Search: drones
15 May Book Discussion “Outsourcing War and Peace”: The Rise of Private Military Contractors and the Importance of Public Values
...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...17 Nov Here There Bee (More) Pirates … and Might the Obama Administration Take Them Out?
...not use Predator drones and patrol from afar; he responded that such invisible patrols were useful, but that the fundamental operational problem was that once the pirates were aboard, they then had hostages and the whole situation changed. In effect, the attack could be treated as pure battle until the pirates had hostages, but then it turned operationally into counter-terrorism and hostage-negotiation. It was therefore crucial, in his view – he had studied earlier rounds of piracy in these same waters, in which incidents had gone down because Japan and...29 Aug Accountability and Legitimacy of International NGOs
(Shameless self-promotion alert!) I have been meaning to mention a new essay of mine in a fine symposium issue of the Brooklyn Journal of International Law that came out a few weeks ago, ‘Accountability’ as ‘Legitimacy’: Global Governance, Global Civil Society, and the United Nations. I’ve linked to the SSRN page, but I see that all the articles from the symposium issue are up on Westlaw. I’ve put the abstract below the fold, but I suppose I should say that not all my time is spent droning about drones …...03 Aug ACLU and CCR Sue OFAC over Expenditures Related to Al-Awlaki Lawsuits
...con format – on targeted killing and drones up at the Congressional Quarterly blog. I’ll try to find a link later; not sure if it is public or not.) (ps. Thanks to Ben for his comment on my earlier Eastern Sierra post – just wanted to say that among other day hikes, we did indeed make it to Heart Lake.) Update: Politico is now reporting that OFAC will permit the license for the underlying lawsuit, on the fundamental targeting issues, to proceed, presumably mooting this suit. (Thanks to Mark Field.)...17 Jul Political Science Fiction
...disciplines were formalized; 3) literature, however, largely has remained unbounded, able to probe realms of statecraft which other disciplines have placed off–limits… (p.7) This is all the more true with the realm of science fiction which probes areas that today are becoming science fact all too quickly: the expansion of the surveillance state (Hallo, Huxley! How do you do, Mr. Orwell?), cyberwarfare (Paging the U.S. Cybercommand: William Gibson would like his future back), and the use of drones (Are we waiting for Godot or for Skynet?). But science fiction is...15 Jul Weekday News Wrap: Monday, July 15, 2013
...has reinstated the genocide charge. The army of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) clashed with fighters from the M23 rebel group close to Goma in what was reported to be the most serious combat in several weeks. At least 60,000 refugees from the eastern DRC have now arrived in neighboring Uganda after fleeing attacks. U.N. peacekeepers in the DRC will begin using unarmed drones on a trial basis to monitor its war-torn east. The US military reports that the detainees at Guantanamo Bay may end their hunger strike....08 Feb Weekday News Wrap: Friday, February 8, 2013
Syrian troops are battling rebels around Damascus, trying to halt their advance on the capital. The ICC has demanded the extradition of Libya’s Abdullah al-Senussi to The Hague to face charges of crimes against humanity under Gaddafi’s regime. A UN survey has found that more than $3.9 billion was paid out in bribes in Afghanistan in 2012, amounting to more than double the nation’s domestic revenue. President Obama’s nominee for the director of the CIA, John Brennan, was questioned heavily yesterday during Senate confirmation hearings about drones and torture. As...
11 Feb Platforms on the Frontline: The Rise of the Platform Model in Defense Tech
...warfighting missions across the African continent. OpenAI has also signed a recent deal with Anduril to combine OpenAI’s models with Anduril’s hardware and software for detecting and shooting down drones. Meta, in collaboration with military startup Scale AI, is promoting its flagship large language model, Llama, as a convenient tool for military planning and decision-making. As reported by The Intercept, ‘Defense Llama’ has already raised concerns among experts about the ‘flawed,’ ‘worthless,’ and ‘irresponsible’ answers given in an online demo using the tool for airstrike planning. While we should be...23 Jul Weekday News Wrap: Monday, July 23, 2012
...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...
20 Feb Why Aren’t We Talking About Sri Lanka Anymore? “Sri Lanka Solution” Followers Face Justice, but Not Sri Lanka
...the drones used to identify and systematically shell Tamil civilians and civilian objects. Now, Sri Lanka’s annihilation of the LTTE—made possible by the indiscriminate killing of Tamils, both civilians and LTTE combatants—has been touted as a surefire way for Israel to eliminate Hamas. The international community’s inability to reflect on Sri Lanka became key in Myanmar. Buddhist nationalism, a character of the state in Sri Lanka and Myanmar, has violently manifested against Tamils and the Rohingya in similar ways. So did the UN’s shortcomings. As in Sri Lanka, the warning...