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Search: Syria Insta-Symposium

06 May

...partners. Preston also referred to a public hearing before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in May 2014, during which he had listed the groups and individuals against which the US were taking military action (in the sense of capture or lethal operations) under the 2001 AUMF, namely: al-Qa’ida, the Taliban and certain other terrorist or insurgent groups in Afghanistan; al-Qa’ida in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) Yemen; individuals who are part of al-Qa’ida in Somalia and Libya; (since 2014) the Nusrah Front and the Khorasan Group in Syria; and “the group...
06.05.15 | |

27 Aug

It’s only a matter of time before we start seeing proposals to take away the citizenship of Americans fighting for ISIS/ISIL forces in Syria and Iraq. They have drawn renewed attention in the wake of James Foley’s beheading (apparently by a British citizen) and the death, reported at length today in the NYT, of American Douglas McCain in Syria. Several hundred individuals with Western citizenships are thought to be fighting with the extreme Sunni group. A proposal to expatriate terrorists associated with entities hostile to the United States went nowhere...
27.08.14 | |

14 Jul

...intervention on behalf of a State. Redaelli identifies a 3-pronged structure for answering this question, including legitimacy of origin (the recognition of democratically elected governments that do not exercise effective control over territory and population) and legitimacy of exercise (illegitimacy of governments which commit gross and systematic violations of IHRL and international humanitarian law (IHL) against their own populations, and the legitimacy of rebel groups fighting against such governments, e.g. in Libya and Syria). However, as Redaelli acknowledges, human rights and legitimacy are not the be-all and end-all in determining...
14.07.21 | |

09 Oct

...Jack Smith, is funded by the United State as an in-kind donation to an otherwise European Union-led institution. It has also expressed support for new hybrid institutions dedicated to South Sudan and the Central African Republic—a situation also before the Court. In addition, the United States has been instrumental in conceptualizing and launching the third generation of international justice mechanisms that include two new documentation efforts for Syria and Iraq: the Syria International, Impartial and Independent Mechanism (IIIM) via the General Assembly and the Iraq Investigative Team via the Security...
09.10.18 | |

15 Aug

In Syria, fresh clashes have broken out in Damascus and Aleppo, even though the defected Prime Minister Hijab has said the regime is close to collapse. Human Rights Watch reports that fighter planes have struck a hospital in Aleppo, while Reuters provides an exclusive about Libyan fighters joining the rebel forces. US Defense Secretary Panetta has accused Iran of supporting pro-Assad militias in Syria. Meanwhile, China has argued Western states’ attempts to engineer a regime change in Syria undermine solidarity on the UN Security Council. The Guardian reports that Ecuador...
15.08.12 | |

21 Aug

...through civil war, PLO and Syrian occupation, terrorist attacks, de facto Hezbollah takeover and Israeli invasions – is going to fail once again to maintain the peace. (Apropos maintaining the peace, former peace negotiator Dennis Ross has an inadvertently comical piece in the Washington Post in which he urges engaging Syria in order to create an “enduring cease-fire” in south Lebanon like the enduring cease-fire Ross negotiated in 1993, and then again in 1996 when the enduring 1993 cease-fire broke down. With apologies to Mark Twain, it seems that bringing...
21.08.06 | |

08 Apr

...right is the right to self-preservation, a right that is protected not only by the concept of self-determination but also the right to be free from genocide and crimes against humanity. Nothing in the positive law can take away the right of the Syrian people, under natural law, to resist their own annihilation. I’m not sure that anything in Article 51 automatically prioritizes the Syrian government’s claim to state sovereignty over the right of the Syrian people to self-preservation and the right of other states to exercise legitimate defense on...
08.04.17 | |

25 Sep

which Deeks (1) correctly points out that the US and UK both support “unwilling or unable,” (2) claims that “France appears to be prepared to invoke the ‘unwilling or unable’ concept in the Syria context,” and (3) states that Australia is “apparently relying on a collective self-defense of Iraq/unwilling and unable theory.” So at most there is a “broad consensus” of four states in support of “unwilling or unable.” And perhaps there are only two. That’s quite a consensus. This isn’t even instant custom. This is custom by scholarly fiat....
25.09.15 | |

03 Apr

...in 2012 they condemned the Israeli action. This is from the NAM Final Document issued at its 16th Annual Summit: The Heads of State or Government underscored the Movement’s principled position concerning non-use or threat of use of force against the territorial integrity of any State. In this regard, they condemned the Israeli attack against a Syrian facility on September 6, 2007, which constitutes a flagrant violation of the UN Charter and welcomed Syria’s cooperation with the IAEA in this regard. NAM Final Document 2012/Doc.1/Rev.2, para 176 available at: https://www.iranwatch.org/sites/default/files/nam-iransummitfinaldocument-083112.pdf...
03.04.18 | |

17 Jul

Ty If 5,000 people die in Syria each day that means 5,000x365=1,825,000 will die in one year. In other words you've copied it wrong. It's supposedly 5,000 a month, which is horrible enough if true. Jessica Dorsey Thank you, Ty, for your good eye on the Syria news item. Indeed it is 5,000 per month and the post is now amended to reflect this....
17.07.13 | |

03 Aug

Yesterday, the Wall Street Journal reported that President Obama has authorized U.S. military forces to use air power to defend U.S.-trained Syrian rebels if those rebels are attacked by the Syrian government forces. President Barack Obama has authorized using air power to defend a new U.S.-backed fighting force in Syria if it is attacked by Syrian government forces or other groups, raising the risk of the American military coming into direct conflict with the regime of President Bashar al-Assad. … “For offensive operations, it’s ISIS only. But if attacked, we’ll...
03.08.15 | |

11 Jun

...and his exchange is not directly part of that debate. Michael Kearney I think it's actually Al Sham, rather than Syria, to which the final S in ISIS refers. Al Sham is the name used for the region which covers modern Syria, Lebanon, Israel & Palestine… It's a significant distinction! Benjamin Davis Just a modest quibble which is on the "A world of geopolitical water has gone under the bridge since the U.S. invaded Afghanistan in 2001." This phrase reminds me of the use of passive voice by various Administrations...
11.06.14 | |