality and … Read more »
I appreciate Jack’s follow-up post on the larger picture of the Obama administration’s counterterrorism policies and their points of continuity with the Bush administration (though only the late Bush, as he properly underscores). Jack and I agree on much more … Read more »
When I wrote on Friday about the “basic counterterrorism policies that Obama continued, with tweaks, from the late Bush administration,” I meant to refer only to policies that “Obama continued” from the Bush era, and not to make a claim … 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 »
So reports NBC News, which apparently obtained a copy of Petraeus’ statement to the CIA workforce. From the NBC report’s opening:
CIA Director David Petraeus resigned Friday, citing an extramarital affair he had.
Multiple sources tell NBC News that
Samuel Moyn’s review of Mary Dudziak’s book War Time, like the book it reviews, makes interesting points about “endless war.” Along the way Moyn says that my book Power and Constraint claims “that Barack Obama, after the trials of … Read more »
The Washington Post’s Greg Sargent poses an interesting question: If elected, does Mitt Romney intend to revoke President Obama’s January 22, 2009 executive order on interrogation?
The order largely restricts U.S. interrogators to the techniques authorized by the … Read more »
Peter Baker has a post on the NYT’s page that marks the similarities between the just-announced sole executive agreement negotiated with Afghanistan with the one the Bush administration negotiated in Iraq in 2008. I have not compared the two … Read more »
Marty Lederman has a post defending the Obama administration in connection with this NYT story, but I think he overreacts.
Marty claims that the story by Charlie Savage contributes to the “common but flawed ‘convergence’ narrative” that “President Obama has … Read more »
Ken and Ben have recently commented on the national security speeches of Obama Administration officials, including most recently the remarks of CIA General Counsel Stephen Preston. As a former Bush Administration official who would like to encourage more bipartisanship on … Read more »
Comparing the role of the Supreme Court in the health care debate and the national security debate, Orin Kerr writes at Volokh Conspiracy:
If the Court does end up striking down the mandate, this will be the second consecutive
In Law and the Long War, Ben described a cyclical process in which civil liberties and human rights NGOs would criticize the Bush administration’s detention standards and policies on GTMO, the Bush administration (under pressure from various fronts) would … Read more »
Kate Martin of the Center for National Security Studies writes in with the following response to a post of mine last week on military commissions:
I write simply to correct a bit of history. In writing about the breadth of
I don’t believe, as Steve suggested in his good response to my Slate essay on military commissions, that Obama’s continuation of military commissions is “a validation of . . . the policies of the (later part of the) Bush Administration.” … Read more »
Last week Charlie Savage had an interesting follow-up to his well-known 2007 questions to the presidential candidates about their views on executive power. The most important line in Savage’s story is that Barack Obama’s “record in office shows how circumstances … Read more »
Guess what? Human Rights Watch still wants to prosecute former President George W. Bush for torture. You knew that already? Yeah, so did I. But just in case anyone has forgotten, the group has released a new 107-page report that … Read more »
As Ben notes below, the Khairkhwa decision draws attention to the question whether the substantive scope of detention authority under the AUMF should be construed to extend to a person who is a member of an organized armed group … Read more »
Washingtonian magazine has published this profile of former Vice President Dick Cheney’s counselor, David Addington, who is now at the Heritage Foundation. The piece is devoted to a considerable extent to Heritage and Addington’s new role there. It touches, however, … Read more »
President Bush’s new book Decision Points, and the interviews Bush has given in connection with the book, have caused some commentators from different parts of the political spectrum to suggest that Bush’s rhetorical and decision-making style – quick, intuitive, … Read more »
Charlie Savage of the NYT has read Bush’s memoir and has a summary.
A friend bristled at the title of this blog, Lawfare, because he thinks that the first sense in which Ben uses the term in his initial post – the use of law as a weapon of war – has … Read more »
Thursday, May 23, 2013
Leading the news: President Obama speaks today at the National Defense University on counterterrorism policy. Many are previewing the speech, including John. According to the New York Times’s Charlie Savage and Peter Baker, Obama will announce more stringent targeting criteria for non-battlefield strikes. This approach will govern the use of force against both citizens and non-citizens.
Here are the Washington … Read more »
