Search: Syria Insta-Symposium
21 Mar Weekday News Wrap: Wednesday, March 21, 2012
Mauritania has agreed to extradite ex-Libyan chief-of-intelligence Abdullah al-Senussi to Libya. The Economist outlines the world’s biggest arms exporters based on a new report from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute. US President Barack Obama is slated to visit the demilitarized zone between North and South Korea today ahead of his upcoming visit with South Korean president, Lee Meyung-Bak. Western powers diluted the language of a U.N. Security Council resolution regarding Syria in order to garner Russian support; in response, speaking from Jakarta, U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon once again...11 Apr Weekday News Wrap: Wednesday, April 11, 2012
...Syria. Foreign Policy outlines the options for Syria, in case the plan does not succeed. According to its Foreign Minister, William Hague, the UK may seek a Security Council decision referring Assad to the ICC. In a Reuter’s exclusive, China’s ZTE trading firm had planned on selling $10.5 million (€8 millon) worth of embargoed computing equipment to Iran, shedding some light on how Iran is able to get American tech products despite sanctions. The Philippine Navy is in a standoff with Chinese ships. Colombia’s foreign minister reports that Venezuelan President...05 Feb More on the Al Qaeda Name
For those who try to keep up with the shifting nature of radical Islamist groups – groups too many in the media sometimes wrongly link to Al Qaeda –the stories earlier this week on the group formerly known as Al Qaeda in Iraq, now calling itself ISIS, are significant: Early Monday morning the leadership of al-Qaeda disowned Islamic State of Iraq and Greater Syria (ISIS), the most effective of its two franchises fighting in Syria, in a maneuver that could alter the trajectory of the fight against President Bashar Assad....07 Dec Weekday News Wrap: Friday, December 7, 2012
Venezuela’s president Hugo Chavez will miss Friday’s regional trade summit in Brazil, raising questions about his health. US warships are shifting in order to monitor the planned rocket launch by North Korea, while the US still urges Pyongyang to cancel this exercise. Violence has surged around Damascus as Syrian government forces shell rebel-controlled areas. The UN Special Envoy for Syria held discussions with US Secretary of State, Hilary Clinton, and her Russian counterpart, Sergey Lavrov, on a creative solution for Syria that may involve ousting President Assad. The King of...23 Jul Weekday News Wrap: Tuesday, July 23, 2013
A top UN envoy, Leila Zerrougui, special representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict, has warned officials and anti-government fighters in Syria risk prosecution as war criminals for atrocities against children. The US House Intelligence Committee says it is now willing to supply weapons to Syrian rebels despite the risk of their ending up with al-Qaeda allies. Additionally, top US military officials have outlined a range of intervention option plans in Syria, from instituting no-fly zones to conducting limited attacks on military targets. Iran condemned the EU’s decision...11 Sep Is it Legal? No.
Let’s start with the Administration’s newly minted theory (h/t Marty Lederman for posting the operative statement) that the statutory 2001 AUMF authorizes the President’s announced campaign to use force against ISIL in Iraq and Syria. The AUMF does not plausibly extend to ISIL. In addition to the reasons my friends Jens Ohlin, Jen Daskal and others have already highlighted, let me add this: ISIL is not an “associated force” of Al Qaeda by the Administration’s own definition. In May 2013, former State Department Legal Adviser Harold Koh gave a speech...25 Jul Weekday News Wrap: Wednesday, July 25, 2012
Ghana’s President John Atta Mills has died, though details are unclear as to the cause of death. Foreign Policy has more here. Vice-President John Dramani Mahama has succeeded him, taking the oath of offices a few hours after the announcement of Mills’ death. Fighting has intensified in Syria’s Aleppo. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon has joined the chorus of warning Syria against the use of chemical weapons. Israel’s foreign minister has stated that it will get involved in the Syrian conflict if the Syrian army loses control over its chemical...
02 Jul Some (Tongue in Cheek) Advice for Iran Regarding Trump
...international court with it. Syria would be an obvious choice. Maybe Venezuela for some regional diversity. The International Court of Iran, Syria, and Venezuela™ (ICISV) could then prosecute Trump despite his personal immunity — and just as importantly, Iran would then be free to arrest Trump and surrender him to the ICISV, because the Jordan Appeals Chamber has also told us that personal immunity does not apply when a state is acting on an international court’s behalf: 114. The absence of a rule of customary international law recognising Head of...