Earlier this week—at the Week, naturally enough—Marc Ambinder posted this piece, ”Five Truths about the Drone War.” Of the five, the second of Ambinder’s verities struck me as most noteworthy. I’ve supplied the emphasis to Ambinder’s words:
2.
The following guest post is the latest in a series comprising a debate as to whether LOAC requires an attempt to capture rather than a first-resort to lethal force in some circumstances. The debate involves Professor Ryan Goodman, on one … Read more »
[UPDATED 4:53]
Scott Shane, Mark Mazzetti, and Charlie Savage of The New York Times have this lengthy article on the hunt for Anwar Al-Aulaqi. Their piece describes, among other things, the legal analyses that approved of Al-Aulaqi’s killing.
Interestingly, the … Read more »
The following guest post is the latest in a series comprising a debate as to whether LOAC requires an attempt to capture rather than a first-resort to lethal force in some circumstances. The debate up to this point involved Professor … Read more »
Not all news today is the secret meeting of the Lawfare cabal in plain sight – at the House Judiciary Committee hearing on drones and targeted killing. There is, for example, the opinion just issued in the Sea Shepherd case … Read more »
In writing my testimony for today’s House Judiciary Committee hearing on drones and targeted killing of U.S. citizens overseas, I found myself writing a more complete explication of the essential legal rationale underlying the administration’s position on the subject than … Read more »
Ever since I wrote my post yesterday morning about how people were over-reading the imminence language of the White Paper, I have received a number of emails and tweets and comments suggesting that I am under-reading it. Then I got … Read more »
I received an email yesterday responding to Susan and my post, in which we suggested that that the White Paper had little new in it. Specifically, the email argued that Susan and I had understated the degree to which … Read more »
(Updated and extended.) The White Paper’s reference to imminence has occasioned some heated rhetoric about the Obama administration stretching the notion beyond all possible ordinary meaning or bounds, etc. But it’s worth bearing in mind that there’s nothing new in … Read more »
Okay, everyone, take a deep breath. Chill out. The DOJ’s “White Paper” on targeted killing is no big deal. Really.
You wouldn’t know this from reading the somewhat breathless press coverage of the document, much of which offers a reasonable … Read more »
There’s certainly a lot to say about the DOJ white paper on targeted killings, much of which has been said already (and well) by others (see Raff’s “Headlines and Commentary” post for links). At the risk of being unintentionally … Read more »
What, if anything, do developments in the military commission case of United States v. al-Nashiri portend for Al-Nashiri v. MacDonald, an ongoing, civil challenge to the accused’s war crimes prosecution? The question arises in letters filed in the civil … Read more »
Kevin Jon Heller has responded to my earlier comments on his earlier post—which itself responded to my exchange with Glenn Greenwald. I’m not going to respond to Kevin’s latest piece, in large measure because I think it almost … Read more »
Benjamin Farley writes in with the following comments on my exchange with Kevin Jon Heller and Glenn Greenwald:
I just read your post responding to Kevin Jon Heller’s response to your conversation with Greenwald regarding the comparison of children
Over at Opinio Juris, Kevin Jon Heller has a piece commenting on Glenn Greenwald’s and my recent discussion of the difference between the accidental killing of children with drones and the intentional killing of children at Newtown. It opens:… Read more »
Over at Opinio Juris, Kevin Jon Heller notes a new draft article he has posted on SSRN regarding the legality of signature strikes under international law. Kevin assures me that “Lawfare types certainly won’t agree with all of … Read more »
Jack mentioned Eric Posner’s new article in Slate announcing that US drone strikes in Pakistan are illegal under the UN Charter because, among other things, they lack genuine consent from Pakistan and the so-called “unwilling or unable” test, which the … Read more »
I am keenly aware, as I acknowledged Monday, that I still owe Gabor Rona a response to his legal arguments. My initial response to his post took on only those aspects of his argument that imagined an American in … Read more »
Kevin Heller writes in with the following observation in response to my post yesterday on Syria/LOAC:
I liked your post on Syria and the ICRC, but this statement gave me pause: “The ICRC’s past and present approach to Syria, as
Earlier this week, Kevin Jon Heller and I had an exchange over what the Pakistani doctor who helped the CIA, Akhil Afridi, was actually charged with and convicted of. Writing at Opinio Juris, Kevin dismissed suggestions by Secretary of … Read more »
Over at Opinio Juris, Kevin Jon Heller has a post complaining about Leon Panetta’s recent lament that “[i]t is so difficult to understand and it’s so disturbing that [Pakistan] would sentence this doctor to 33 years for helping in … Read more »
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 »
Over at Opinio Juris, Kevin Jon Heller offers the following objection to Haridimos Thravalos’s guest post last night on Hamdan, conspiracy, and history:
There is, however, a basic problem with Thravalos’ argument. He claims that “[t]he Hamdan plurality
Kevin Jon Heller at Opinio Juris responds to Peter Berkowitz’s critique of Bruce Ackerman’s argument that a self-defensive attack on Iran would be unlawful. Heller maintains that Berkowitz’s response is “unconvincing.” I will try to weigh in to this debate … Read more »
…is entitled “Ben Wittes’ Appalling Take on Rahmatullah.”
I wonder what he really thinks, though.
