Search: drones
15 Apr Advice for the U.S. delegation in Kampala
Harold Koh’s ASIL speech drew lots of attention for his defense of the legality of U.S. use of aerial drones. But Koh also spent much of the speech explaining and defending the U.S. decision to reorient its relationship toward the International Criminal Court. He noted U.S. attendance (as an observer) at the ICC Assembly of States Parties in November, and U.S. plans to send a delegation to Kampala, Uganda at the end of next month for the ICC Review Conference. That meeting will be a “big” one as the parties...12 Feb Weekday News Wrap: Tuesday, February 12, 2013
...shawls, which Orthodox tradition sees as solely for men. The UN has urged a greater push toward ending forced labor. Human Rights Watch offers a Q&A about Laurent Gbagbo, the former Ivory Coast president before the ICC for the alleged commission of crimes against humanity; the confirmation of the charges hearing is set to take place next Tuesday, February 19. The LA Times has an op-ed asking the questions related to the use of drones: Are we creating more enemies than we are killing? Esquire has a piece on one...12 Dec Al Qaeda in IKEA
...as follows: “[As civil libertarians wearing ‘rose colored glasses’ would have it,] [t]he AUMF triggered the president’s commander-in-chief power, which enables him to detain enemy combatants indefinitely and kill them with drones and other weapons….” As an initial matter, hard to figure out what Eric means, “the AUMF triggered” the President’s Commander-in-Chief power. The President is CINC in wartime and not, and whatever powers Article II of the Constitution provides him (more on which anon) I figure they’d exist whether Congress “triggers” them or not. More to the point, it...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...07 Jun Weekday News Wrap: Thursday, June 7, 2012
The brother of Abu Yahya al-Libi (the militant allegedly killed by a drone strike earlier this week), claims that the US’ drone program is inhumane and makes a mockery of the US claims of upholding human rights standards. IPS offers an opinion piece about how drones fire both ways. In what could have been retaliation for the killing of Abu Yahya al-Libi, a bomb has exploded outside the US mission in Benghazi, Libya. Slate has an Explainer column discussing how hard it is to shoot down a drone. The Sentencing...03 Sep Ben Wittes’ Unconvincing “Hostage-Taking” Analogy (Updated)
...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...22 May Weekday News Wrap: Tuesday, May 22, 2012
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....20 Feb AlphaDogs, Cheetah-bots, and Mecha-Avatars
...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....
01 May The Brazilian Army in Haiti – Foreign Intervention and Domestic Politics
...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...