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Search: Syria Insta-Symposium

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 | |

22 Mar

...by the majority of Muslims anyway. But such rallying cries resonate in some sections of Muslim societies today. Both of you have said that people on each side thought they were fighting in self-defense. Madden: By 1095 when Urban II called the First Crusade, fully two-thirds of the old Christian world had been conquered by Muslim armies. Aside from the Holy Land, Muslims had conquered all of Syria, Egypt, North Africa and Spain. In addition, Asia Minor (modern Turkey) had only recently been conquered by the Turks. The Crusades were,...
22.03.06 | |

20 Aug

...engage in collective self-defense. Certainly not self-defense in view of the beheading of one U.S. citizen. Consent from what is left of the rebel organization in Syria that some time ago had been declared to be the legitimate representative of the Syrian people? If the U.S. does not have a viable claim to use force in Syria under international law, the recognized presidential authority under Article II of the Const. to faithfully execute the Laws (including int'l law authorizing the use of force, e.g., in self-defense) will not be applicable....
20.08.14 | |

19 May

...does not seem to include recognizing the dramatic consequences of 1) our war of choice in Iraq or 2) our torture with the complicity of the precise leaders against which we rail (Libya, Egypt, Syria). Our lack of integrating in our strategy accountability domestically for our own high level perpetrators/enablers of oppression in the Middle East is a bit much. We rail against Khaddafi in Libya and Assad in Syria in what they do to their own people, yet stand silent about what Bush did in Iraq (the present refers...
19.05.11 | |

02 Jun

...many Arab states declared war on Israel, and while some of them (Egypt, Jordan) have made peace, others (Syria, Lebanon) are still formally at war with Israel. Palestine was to be partitioned into two countries, but Gaza was seized by the Egyptians. Gaza is now unoccupied territory not part of any recognized country, but run by Hamas an ally of Syria and Hezbollah who are part of a formal international armed conflict. There are, therefore, several different competing legal theories about why Israel is entitled to blockade Gaza. It could...
02.06.10 | |

18 Feb

...of recognition of belligerency would be considered to still be in place [which is doubtful after the adoption of the 1949 Geneva Convention, which extended (part of) the laws of war to fighting between a State and an armed opposition group - as did recognition of belligerency do prior to that time, although such recognition obviously served more purposes], and be considered applicable for Syria, it would only apply to the part of the Syrian opposition that has in fact been recognised (SNC). However, in the diffuse Syrian conflict there...
18.02.14 | |

15 Jun

...on their behalves that Israel broke the law. Was Israel? Was Israel wrong? Frankly, if I was Israel, given the hypocrisy of countries like Turkey and the UN calling for an independent investigation into violations of the law and the manner in which this country typically is treated, I wouldn't care one whit. Really, if the world thinks countries like Libya, Syria or Iran belong on an international organ like the Human Rights Commission, where is the even semblance of respect for international laws??? Kevin Jon Heller Elliot, Hmm, last...
15.06.10 | |

07 Aug

...no claims to it before 2000, and those claims are not taken seriously by anyone; the U.N. in 2000 even stated that some of Lebanon's proffered "evidence" was forged. The only real ownership dispute is between Israel and Syria. (The land lies at the intersection of Israel, Lebanon and Syria.) Peggy McGuinness EK-- My comments were meant to capture the historical realities of peace agreements. I am not sure it is any more a "defeat" of international law when parties agree to settle wars than it is a defeat for...
07.08.06 | |

30 Jul

...think your analysis misses a substantive element of the balance between the ability to conduct military operations and the duty to minimize civilian casualties. Mostly, I am having a difficult time with your argument that civilians have no duty to leave a mixed use civilian-combatant target even after they have been warned that it will be targeted in the near future for attack. In instances where the civilians have no free will (held at gun-point by Hamas) you may have a point (though then we have a host of other...
30.07.14 | |

10 Aug

The UK has appointed a senior judge to lead the inquest in the death of Russian ex-spy Litvinenko from polonium poising in 2006 in London. Veteran international diplomat, Lakhdar Brahimi, has been tapped as Kofi Annan’s successor as UN-Arab League joint special envoy for Syria. In the Syrian conflict, government troops have forced rebels from a key district in the city of Aleppo. In response to the PILPG memo featured in our Weekday News Wrap on Wednesday, the New International Law Blog offers an analysis posing the question: Would intervention...
10.08.12 | |

30 Nov

...non-state armed groups in a diverse range of conflict situations, including the FARC (Colombia), Islamic State (Syria and Iraq), Taliban (Afghanistan), Tamil Tigers (Sri Lanka), PKK (Turkey), PYD (Syria), and KRG (Iraq), the book argues that it is possible for armed groups to legally establish and operate a system of courts to administer justice. In this online book launch, Professor René Provost will discuss with leading scholars in international humanitarian law (IHL) and international human rights law the legal and practical challenges related to the administration of justice by armed...
30.11.21 | |