Search: drones
30 Jul Gabor Rona on Targeted Killing: A Response to Michael Lewis
[Gabor Rona is the International Legal Director of Human Rights First] Over at Lawfare, Mark Mazetti’s New York Times Magazine article “The Drone Zone” generated a rich discussion on targeted killing with entries by Ken Anderson, Geoff Corn, me, Charles Dunlap, Laurie Blank, and Michael Lewis. Mike took particular aim at my comments and I’m grateful to Opinio Juris for giving me the opportunity to reply. Mike says drones are good for civilians since they are the most discriminating weapon in the history of warfare. Actually, drones are, thankfully, stupid....23 Jan Weekday News Wrap: Wednesday, January 23, 2013
...according to tribal sources and local officials, the fourth such attack in four days. A Yemeni cabinet minister criticized the use of pilotless U.S. drones against suspected al Qaeda militants, a tactic that has outraged communities in targeted areas, and urged a move to ground operations to avoid hurting civilians. Additionally, Pakistan’s Foreign Minister has come out in protest against US drone strikes, stating that the strikes are a violation of Pakistani sovereignty and international law. The use of drones is also creating a growing controversy in the United States....
04 Jul The Global Hawk Incident: Self-Defense against Aerial Incursions – Reflections on the Applicable Law
...“to control access to its airspace,” Deeks and Anderson argue that “there is no black letter law on the question” of whether states may shoot down drones or other aircraft that enter their airspace without consent. Instead, they base their conclusion on examples of state practice that confirm that it is “lawful for a territorial state to shoot down a drone that enters its airspace.” In an equally insightful piece on Just Security, Michael Schmitt discussed the legality of both Iran’s actions and the possible American responses. Schmitt argued that...16 Jun Lethal Drone Strikes — Not Just for American Citizens Any More!
Not surprisingly, drone strikes that kill American citizens have received the most attention in the press. So it’s important to emphasize that the US kills citizens of its allies, as well, such as the two Australians recently vaporized in Yemen: TWO Australian citizens have been killed in a US airstrike in Yemen in what is the first known example of Australian extremists dying as a result of Washington’s highly controversial use of predator drones. The Australian has been told the two men, believed to be in their 20s, were killed...06 Sep Weekday News Wrap: Thursday, September 6, 2012
...peace talks with the FARC rebels, set to take place in Norway next month, and then in Cuba. With all the criticism surrounding the use of drones these days, Foreign Policy presents a piece discussing what’s not wrong with drones. In an interview, Russian President Putin has indicated that his stance on Syria remains unchanged. He was also critical of Mitt Romney’s foreign policy, but hopes that a re-election of Barack Obama could bring an end to the missile defence dispute. For the second day in a row, Israeli forces...24 Feb The Reprieve Drone Strike Communication I — Jurisdiction
...uncontested information demonstrates that drone strikes in Pakistan are now launched exclusively from either Jalalabad Air Base and/or Kandahar Airbase in Afghanistan, which has been a State Party to the Rome Statute since 10 February 2003 . Until 2011, the drones carrying out the strikes in Pakistan were launched from both Jalalabad Air Base in Afghanistan and Shamsi Air Base in Pakistan. US Air Force and Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) personnel on the ground in both of these locations would handle the launch and recovery phase of the drone’s flight...03 May The Death of bin Laden as a Turning Point
...in the role of our justice system in the fight against terrorism, I have long known the extraordinarily small chance of bin Ladin being found, captured, subdued, transported, and tried in a court of law. But it was America’s obligation to attempt this—something that could not be accomplished with drones. Pakistani leaders have praised the operation. We can conclude that they have waived any objection to the fact the U.S. conducted the operation without their knowledge. Having shown that we can pursue wanted terrorists through law enforcement rules, it is...26 Jun Reading a Couple of Books on Legal History, and a Comment on Fragmenting International Law
...international law, means that there is less ability to speak as between traditions and communities. It’s not completely incoherent, of course. Still, when it comes to large, contested and yet specific issues in my own work in international law these days – the law governing targeted killing and drones, for example, or the legality of covert uses of force as such – I find that the legal answers turn fundamentally on one’s starting points, the really deep fundamentals, the church at which one worships among the sects of the law...01 Jun A Problematic Study of Drone Strikes in Pakistan (Updated)
...questions assert — and assume — that drone strikes in Pakistan target “leaders of extremist groups.” But that is almost certainly not the case. Here, for example, is what the Stanford/NYU “Living Under Drones” report says: National security analysts—and the White House itself— have found that the vast majority of those killed in drone strikes in Pakistan have been low-level alleged militants. Based on conversations with unnamed US officials, a Reuters journalist reported in 2010 that of the 500 “militants” the CIA believed it had killed since 2008, only 14...