Search: Syria Insta-Symposium

...generals provided strategic advice to Hezbollah in the Israel-Lebanon 2006 war, though apparently, even Israeli military officers did not believe Hezbollah was acting on the instructions of Iran even then. If Iran’s overall control over Hezbollah could be established, Israel would have the right to attack military targets in Iran. While Iranian combatants and Hezbollah members were at the consulate in Damascus, there was no armed conflict between Israel and Syria or attribution between these groups and Syria allowing for the use of force against Syrian territory. Conclusion Derek Bowett,...

...less-than-force measures designed to put pressure on the Assad regime. These measures include ‘a ban on the import of arms and related material from Syria, export restrictions on equipment that could be used for repression, an import ban on crude oil and petroleum products from Syria, the freezing of the Syrian central bank’s assets, asset freezes on a number of entities and persons, and travel restrictions for a specific list of individuals associated with repression.’ At the same time as utilising these less than force measures (intercession), through its EU...

...specific incidents. There were similar cases in the past when an attack carried out during an ongoing armed conflict was assessed within the jus ad bellum framework. One example may be the international armed conflict between Syria and Israel. In 1967 the international armed conflict erupted between Israel and the Arab States, including Syria (the so-called Six Days War). As a result of the conflict, Israel started to occupy Golan Heights, part of Syrian territory. After that point, there have been multiple armed incidents between Syria and Israel. When on...

In December, Saad Hariri, Lebanon’s prime minister and Rafik’s son, met with Syria’s president, Bashar al-Assad, acceding to the reconciliation between his own political sponsor, Saudi Arabia, and Damascus — making Lebanon less likely to point the finger at Syria for the killing. But the more significant problem actually lies within the United Nations investigation itself. While it has been upgraded to a special tribunal, sitting near The Hague, it has suffered from questionable leadership, lost key members and last year had to release suspects for lack of formal indictments....

It looks like President Obama learned his lesson. Last summer he decided to seek Congress’s advance approval for a strike against Syria’s chemical weapons capabilities. Political support for the operation evaporated. Obama looked weak and waffly (the decision was taken on a dime after a 45-minute South Lawn stroll with chief of staff Denis McDonough, almost certainly not vetted through the legal chain of command). Even though the ISIS operation will probably be more significant than what he had in mind for Assad, he won’t be looking for a formal...

...operation notwithstanding the absence of authorization, and that the backing down was at his discretion. But in this context, actions speak louder than words. Asking for the authorization effected a constitutional giveaway; there’s no chance of a constitutional clawback, at least not for now. This is of course not to say that a Syria strike on unilateral presidential authority would have solved the Syria situation. But it would have left the US in a far better position internationally than we’re likely to find ourselves a couple of weeks from now....

...security reasons to block their purchase of four wind farm projects near a US naval base in Oregon. Syria’s President Bashir al-Assad rejected demands for a peaceful solution to the crisis in Syria from many of his staff after some of his top aides were killed in July. JP Morgan has been sued by the New York Attorney General for its involvement in the global financial crisis, a lawsuit the US Government supports. Amnesty International reports that in South Sudan, police forces are shooting and raping civilians. Iranian President Mahmoud...

KC I wonder what the US would make of this in context of the President's earlier assertion that it would act in defense of the "new U.S.-backed fighting force in Syria if it is attacked by Syrian government forces or other groups". Obviously, I doubt that the President intends for this statement to drag him into another Cold War era style proxy war with Russia, but it would be interesting to see how all these things connect together in the minds of US officials). Ref: http://www.wsj.com/articles/pentagon-to-defend-new-syria-force-from-assad-regime-others-1438549937 Jordan First, what section...

support within Syria - one rebel commander saying, dejectedly, that 70% of the Sunni city of Aleppo supported Assad, not because they liked him but because he is regarded as better than the alternative) to create an Islamic State of one kind or another. It is hardly in the west's interests to see that end come about. Do we protect the rebels who are jihadists? How do we distinguish and influence matters on the ground? 3. Military intervention will be an act of war, requiring attacks against Syrian missile installations,...

...weapons to Syria rebels would constitute complicity in resulting crimes. Thus, individuals wishing to interact with these rebel groups would be put “in an impossible situation,” such that they “cannot provide the organization with any assistance at all.” But at least two basic features of accomplice liability and one component of blame attribution writ large, expose both these statements as serious hyperbole. On a robust account of complicity, American and British governments could assist the Gestapo, the Interahamwe, the Taliban, Syrian rebels and any other bloodthirsty armed group without becoming...

...at this time, despite mention in Parliament of the related R2P doctrine. A more sophisticated claim might involve use of the concept in connection with a policy-serving and textually correct reading of Article 2(4) of the U.N. Charter in the context of a civil war in Syria and substantial outside recognition of the "rebels" as the legitimate representative of the Syrian people -- that only three types of force are proscribed, that none pertain under special circumstances re: Syria, etc. -- especially if the "rebels" consent to use of force....

...and now, they have become more suspicious ,concerning , biased western court . 3.Beyond that : they are now seriously implicated and engaged in Syria , in their fight against Daesh ( IS ) . Here, we deal with strict and direct involvement, huge devastation, huge amount of refugees, and much more brutal war (without any accusations right now). Now : 4.One may wonder , what jurisdiction has the ICC on Syria ? yet , Fatou Bensouda, already declared in the past , that she may seek jurisdiction , on...