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Search: drones

25 Jun

...was broadening my research agenda from exclusively ICL to include a wider range of IHL and law of war issues as well. I became heavily involved in debates about drones, targeted killings, targeting in general, and the relationship between IHL and human rights law. In all of these areas, I was heavily influenced by Mike’s explanations and positions that he articulated in his many law review articles. And I should hasten to add that on most of these crucial questions I was in agreement with Mike. Although I disagree with...
25.06.15 | |

29 Nov

...such as drones or loitering munitions, but also integrating them into targeting decision-making processes as part of AI-based decision support systems (AI DSS), which can be used to recognize patterns in substantial amounts of data, predict scenarios, or recommend possible courses of action to military commanders. The complex and multi-dimensional process of military targeting can integrate AI systems at several stages which might be directly or indirectly informing the use of force. Reports about uses of AI DSS are coming from war zones around the globe, such as the latest...
29.11.24 | |

23 Jan

...for the rest. Now we are not even using people, but rather machines (some remotely controlled, others actually autonomous) in a variety of missions. We currently have about 5,000 aerial drones in Iraq (some armed, others not) and something like 12,000 ground robots (we started the war with none) that do things ranging from shooting at incoming missiles and mortar fire (!) to sweeping for IEDs (using a robot based on the household cleaning Roomba, believe it or not). If we are not even sending people to war but machines,...
23.01.09 | |

01 Jan

...1, 2, 3). There was even some tart satire. Opinio Juris bloggers brought their own perspectives to the many debates this past year concerning different aspects of national security policy. For example, Deborah tracked the legal issues concerning drones, considering both US law and international law and also focusing in on the CIA’s approach to drones, while Kevin argued why the public authority defense would not apply to the CIA targeted killing of a US citizen, and Peter addressed the overlap of nationality issues and the regulation of NSA intelligence...
01.01.14 | |

05 Feb

The US Department of Justice’s White Paper justifying its drone strike and targeted killing program was leaked to NBC yesterday. The story is here, the white paper is here. Kevin Jon Heller already has early analysis pieces on OJ here and here. Although not yet formally approved, US military leaders have agreed to pre-emptive cyber strikes in the face of an imminent and large scale digital attack. Mike Lewis has an op-ed in the LA Times making the case for drones. EJIL: Talk! has a post about the UK’s use...
05.02.13 | |

23 Oct

Let’s just say international law was not a fulcrum in last night’s debate. It’s not like the topic was being discriminated against — many important topics were ignored. (Among them the Eurozone crisis, climate change, cyberwar, NATO, anything much of Asia beyond China, Mexico or Canada.) Bob Scheiffer asked a question about drones, which Romney answered by agreeing with the Obama approach and which Obama answered not at all. The words “international law” were actually uttered by Obama in the context of “atrocities” committed by Iran, this after Romney suggested,...
23.10.12 | |

26 Feb

...the place of law; Kevin has detailed instances in which the Obama administration took positions that were inimical to international law. In short, interactions can lead to invalid interpretation, and the internalization of principles, norms, or legal positions that are inconsistent with established international law. Consider one example that was referred to in Harold’s article, and which was also touched on by both Kevin and Laura – the targeted killing of suspected terrorists with drones in non-consenting states, away from traditional theatres of armed conflict. This one policy has been...
26.02.18 | |

04 Feb

Though he admits that evidence that came from enhanced interrogation techniques was used to find Osama Bin Laden, outgoing Secretary of Defense and former CIA chief who oversaw the Bin Laden operation, Leon Panetta, has said that Bin Laden could have been found without resorting to torture. The German Defense Ministry has confirmed Germany will acquire armed drones. The number three leader of Ansar al Dine in Northern Mali has been arrested near the Algerian border. The US and Iran seem to be serious about negotiations about Iran’s developing nuclear...
04.02.13 | |

12 Mar

...that it is instead just a series of political arrangements, that was an early warning that our officials live in a different world than the people they are supposed to serve. The Obama administration is not much better. The State Department believes that international law is law, but it argues that it is legal for President Obama to use drones to kill suspected terrorists, even if innocent people around them are also killed. Even if international law is law, what good is it if our executive branch claims that it...
12.03.12 | |

09 Nov

This week on Opinio Juris, we brought you a healthy diet of treaties, chemical weapons, drones, and a sprinkle of terrorism. Duncan rounded up various treaty related news items this week, and argued that US treaty practice does not have to be a zero-sum game. Peter posted about the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee’s hearings on a possible Understanding that would limit anxieties about the domestic impact of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. The main event this week however happened across the street from the...
09.11.13 | |

30 Jul

[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....
30.07.12 | |

19 Apr

...were fired into the Israeli resort town of Eilat, both causing no injuries. The President of the ICRC, Peter Maurer, has urged the United States to exercise a “very restrained use of drones” in their strategy against al-Qaeda, reiterating that if drones are used outside of a recognized armed conflict, “there is a problem.” EJIL: Talk! has a post by Gena Heathcote entitled: Is it the right time to reconsider jus ad bellum proportionality? A response to Kretzmer’s “The inherent right to self-defense and proportionality in jus ad bellum.“ Over...
19.04.13 | |