Two new excellent accounts about why the torture program won’t be revived

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November 28, 2016

I strongly recommend this post by Jack Goldsmith and this article by Matt Apuzzo and James Risen, following up on this excellent Just Security post by Alex Whiting. 

Featured Articles

A Dozen Questions for Mike Pompeo

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Abandoning Open Skies: Trump Would Be Squandering More of Our Security Inheritance

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The Missing Link: Getting Dirt on Biden Was Key Part of “Investigation into 2016 Election” Too

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“With a Little Help from Our Friends”: Prosecuting the ISIL “Beatles” in U.S. Courts

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Recap of Recent Articles on Just Security (Oct. 14-18)

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Bureaucratic Resistance and the Deep State Myth

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How to Address Newly Revealed Abuses of Section 702 Surveillance

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Bill Barr’s Witch Hunt

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Timeline: Trump, Giuliani, Biden, and Ukrainegate (updated)

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Reassessing U.S. Cyber Operations Against Iran and the Use of Force

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Turkey’s (Latest) Invasion of Syria: Aggression, Proportionality, and Legal Consequences for NATO and Third-Party States

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The FISA Court’s Section 702 Opinions, Part II: Improper Queries and Echoes of “Bulk Collection”

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Career U.S. Officials Testifying to Congress: A Guide from Co-Equal

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Turkey’s Actions Trigger All States’ Obligations to Prosecute War Crimes by Turkish Forces

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Can Turkey be Expelled from NATO? It’s Legally Possible, Whether or Not Politically Prudent

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The Netherlands Releases a Tour de Force on International Law in Cyberspace: Analysis

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Recap of Recent Articles on Just Security (Oct. 7-11)

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The Need for a Bipartisan Stand Against the White House Counsel Letter 

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White House Letter Distorts Both Law and History on Impeachment

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Two Major Distortions in the White House’s Scorched Earth Letter to Congress

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18 Years After 9/11, Why Is Guantánamo Still Open?

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A Formal Vote to Authorize Impeachment Won’t Fix White House Obstruction — And Could Create More Roadblocks

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Returning Foreign Fighters and Their Families Takes on New Urgency After Trump’s Syria Decision

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The Real Decline of OLC

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Open Letter Explains How Responsible Whistleblowers Make America Safer

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Overwhelming Confirmation of Whistleblower Complaint: An Annotation

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Congress Wakes Up, Finally Decides to Tackle Kleptocracy

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Recap of Recent Articles on Just Security (Sept. 30-Oct. 4)

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Know Your Rights: Conversations with Congress

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Ukraine Prosecutor General Announces Audit of Cases Including Firm Linked to Hunter Biden

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Trump’s Extortion of Ukraine Is an Impeachable Abuse of Power

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Ukrainian Funding Delay Created a Paper Trail That Congress Should Follow

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Pompeo’s Letter Is the Trump Administration’s Opening Salvo of Obstruction

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Greg Craig: The Government’s Latest Swing at FARA Enforcement & What Comes Next

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Deciphering the Pompeo-House Clash Over Witnesses

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Bringing the Rule of Law to Sudan

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There Is No Constitutional Impediment to an Impeachment Inquiry that Concerns National Security

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Trump Goes Full Putin—Capitulation Inside the Oval Office

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Top Expert Backgrounder: Trump’s Impeachment–What Comes Next?

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Recap of Recent Articles on Just Security (Sept. 23-27)

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The Iceberg’s Tip: Ukraine Phone Call and the Months-Long Conspiracy to Violate Federal Campaign Finance Laws

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Whistleblower Says White House Took Unusual Steps to Limit Access to Ukraine Call Record

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Trump’s Call to Ukraine May Constitute “Honest Services Fraud”—A Core Crime of Public Corruption

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The Swiftboating of Joe Biden

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The Yemen Project: Open Source Investigations and the Law of War

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The “Quid” is a Crime: No Need to Prove “Pro Quo” in Ukrainegate

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Recap of Recent Articles on Just Security (Sept. 16-20)

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Intel Whistleblower Complaint Q&A Part 2: Constitutional Boogaloo

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Climate Change Denialism Poses a National Security Threat

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Stop Blaming Immigrants for Right-Wing Extremism

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Handling of Whistleblower Complaint Makes It Impossible for IG To Do His Job

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Q&A on Whistleblower Complaint Being Withheld from Congressional Intelligence Committees

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What’s the New Terror Financing Executive Order All About?