Over at Opinio Juris, Kevin Jon Heller responds to my earlier post regarding the BIJ report on drone strikes in Pakistan, and in doing so draws attention to a very interesting question. [Update: see Dapo Akande's follow-up post here]… Read more »
My post from last night has given rise to an interesting debate over at Opinio Juris over Lawfare‘s comments policy, with Kevin Jon Heller opposing our policy and Marko Milanovic giving it a qualified defense. I’m going to largely … Read more »
Anyone who wants to understand why Lawfare does not take comments need only take a brief look at this comment thread over at Opinio Juris blasting Lawfare–and others–for not taking comments. As the old saying goes, the thing speaks … Read more »
The Texas International Law Journal has just announced the forthcoming publication of a very interesting set of papers on the law of military detention, exploring the relevance of the law of neutrality and notions of “enemy” status for this context. … Read more »
In an editorial on Friday about the al-Awlaki killing, I stated:
An attack on an enemy soldier during war is not an assassination. During World War II, the United States targeted and killed Adm. Isoroku Yamamoto, the architect of the
Kevin Heller (Melbourne) writes in with a response to last night’s post from Peter Margulies on the CMCR decision in Al-Bahlul:
Peter Margulies is absolutely right that I ignore the factual differences between Hamdan and al-Bahlul. But that
Peter Margulies (Roger Williams) takes up one of the central issues addressed in the CMCR’s decision last Friday in al-Bahlul:
Material support charges in military commissions illustrate the perils of painting with a broad brush. In United States v.
Over at Opinio Juris, Julian Ku and Kevin Jon Heller have good commentary on the U.N. Human Rights Council’s expert statement that takes issue with the earlier conclusion of the special panel appointed by the Secretary General concerning the legality … Read more »
Over at Opinio Juris, Kevin Jon Heller gamely steps up to the plate to defend yesterday’s New York Times editorial:
As part of his ongoing war against the New York Times, Ben Wittes has a post today entitled
Luis M. Dickson’s truly heroic effort to chart a path by which the Obama administration could conceivably live under the law as articulated by the New York Times editorial board seems, alas, to have hit a snag. International criminal law … Read more »
Over at Opinio Juris, Kevin Jon Heller has posted some thoughts on the two questions that will be addressed at oral argument by the CMCR’s en banc proceeding in al-Bahlul. His discussion of Numemberg in relation to the joint-criminal-enterprise/conspiracy issue … Read more »
Here’s a little cautionary tale about life in the information anarchy in which we all exist today. It is, I suspect, a metaphor for something, though I’m not sure what. I pass it on as it may amuse some readers … Read more »
I promised I would offer thoughts on Tom Malinowski’s latest missive after I had a chance to digest and reflect on it. Since then, I have been mostly digesting and reflecting on Justice Breyer’s new book, on which I … Read more »
When last we left the question of targeted killings, Kevin Jon Heller and I were arguing over how to read Tom Malinowski’s statement on behalf of Human Rights Watch on the subject. Considering the question a matter of original understanding, … Read more »
Kevin Jon Heller makes several challenging points in response to my earlier thoughts on Tom Malinowski’s statement on targeted killings. Before you tune this out as a navel-gazing blogosphere back-and-forth, consider that the point in dispute is actually important. … Read more »
Kevin Heller claims that the D.C. Circuit in its al-Bihani panel opinion has reached the conclusion, with which he agrees, that “there [is] no justification for the government’s attempt . . . to import the concept of co-belligerency into non-international … Read more »
Ok, this exchange is funny–in a macabre, morbid sort of way. It’s also deadly serious. Foreign Policy magazine has published 14 suggestions for President Obama by 14 prominent people concerning how the President can get his mojo back. One of … Read more »
Ben’s most recent post on the al-Aulaki suit has precipitated an interesting discussion at Opinio Juris involving, among others, John Dehn, Kevin Heller, and Mary Ellen O’Connell (Mary Ellen’s thoughts appear in Kevin’s post and in his comment … Read more »
Kevin Heller says that progressives “argue that the decision to kill an American who does not pose an imminent threat should be submitted to law — to the judicial process — not left to the ‘good faith’ of the President. … Read more »
Kevin Heller objects to an argument that he incorrectly attributes to Ben and me in the wake of our recent dialogue with Steve Vladeck. Kevin writes:
Unfortunately, if all you read was Wittes and Chesney’s post, you would think it’s
Kevin Jon Heller asks in response to my post the other night:
1. Politics aside, does the Obama administration have the legal right to kill an American citizen allegedly associated with Al-Qaeda who is living in Phoenix?
2. Standing
We are in the midst of a protracted round of merits litigation involving the habeas corpus petitions of Guantanamo detainees. The government has lost more often than it has won thusfar, but let’s not forget that it has indeed won … Read more »
My former colleagues at the Washington Post editorial page this morning have a thoughtful piece on the targeting of Anwar Al-Aulaqi, on which Kevin Jon Heller and I sparred earlier in the week. The Post largely takes my view of … Read more »
Thanks to Kevin Jon Heller for his thoughtful post taking issue with my hostage-taking analogy. Readers will be shocked to learn that I disagree with him. Let me briefly respond to both of Heller’s major points. Heller argues, first, … 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 »
