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Search: drones

15 May

...a significant role in operating the drones that have become a central tool in our efforts to combat terrorism. All of this contracting poses an enormous threat to what we might call public values. These values include the core value of human dignity as embodied in international human rights law, as well as the values embedded in international humanitarian law, such as the idea that the use of force is limited even during armed conflict. In addition, other core values include transparency, democratic participation in decision-making, and accountability (sometimes referred...
15.05.12 | |

23 Jul

...Shots were fired from Egypt into Israel at an Israeli army bus, but no one was hurt; the incident may heighten fears of an eroding Egyptian Sinai security since the fall of Hosni Mubarak. This comes after a portion of the Egypt-Israel-Jordan pipeline was exploded over the weekend. The US’ Defense Department is looking into sending drones to Kenya to help fight al-Qaeda and al-Shebaab militants, mainly in Somalia. Afghanistan’s intensifying “war by social media” has stepped up with new free speech activists using Twitter and Facebook to combat NATO...
23.07.12 | |

30 May

...count of genocide by murder and one count of crimes against humanity by murder. The UN is going to release a warning about the Flame computer virus. Lawfare offers more insight about the virus, as does Foreign Policy. And with more context of viruses, generally, Homeland Security Watch urges everyone to stop calling all cyber somethings “cyber attacks.” After yesterday’s New York Times story about Obama and targeted killings pointed out by our own Deborah Pearlstein, Foreign Policy mapped where the drones are. Talks are underway in Addis Ababa to...
30.05.12 | |

25 May

Though I’m as much caught up in the drones debate du jour as anyone here at OJ, there are other pressing matters internationally, and one of them is olive oil. I’ve blogged about EVOO adulteration in the past year, but the current contretemps is different. EU regulators want to require that restaurants serve olive oil at the table in sealed individual servings (I guess a little bit like the little sealed catsup bottles one sometimes sees in restaurants in the USA) rather than the common practice of serving olive oil,...
25.05.13 | |

03 Sep

...assets? I’m sure he’s shaking. This leads to my second point: The idea that Anwar al-Alauqi is being targeted for death and has no means of availing himself of his rights as a U.S. national is wrong. Like the hostage-taker, he has a remedy that will ensure his safety and give him the opportunity to defend himself: He can turn himself in. He can knock on the door of any U.S. consulate and say, “I hear you guys are looking for me.” No special forces guys, Predator drones, or air...
03.09.10 | |

20 Feb

...includes the “room clearing, sentry control [and] combat casualty recovery.” And all at the bidding of their human partner. [Emphasis added.] You can place a Terminator or Avatar joke here (two James Cameron movies, huh), but I think this is a better film metaphor (and it’s by “District 9 ” director Neill Blomkamp). So, while these mecha-avatars will not be autonomous, they will be remotely-controlled armed bipedal drones. As a legal matter, one could say that this is similar to our current use of UAV’s. But I don’t think so....
20.02.12 | |

01 May

...explicitly conceived as a setting for a comprehensive “strategic reset” in UN military operations, aiming to defeat enemies that “may be mixed in with civilians”, using high technology devices such as drones, and to decrease blue helmet casualties. The most renowned of these officials was the Brazilian general Carlos Alberto dos Santos Cruz, MINUSTAH Force Commander between 2007 and 2009 and MONUSCO Force Commander between 2013 and 2015. Later, Santos Cruz, and other Brazilian officials with UN-supported career trajectories, placed themselves on the frontline in support of Bolsonaro, joining his...
01.05.20 | |

05 Mar

...They also acknowledge that, even in the face of intense political pressure, governmental actors have furthered that stickiness by using an “inside strategy” of bureaucratic resistance to adhere to previously embedded, internalized norms of international law. At a strategic level, the commentators seem to agree that a strategy of “international law as smart power”–connecting with like-minded countries through engagement around values, translating new norms of international behavior from extant norms of international law to address novel situations and technologies (e.g., drones, cyberconflict), and leveraging that law-based cooperation into enduring diplomatic...
05.03.18 | |

03 Apr

...don’t think Jack disagrees – that the Obama Administration has increased the use of drone strikes because it thinks the program has been effective in disrupting (perhaps destroying) Al Qaeda in Afghanistan and Pakistan. That is, even if the detainees had lost their cases in Rasul, Hamdan, and Boumediene, drones would be with us in force. That alone gives us plenty to discuss. And leaves me still thinking that the causal connection Jack et al. would like to see between detention and targeting these days is more theoretical than real....
03.04.12 | |

11 Mar

...Abu Qatada from the UK to Jordan, after a judge last year banned the deportation. The US is using a UK air-force base for drone operations, calling for more staff to assist in operating Predator drones and oversight of US missions and operations. The Washington Post has a story discussing imminence in conflict, and the New York Times has a piece about Anwar Al-Awlaki. Hungary’s Parliament is set to adopt a constitutional amendment today that will restrict judicial powers and interpretation methods. The move could lead to EU aid cuts....
11.03.13 | |

22 May

Iraq is buying US-made drones in order to carry out surveillance over their oil fields. After a suicide bomber kills 90 people in Yemen, al-Qaeda vows more attacks until the US-backed campaign against militants stops. The US is apparently weighing their stance on secrecy of the drone program employed to carry out targeted killings, according to the Wall Street Journal. Former dictator of Guatemala, Efrain Rios Montt, will face a second genocide trial after a judge ordered he could be prosecuted for ordering a 1982 massacre that killed 201 people....
22.05.12 | |

27 Dec

...the flying car fly itself. Thus, not only technological change, but regulatory changes concerning pilotless vehicles (such as Google’s self-driving car [Youtube clip] and drone tech) will make the flying cars more plausible. And, for autonomous cars (ground or flying) to have a global market, there will need to be coordinated–or at least non-contradictory–regulatory changes in many of the key markets around the world. So the regulatory environment (both in the U.S. and in other jurisdictions) of civilian drones and that of driverless-cars may incentivize or disincentivize investment in these...
27.12.12 | |