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Constitution Day 2019: The Hidden Domestic Surveillance Crisis

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France’s Major Statement on International Law and Cyber: An Assessment

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Guidelines on Investigating Violations of International Humanitarian Law

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Fear and Loathing on the Border: A First-Hand Look at the Travesty

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The UN Report and Indiscriminate Attacks in Yemen

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The UN Yemen Report and Siege Warfare

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Introduction to Just Security Series on UN Yemen Report

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18 Years After 9/11, We Face a New International Terrorist Threat

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Trump and Giuliani’s Quest for Fake Ukraine “Dirt” on Biden: An Explainer

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Why a Judge’s Terrorism Watchlist Ruling is a Game Changer: What Happens Next

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Ending Suffering of Afghanistan’s Civilians is Necessary Condition for Peace Talks

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Recap of Recent Articles on Just Security (Sept. 2-6)

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Trump Cuts “Muscle” from European Defense to Fund Border Wall

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National Security at the United Nations This Week

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Q&A on Court Decision Invalidating Administration’s Terrorism Watchlist

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Yemen: Where Coalitions Come to Die

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How the GOP’s Internal Politics of Raiding Military Construction Projects Will Play Out

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The Pattern and Practice of Trump’s Assaults on the Intelligence Community

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What if a President Committed Genocide or Other Atrocity Crimes?

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The Once and Future Threat of Nuclear Weapon Testing

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Calling Off Iowa’s “Digital Caucuses” Is a Wise Display of Caution

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U.S. Sanctions Against Iran’s Foreign Minister and International Law

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“Domestic Terrorism” Bills Create More Problems Than They Solve

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U.S.-Turkey “Safe Zone” Likely to Add Fuel to Syria Conflict

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Blame Trump, Not the U.S. Code, for His Abuse of Emergency Authority

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“Offshore Processing” in Guatemala: A Deeper Look at the U.S. Asylum Deal

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Second Circuit Gets Civil Forfeiture under the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act Wrong

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Public Document Clearinghouse: Congressional Russia Investigations

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The Tit-for-Tat Dynamics of 21st Century Extremism

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“Fiat Justitia”: Implications of a Canadian Military Justice Decision for International Justice

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Expert Summaries of Mueller Report: A Collection

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Act Now to Celebrate the U.N. Women, Peace and Security Agenda in 2020

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Effective U.S. Grand Strategy Includes Harnessing Diverse Educational Institutions

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Proportionality and 150 Iranian Lives: Do They “Count”?

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The Muddy Middle: The Disappearing Lines in America’s Counterterrorism Wars and How to Restore Order

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Yes, Trump Could Be Indicted If He Leaves Office in 2021, But Is That Likely?

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U.S. Has Legal and Moral Responsibility to Protect Civilians at Rukban in Syria

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Army and Marine Corps Publish New Manual: The Commander’s Handbook on the Law of Land Warfare

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Trump’s Encouraging QAnon May Result in Violence—Just ask the FBI

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The International Security Echo-Chamber: Getting Civil Society Into the Room

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Revisiting General Counsel Ney’s Speech in Light of New Pentagon Leadership

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Questions Surround Secretive US-Guatemala Agreement

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How Congress Can Access the Legal Powers of Impeachment Without a Formal Inquiry

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EU Court of Justice Grapples with U.S. Surveillance in Schrems II

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Mueller Hearing Risks Narrowing the Range of Impeachable Offenses

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After Publishing Strong Evidence of Trump’s Campaign Finance Crimes, DOJ Closes Case Without Explanation

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Criminal Prosecutions and Illegal Entry: A Deeper Dive

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What Did We Learn About Mark Esper and How He Views the World?

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The Supreme Court Just Made It Easier to Conceal Abuse of Migrant Detainees

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“Safe Third Country” Agreements with Mexico and Guatemala would be Unlawful

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Why the ICC’s Judgment in the al-Bashir Case Wasn’t So Surprising

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We Treat America’s Wartime Detainees Better Than Migrant Children

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Policing, U.S. Style: With Little Idea of What Really Works

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Trump’s “Unalienable Rights” Commission Likely to Promote Anti-Rights Agenda 

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Empathy Matters: Leadership in Cyber

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The Massive Perils of the Latest U.N. Resolution on Terrorism

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Self-Defense in International Law: What Level of Evidence?

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Unpacking the State Dept Acknowledgment that 2001 and 2002 AUMFs Don’t Authorize War Against Iran

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Top Expert Backgrounder: Children in Immigration Detention — What are the International Norms?

