I want to believe in the Human Rights Council, and I hope its new members -- including the US -- will improve things. But the HRC's "response" to the conflict in Sri Lanka is simply appalling. Here are a couple of paragraphs from the resolution the Council passed praising the Sri Lankan government, which reads like something out...
Deniz Aydiner wins the honors for one of the dumbest murderers ever. He was indicted for aggravated murder in 2003 and while the investigation was pending he returned to Turkey. The state of Oregon subsequently indicted him and sought to impose the death penalty. But Aydiner missed his wife so much that he just had to return...
I'm not particularly surprised, but I'm still disappointed. Israel's ostensible justification is that the UNHRC resolution that created the fact-finding mission is biased, because it only asked Goldstone to investigate Israeli war crimes. That was a ridiculous move on the UNHRC's part, to be sure -- but one of the very first things Goldstone did was to make...
The more things change, the more things stay the same -- at least with this administration: He had become the most vocal opponent of the trial of Guantanamo Bay detainee Omar Khadr, taking on a position more akin to politician than lawyer and launching a two-year public and media campaign that landed him on the front pages of newspapers and inside...
(Welcome Instapundit readers, and thanks Glenn for the Instalanche! Since you are likely already aware of the Freeman email, the discussion of a 'new liberal realism' is in the second half of the post.) OJ readers being very alert to the latest happenings in international politics, I imagine that folks are aware that Chas Freeman has withdrawn from consideration for a...
I found this article in the Yale Alumni Magazine about Tony Blair's new Faith Foundation absolutely fascinating. Tony Blair is now teaching a course at Yale with the eminent theologian Miroslav Volf on the subject of "Faith and Globalization." According to the article, Blair is trying to use this foundation to encourage interfaith tolerance and dialogue. Given...
ICC silliness doesn't just affect the media. States and NGOs suffer the malady, as well. Case in point: the recent, repeated calls for the ICC to prosecute Israel for war crimes allegedly committed in Gaza. First up, Bolivia: "The Andean state says it is intended to make regional allies take a unified stance against "the Israeli political and military leaders responsible...
The Supreme Court heard oral argument on Monday in the terrorism victim asset attachment case of Iran v. Elahi. (Transcript here). The case is extraordinarily complicated but it boils down to a question of statutory construction. Elahi was one of a handful of terrorism victims who received payment from the United States government under the 2000 Victims...
According to the Guardian, the ICJ may soon have a chance to opine on the numerous legal issues arising out of the current Israel-Hamas conflict in Gaza. The UN general assembly, which is meeting this week to discuss the issue, will consider requesting an advisory opinion from the international court of justice, the Guardian has learned. "There is a well-grounded view...
So this video is obviously intended to defend the actions of the Israeli Defense Forces during their action in Gaza. But it is fascinating in terms of its footage of precise IDF bombings, and its provision by provision discussion of certain relevant provisions of the Geneva Conventions. Obviously, it is a piece of advocacy, but it is effective. Anyone have a...
Amos Guiora has an essay up on Jurist concerning the Israeli military operations in Gaza. He writes: The IDF launched Cast Lead after two significant developments: Hamas had fired 6,000 missiles from the Gaza Strip into southern Israel during the past three years after Israel had unilaterally disengaged from the Gaza Strip and Hamas had unilaterally violated an Egyptian negotiated cease-fire. This...
Those who defend Israel's use of armed force -- in Gaza and elsewhere -- often complain that critics reflexively assume the worst about Israel's intentions. There is more than a grain of truth to that, but Israel doesn't help itself with its inability to admit that faulty intelligence sometimes leads it to make mistakes. Case in point: the attack on...
