In addition to Brennan’s fascinating remarks on targeting, etc. last night, which Marty reprints below, he took occasion to address the legislation now pending in Congress that aims to guide (to use a word) U.S. terrorism detention operations. For those who lost track over the summer, when last we left off, both houses of Congress were considering bills that...
A quick note to suggest that those interested in intelligence and surveillance topics check out the latest issue of the Journal of National Security Law & Policy, which features a host of interesting articles on U.S. and international law and intelligence collection by folks like Geoff Stone, Craig Forcese, and Steve Vladeck. I’d especially recommend the piece by David...
Cross posted at Balkinization Big news in the past day is the Obama administration’s announcement that a Somali national captured by the U.S. military somewhere in the Gulf has been transferred to New York for federal prosecution on terrorism-related charges. According to the Justice Department (DOJ), the man, Warsame, was “questioned for intelligence purposes for more than two months” after his...
Ben Wittes, long an advocate for clearer domestic legislation authorizing U.S. detention operations, writes to ask whether my recent post favoring the Senate’s over the House’s version of pending legislation signals a shift in my position opposing new such legislation. The short answer is no. Here’s why. I’d praised the Senate’s draft of force authorization language as follows: “Where...
The past week has seen various developments in Congress’ efforts to consider legislation regulating the detention of ‘unprivileged enemy belligerents’ at Guantanamo and beyond. Most notable, the Senate finally released the language of its version of the defense authorization bill, and it includes a number of provisions that parallel those passed by the House of Representatives back in May....
Some of you will recall the series of posts a few weeks back about the new authorization for use of military force (AUMF) legislation that the House of Representatives debated and passed at the end of May. Among other things, the bill would prohibit the use of Defense Department funds to transfer Guantanamo detainees to the United States for...
For those who follow these topics, two items of note. First, an AP story today reports that the United States is building a secret CIA air base in the Persian Gulf region to support U.S. targeting operations in Yemen. The story is sourced to anonymous government officials, and reports that “U.S. forces have stepped up their targeting as well, because...
In a post last week, I recommended Human Rights First’s new report on U.S. detention and trial operations in Afghanistan for its insights into the evolving situation there. I also raised a question about the legal framework the report used to analyze the sufficiency of detention procedures. HRF (in my view correctly) describes the current conflict in Afghanistan as a...
Cross-posted at Balkinization Bobby Chesney writes back with a thoughtful post responding to my question about whether the United States has forward-going detention needs in its counterterrorism operations that are currently unmet by the 2001 statute known as the AUMF. The question arises in light of Congress’ current debate over whether to pass (as the House already has) new legislation...
Cross-posted at Balkinization The U.S. House of Representatives today passed its version of the 2012 National Defense Authorization Act, including provisions that prevent any of the Gitmo detainees (or indeed any terrorism suspects) from being subject to criminal trial, and also “affirms that the United States is engaged in an armed conflict with al-Qaeda, the Taliban, and associated forces,” whomever those...
Cross-posted at Balkinization Congress is debating a defense authorization bill this week that would not only prohibit the use of Defense Department funds to transfer Guantanamo detainees to the United States for criminal prosecution, but also effectively double down on the Authorization for Use of Military Force (AUMF) legislation Congress passed just after the attacks of 9/11. Here’s the bill....
Nothing like the end of the semester as a cure for one’s reading pile. In addition to Marty Lederman’s post on the bin Laden targeting below (great to have him back in the blogosphere!), I’d recommend the following reports you might have missed. First, back in April, around the time the Times published its account based on Wikileaks documents...
