Search: self-defense
17 May Book Discussion “Outsourcing War and Peace”: Government Contracts Can Be a Tool to Help Protect Public Values
...24,000 private security contractors (PSCs) hired by Defense and USAID in Afghanistan have not been vetted properly. Despite the increasing dependence on PSCS, Trent said that “neither USAID nor [DOS] systemically tracks information on PSC personnel,” a point that a Government Accountability Office Report last fall hammered home as well when it criticized State, Defense, and USAID for failures stemming from the Synchronized Predeployment Operational Tracker (SPOT Database): “SPOT does not provide a reliable means of obtaining information on orders and subawards.”(at 23) The SIGAR also emphasized that our government...22 Sep In Defense of the United Nations (at least in Cambodia)
Chapman lawprof John Hall has a curious op-ed in the WSJ (subscription required) attacking the Cambodia hybrid war crimes court. He calls it “another U.N. corruption scandal in the making.” But this is really unfair to the U.N. (and when was the last time I wrote that sentence, maybe never?) Professor Hall is really arguing that the problem with Cambodian court is too much control and participation by local Cambodian lawyers and judges who are controlled by the current governing regime. Fair enough. But this isn’t really, or...15 May I Can’t Wait to See Neal Katyal’s Argument In Defense of Military Commissions
...up my guitar and play Just like yesterday No, no! I'll move myself and my family aside If we happen to be left half alive I'll get all my papers and smile at the sky For I know that the hypnotized never lie Do ya? YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH! There's nothing in the street Looks any different to me And the slogans are replaced, by-the-bye And the parting on the left Is now the parting on the right And the beards have all grown longer overnight I'll tip my hat to the new...11 Nov Reverse Forum Shopping
I was in Miami for the weekend speaking at a conference sponsored by the American Bar Association and the International Bar Association on the topic of mass claims in developing countries. Many lawyers in the room were defense counsel for prominent corporations subject to new claims for violations of international or foreign law. There were also plenty of plaintiff lawyers, which made for interesting discussion. One of the issues that I discussed in my presentation was “reverse forum shopping.” Here is what appears to be happening with many of the...05 Dec "Why Don’t You Just Execute Us?"
legal conception that this should not be so; just as the United States of America, … always demanded that neutrals, or neutrals and representatives of all parties, should be called to the Bench….” But this motion was not filed by defense counsel for Saddam Hussein. No, this motion was filed in November 1945 by defense counsel near the beginning of the Nuremberg trial challenging the legitimacy of that tribunal. Today, Saddam Hussein is trying the same approach. Here is a brief excerpt of the exchange at Hussein’s trial today: Judge:...29 Jun Can Congress Reverse Hamdan? (Updated)
...detained by the Department of Defense at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. These detainees may be tried via laws of war or pursuant to the Department of Defense’s Military Commission Instruction Number Two. Section 305: Appellate Jurisdiction: Under this title the U.S. Courts of Military Appeals shall have exclusive jurisdiction over appeals from all final decisions of a classification tribunal board or military commission. These decisions are then subject to review by the Supreme Court by writ of certiorari. Section 306: Military Commission: Establishes the military commissions; consisting of three military officers,...06 Dec Rice Offers Legal Defense of Rendition
...statement' with 'stonewall'. Seriously now, everyone is entitled to a personal opinion on how to deal with one's enemies (including advocacy of pre-enlightment techniques, as the anonymous poster above does). But when such individual is a college professor, even if its at the blog level, he should be much more careful with his choice of words when commenting on very serious allegations of very serious international law infringements. Diogenes My question is this: Does Julian desperately want to believe or is he participating in the charade himself? Condi's statements were...
23 Feb Pathways to Justice for the Downing of Flight PS752
...we fight for and what unites us is justice, justice, justice.” In the early hours of January 8, 2020, Iran carried out missile strikes against US bases in Iraq in retaliation for the assassination of Qassem Soleimani, head of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ (IRGC) Quds Force. The IRGC expected US retaliation within minutes and therefore added air defense systems to the Tehran vicinity. Despite the immediate risks, Iran kept its airspace open to civilian aircraft. Hours later, an IRGC Air Defense Unit (ADU) stationed near Imam Khomeini Airport (IKA) fired two missiles approximately 30 seconds apart...08 Aug A Partial Defense of Hamdan and Judge Roberts
I also want to welcome Professor D’Amato to Opinio Juris. And, in the typical Opinio Juris fashion, I want to welcome him by immediately taking exception to some of the arguments he put forward in his inaugural post. I agree that Judge Roberts should be held responsible for the D.C. Circuit’s decision in Hamdan as much as if he had written the opinion for the Court. I simply don’t find that decision as troubling as Professor D’Amato seems to. First, I guess I don’t find the D.C. Circuit’s...