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Anticipating the President’s Way Around the War Powers Resolution on Iran: Lessons of the 1980s Tanker Wars

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Looking to 2020: A Presidential Pledge for Gender Parity in National Security Appointments

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Did Trump and His Team Successfully Obstruct Mueller’s Investigation?

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Top Expert Backgrounder: Aborted U.S. Strike, Cyber Operation Against Iran and International Law

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U.K. Court Nixes Saudi Arms Sales–What it Means for the US and Other EU Countries

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Top Experts’ Backgrounder: Military Action Against Iran and US Domestic Law

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Journalist Watchlist Raises Specter of Civil Rights-Era Secret Surveillance

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U.S. Cyber Command, Russia and Critical Infrastructure: What Norms and Laws Apply?

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Open Memo 2: The Impeachment Roadmap from 1974 to 2020

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A Side-by-Side Comparison of Barr’s vs. Mueller’s Statements about Special Counsel Report

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Cooking the WMD Books: Politicizing the 2019 State Department Compliance Report

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The Missing Bill Barr Obstruction Analysis

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Bolton’s Stated Predicate for War With Iran Doesn’t Work

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A Critique of Defense Dept General Counsel Ney’s Remarks on the Law of War

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Countering Russia’s Malign Influence Operations

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How Impeachment Proceedings Would Strengthen Congress’s Investigatory Powers

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The American Way of War Includes Fidelity to Law: Preemptive Pardons Break that Code

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Indictment of Assange for Espionage Directly Threatens Press Freedoms

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When Is a “Literally True” Statement False and a Crime

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Bill Barr’s Extreme Views on War Powers Mean Congress’s Window to Stop War with Iran is Now

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Why Robert Mueller Is Right that the Obstruction Statutes Apply to the President

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Why the Arms Trade Treaty Matters – and Why It Matters That the US Is Walking Away

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The Mazars USA Subpoena as an Existential Threat to President Trump

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The Failures of the Mueller Report’s Campaign Finance Analysis

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The Pentagon’s 2018 Civilian Casualties Report: What’s In It and What’s Next

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Amid the Nadler-Barr Standoff: Some History of Struggles Over Hearing Processes

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Guide to the Mueller Report’s Findings on “Collusion”

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Trump Administration’s New Cuba Policy Threatens Discord With U.S. Allies

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Gutting the Substance of a Security Council Resolution on Sexual Violence

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Climate Change: Our Greatest National Security Threat?

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Transparency on Civilian Harm in Somalia Matters – Not Just to Americans

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The Pentagon Wants to Streamline Security Clearances by Using AI. That’s a Dangerous Idea.

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An Insider’s View of the Life-Cycle of Self-Defense Reports by U.N. Member States

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Body Counts Are Terrible Way for the Public to Assess US Counter-Terrorism Operations

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What Comes Next: After Supreme Court Reduced Obstacles to Suing International Organizations

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Citizenship-Stripping and ISIS Members: The Recent UK Experience

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I Helped Write the Exec Order on Public Reporting of Lethal Operations. Here’s What Trump Has Undone.

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BREAKING: United States Supports Germany’s International Arrest Warrant for Accused Syrian War Criminal

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The Seven Step Program for Fighting Disinformation

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Human Rights, Deprivation of Life and National Security: Q&A with Christof Heyns and Yuval Shany on General Comment 36

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Weapons of Mass Consumerism: Why China Wants Your Personal Information

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Executive Agreements: International Lawmaking Without Accountability?

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Annotation of the Pentagon Report to Congress on Detainee Abuse by U.S. Partners in Yemen

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Terrorists and the Southern Border: Myth and Reality

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10 Ways the U.S. Can Curb Interpol Abuses

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No Clean Hands: Reaction and Counter-Reaction in the Iranian-Saudi Proxy War in Yemen

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Need for Change to Protect Children in Armed Conflict

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Accountability Fatigue: A Human Rights Law Problem for Armed Forces?

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Annotation of Sec. Pompeo’s Certification of Yemen War: Civilian Casualties and Saudi-Led Coalition

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Please Support Just Security with a Tax-Deductible Donation

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The Technicolor Zone of Cyberspace, Part 2

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About the Author(s)

Marty Lederman

Professor at the Georgetown University Law Center. He was Deputy Assistant Attorney General at the Office of Legal Counsel from 2009-2010, and Attorney Advisor at the Office of Legal Counsel from 1994-2002. Member of the editorial board of Just Security. You can follow him on Twitter (@marty_lederman).