John Bellinger, former State Department Legal Adviser has posted a very short piece entitled Bin Laden Killing: The Legal Basis. Here is an excerpt: The U.S. killing of Osama bin Laden in Pakistan was lawful under both U.S. domestic law and international law...
Cross-posted at Balkinization For all the interesting things that might be said about the still-emerging circumstances of bin Laden’s death, it’s disheartening to see conversation already turning to old, old debates about interrogation. Peter King (R-N.Y.) was naturally quick to suggest that reports that information leading to bin Laden’s capture came from detainees held at Guantanamo Bay should lead Obama...
The killing of Osama Bin Laden is no doubt a significant victory in the conflict with al Qaeda (see Michael Lewis' post here). However, contrary to Peter Bergen's assertion that "Killing bin Laden is the end of the war on terror. There is no one to replace him in Al Qaeda. Bin Laden was the guy who fought against...
The best lines in President Obama’s speech last night were at the beginning: It was nearly 10 years ago that a bright September day was darkened by the worst attack on the American people in our history. The images of 9/11 are seared into our national memory -- hijacked planes cutting through a cloudless September sky; the Twin Towers collapsing to...
Over at Lawfare Ben Wittes aks Will Bin Laden's Death Reignite the Interrogation Debate? I think there is little doubt that it will. Consider this recent post by Marc Thiessen over at The American Enterprise blog. Thiessen writes: "So Guantanamo detainees provided the key intelligence that allowed the CIA to track down bin Laden. But not just any Guantanamo detainees. It turns...
It is interesting comparing this mornings posts. Ken's sober, philosophical reflection on all that has gone on since 9/11, Kevin's reflexive response to view events through a political lens, and Greg's operationally-minded quest for figuring out "who's next, and when will we get him?" My reaction contained elements of all three. Having friends that died in Afghanistan trying to...
The media is reporting that the Obama administration is handling Usama bin Laden's remains in accordance with Islamic principles. That decision is a stark reminder of why we are so fortunate that a Republican is no longer President. When the Bush administration killed Uday and Qusay Hussein, recall, it infuriated Muslims and at least arguably violated the First Additional Protocol...
Beyond confirming that Bin Laden was actually the person killed in Abottabad, what is the significance of troops being on the ground to conduct the Bin Laden Operation? Can their presence lead us to the new #1 in al Qaeda, Ayman al-Zawahiri? In the coming days we will likely hear about the gathering of "pocket litter" and other exploitable intelligence and...
Thanks to OJ for allowing me to guest blog for a bit. I'm a law professor at Pepperdine, specializing in national security law and policy. First off, there is a lot of talk about this operation being a "human operation" involving special operations forces. Some readers may assume that this meant there were no air assets involved (e.g. no Predators and...
I'm sure most readers are aware that President Obama is about to announce that Osama Bin Laden has been killed, in a mansion outside of Islamabad, Pakistan. I'm just going to leave this as an open thread. I'm not quite sure what the international law aspects of this will turn out to be, as we have no details at this...
Let me thank Fernanda, Francesca, and Ken for their tremendously thoughtful comments on my new book, Power and Legitimacy: Reconciling Europe and the Nation-State (OUP 2010). And let me also thank once again everyone at Opinio Juris for providing space for this discussion. I hope the readers have found the exercise as stimulating and enjoyable as I have. It was Giandomenico...
