Search: drones

...it will define us, mindful of James Madison’s warning that “No nation could preserve its freedom in the midst of continual warfare.” …. [T]he use of force must be seen as part of a larger discussion about a comprehensive counter-terrorism strategy. Because for all the focus on the use of force, force alone cannot make us safe. We cannot use force everywhere that a radical ideology takes root; and in the absence of a strategy that reduces the well-spring of extremism, a perpetual war – through drones or Special Forces...

...has an internationalized armed conflict there may be areas where the conflict does not exist. I will leave it to Brookman-Byrne to continue this analysis as it involves several of the armed conflicts discussed by Mačák. Sadly, drones seems to be a popular method of combatting terrorism more generally and they are being used without the geographical analysis needed to ensure the attack is taking place within an armed conflict. Within the criminal context in a zone that does not fall into Mačák’s typology the person attacked of a drone...

...damage claims related to the foreign activities of multinational companies. Niger has given permission for U.S. surveillance drones to be stationed on its territory to improve intelligence on al Qaeda-linked Islamist fighters in northern Mali and the wider Sahara. An Egyptian court upheld the in absentia death sentences of seven Coptic Christians and an American preacher on charges stemming from the amateur anti-Muslim film Innocence of Muslims, which sparked violent protests in the Middle East last year Israel will give Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’s administration around $100 million in tax...

CIA director Leon Panetta has named a new National Clandestine Service chief, reports Peter Finn in the Washington Post today. The new chief, John Bennett, has been serving as station chief in Pakistan, overseeing in particular the expansion of the drone campaign carried out by the CIA there. One can safely take that as further evidence that the Obama administration does not take senior, deep participation in targeted killings using drones as something to be embarrassed about; quite the contrary. Bennett, a former Marine and Harvard graduate, had retired in...

...Donors to their own Donors, reducing their own net aid intake. They explained their counterproductive behavior with non-standard concepts such as “Tis more bless’d to give than to receive.” There were aspects unaccountably unaddressed by the evaluation – principally the role of behavioral incentives, in the form of surveillance by drones by which to make up “naughty” and “nice” lists. I can only add that since Amazon has taken over the whole program under contract to the United Nations Development Program, it is all anticipated to work much more smoothly....

...case information sheet here). He is faced with charges of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes. American drones have allegedly killed 10 militants in Yemen, in a stepped-up effort to get a strangle hold on AQAP. Foreign Policy explores some of the potential dangers in for this move. Through an exchange of letters, Israel and Palestine have made a rare joint statement that both parties are “committed to peace.” Various subgroups of the Conference of the Parties of the UNFCCC and the Kyoto Protocol are meeting in Bonn from...

...— this was an enormously positive step. Second, on the substance. On first read, I think this is a great statement. It addresses an armed conflict with Al Qaeda, the Taliban, and associated forces. But it also asserts self-defense several times as an alternative. I had been greatly concerned, frankly, that the administration’s lawyers would narrowly confine the justification for targeted killing using drones to situations that would really only cover the military using them on active battlefields. But on first read, this statement does not do that at all....

...panels must contain gender parity. Further, the Committee will give preference to panels that include representation of historically underrepresented groups and promote dialogue across different professional perspectives, including scholars and practitioners. Please send any questions to ilw@ila-americanbranch.org. New Horizons in Air and Space Law – Treaties, Technologies, and Tomorrow’s Challenges : Advanced supersonic aircraft, remotely-piloted cargo drones, and even flying taxis are on the horizon. But all these developments necessitate a re-evaluation of traditional air law. Similarly, space, once the exclusive realm of governmental agencies, is now bustling with private activity. And plans...

...intelligence community, though I disagree with his take on drones) has a very interesting column on the issuance of a series of executive orders on the linkages between them. One consequence of the early “war on terror” years was that the lines between CIA and military activities got blurred. The Pentagon moved into clandestine areas that had traditionally been the province of the CIA. Special Forces began operating secretly abroad in ways that worried the CIA, the State Department and foreign governments. The Obama administration is finishing an effort to...

...International Institute for Counter-Terrorism at IDC, the Institute for National Security and Counter-Terrorism at Syracuse University, and the Konrad Adenauer Stiftung. It will begin today with a keynote speech by Israel’s Deputy Attorney General Shai Nitzan and a dinner, followed by two days of panels on topics including the rule of law, maritime security, cyber-warfare, drones, and the role of courts in balancing law and security. More information is here. Last week’s post can be found here. If you would like to post an announcement on Opinio Juris, please contact...

Iran has said it may stop oil production if Western sanctions tighten. The United Kingdom will double the number of drones it has in Afghanistan for combat and surveillance missions. German Chancellor Angela Merkel said that Germany could take part in assisting a European mission to Mali that would train troops to fight Islamist insurgents in the north of the country. Former US President Jimmy Carter has said that the Israel-Palestinian peace process has reached a crisis point and he accused Israeli President Benjamin Netanyahu of not pursuing a two-state...

...to say about the crisis of today and its long term implications for governance. Note to young and aspiring scholars: The national security-terrorism decade is over in international law, transborder law, and domestic constitutionalism, even if there are many dangling issues that haven’t been worked out, such as the scope of covert action, drones, targeted killing, trying terrorists, detention, etc. The 90s were liberal internationalism; the 00s were non-state actor terrorism and state counterterrorism. Like it or not, questions answered or not, events have moved on. It is now the...