So, it turns out that the US military was lying through its teeth when it claimed that the three Afghan women murdered during a "bungled" Special Operations attack in Afghanistan six weeks ago were not killed by NATO -- read: American -- forces: NATO military officials had already admitted killing two innocent civilians — a district prosecutor and local police...
Fascinating inside baseball piece on the Obama Administration's internal debate over war on terrorism policy. It features a struggle between the State Department (Harold Koh) and the Defense Department (Jeh Johnson) with the OLC (David Barron) playing referee. The rift has been most pronounced between top lawyers in the State Department and the Pentagon, though it has also involved conflicts among career...
The full text of U.S. State Department Legal Adviser Harold Koh's speech at ASIL can be found here. Ken has already praised it, Kevin (along with Marko Milanovic) have rejected it, and others are staying neutral or reserving judgment. Here is what I took away from the speech: The Obama Administration has now embraced the Bush Administration's position that the U.S....
As I have noted earlier, there is a pitched battle between victims of Pan Am 73 terrorist hijacking over the distribution of treaty funds secured by the United States for American victims in a 2008 diplomatic settlement with Libya. The treaty and Executive Order stipulate that the money shall be distributed solely for the benefit of United States nationals,...
[caption id="attachment_11545" align="alignleft" width="90" caption=" "][/caption] The issues Professor Waxman raises about the relationship between international humanitarian law (IHL) and international criminal law (ICL) are of the highest importance to anyone interested in the regulation of warfare, or, indeed, in international regulation more generally. Certainly, the division of labor between IHL and ICL is not an inevitable one. To some degree, it...
[caption id="attachment_11549" align="alignleft" width="68" caption=" "][/caption] [Matthew Waxman is an Associate Professor of Law at Columbia University Law School.] I am delighted to comment on Professor Blum's provocative and thoughtful Article. The Article highlights in new ways a fundamental tension within international humanitarian law (IHL): that this body of law that disallows "lesser-evil" analysis in many contexts is itself a giant...
[caption id="attachment_11545" align="alignleft" width="90" caption=" "][/caption] [We are pleased to introduce the second part of the YJIL Online Symposium discussion of articles from Vol. 35-1. Today, we are delighted to host a discussion of Gabriella Blum's recent article with a comment by Professor Matthew Waxman later today. Professor Blum is an Assistant Professor of Law at Harvard Law School.]...
[caption id="attachment_11512" align="alignleft" width="120" caption=" "][/caption] It’s an honor to have two so distinguished scholars comment on my article. As always, I learn from reading their commentary and I thank each for his insights. Two quick reactions. First, Professor Johnson raises an interesting semantic question (which I do not address in the article): If a state “unsigns” a treaty, is it still a...
[caption id="attachment_11525" align="alignleft" width="68" caption=" "][/caption] [Larry Johnson is an adjunct professor at Columbia Law School. From 2006-2008, he served at the United Nations Headquarters as the Assistant-Secretary-General for Legal Affairs.] Professor Michael J. Glennon in his post warned American policy-makers to be wary of a “time bomb” that could explode in May – the adoption of a vague, new crime of aggression...
[caption id="attachment_11521" align="alignleft" width="120" caption=" "][/caption] [Anthony Clark Arend is a Professor of Government and Foreign Service at Georgetown University]. When the Obama Administration came into office over a year ago, it was faced with a daunting task. The previous Administration had run rough-shot over international law dealing with the use of military force. A man that would be Attorney General would call...
[caption id="attachment_11512" align="alignleft" width="120" caption=" "][/caption] [Michael J. Glennon is Professor of Law at The Fletcher School at Tufts University] The article addresses a question that is particularly important for the United States. The Obama Administration has begun to express a renewed interest in the International Criminal Court (ICC), after almost a decade of distance between the Court and the United States....
Both Humblelawstudent and Stuart Taylor have criticized my previous post. Both misunderstand the federal torture statute and the concept of torture in important -- and unfortunately all too common -- ways, so it is worth explaining their errors in a separate post. Let's begin with HLS. He claims that, contrary to my assertion, "the statute requires the interrogator to actually...
