In association with the International Commission of Jurists

General

16 Jun

Here is the Administration's legal analysis (in full) of why the 60/90-day clock of the War Powers Resolution doesn't apply to the continuing Libya operation: The President is of the view that the current U.S. military operations in Libya are consistent with the War Powers Resolution and do not under that law require further congressional authorization, because U.S. military operations are...

|
15 Jun

The Wall Street Journal national security reporting team, followed closely by the Washington Post and the AP, have been reporting in the last couple of days on the CIA being tasked to carry out an expanded Predator drone targeted killing program in Yemen.  I’ve been meaning to blog on this, following on Deborah's post below discussing the AP story, but...

|
15 Jun

Some of you will recall the series of posts a few weeks back about the new authorization for use of military force (AUMF) legislation that the House of Representatives debated and passed at the end of May. Among other things, the bill would prohibit the use of Defense Department funds to transfer Guantanamo detainees to the United States for...

|
15 Jun

For those who follow these topics, two items of note. First, an AP story today reports that the United States is building a secret CIA air base in the Persian Gulf region to support U.S. targeting operations in Yemen. The story is sourced to anonymous government officials, and reports that “U.S. forces have stepped up their targeting as well, because...

|
13 Jun

The International Law Commission (ILC) has adopted the Draft Articles on the Responsibility of International Organizations (RIO). The final version of the articles is available on the ILC’s website. As the Chairman of the Drafting Committee noted, the adoption of these articles marks a historic occasion as the ILC has been working on the law of responsibility for over 60 years.The...

|
12 Jun

Christopher Caldwell does not quote Milton Friedman’s famous observation in this New York Times opinion piece, but it underlies it.  Caldwell is a senior editor of the Weekly Standard and columnist for the Financial Times — as well as being the author of the most important book on Europe by an American that I’ve read in years, Reflections on the Revolution in...

|
11 Jun

Out-going Defense Secretary Gates has been delivering a series of farewell speeches that are noteworthy for their bluntness.  His latest is perhaps the bluntest yet - on the future of the NATO alliance, which he sees as grim.  The New York Times reports here; the Wall Street Journal has an editorial comment here.  At one level, the problem is simply...

|
08 Jun

Over at the Harper's Magazine site Scott Horton interviews Laura Dickinson about her new book Outsourcing War and Peace: Preserving Public Values in a World of Privatized Foreign Affairs. Horton begins: Waging war and engaging in diplomacy would generally be reckoned among the most important powers of any sovereign. Yet as Laura Dickinson argues in her new book, Outsourcing War and...

|
07 Jun

This according to the Washington Post's Jackson Diehl, in Screed Number 1345 about how the evil ICC is preventing peace on earth and goodwill toward men: Libyans are stuck in a civil war in large part because of Gaddafi’s international prosecution. Diehl, of course, offers precisely zero evidence in defence of this ridiculously stupid thesis.  Even better, his own column refutes the...

|
06 Jun

My former State Department colleague, David Kaye, now the Executive Director of UCLA Law's human rights program, has just authored a study under the auspices of the Council on Foreign Relations (John Bellinger and Matt Waxman also particiapted in the effort as Directors).  Kaye acknowleges the contributions made by the likes of the ICTY, ICTR, and ICC, but argues that more work is needed...

|
04 Jun

The Wall Street Journal's ace national security reporting team - Adam Entous, Siobhan Gorman, Julian Barnes, several others - reported in a very interesting story today that divisions have emerged at the senior levels of the Obama administration over the strategic utility of drone strikes in Pakistan.  The issue is between the unquestioned effectiveness of the strikes - unquestioned by...

|