Terrorism & Violent Extremism
Just Security provides expert legal and policy analysis of terrorism, counterterrorism, and domestic and international violent extremism.
2,225 Articles

Sparring Over the 9/11 Trial Recusal Motion
Anyone who’s been following the military commission prosecution of the five alleged 9/11 plotters at Guantánamo Bay is likely familiar with some of the absurd happenings in…

A Return to Torture? Unlikely
One could be forgiven for thinking that all signs point towards torture making a comeback. Calls for the resumption of torture have been disturbingly prominent in this year’s…

Why the D.C. Circuit Can’t Really Duck the Article III Issue in Al Bahlul
As one of those who spends parts of his Tuesday and Friday mornings trolling PACER for new D.C. Circuit rulings (which appear there before they’re posted on the Court of…

Forced Nudity: What International Law and Practice Tell Us
A number of weeks ago it was revealed that CIA operatives systematically photographed detainees who were being held as part of the “war on terror” while naked. It…

Roof Knocking and the Problem of Talking With Bombs
“Roof knocking” is a controversial method of bombing ostensibly intended to minimize civilian casualties. Israel introduced the method in its campaign in Gaza in 2008–2009,…

Recap of the Recent Posts on Just Security (May 21–27)
I. Guantánamo Jen Daskal, Guilty Pleas For GTMO Detainees (Without Ever Setting Foot on US Soil) (Monday, May 23) II. Transparency, Legality & the the Use of Force David…

Why Accountability for Iraq’s Militias Matters
Iraq is awash with daily atrocities, with the Islamic State (ISIL) reportedly burying people alive, drowning people in submerged cages, detonating explosives around victims’…

Is it legal to target ISIL’s oil facilities and cash stockpiles?
An important story in yesterday’s New York Times explains how the U.S. and coalition forces have dramatically increased their targeting of ISIL’s oil facilities (including…

Will Justice Sotomayor Recuse in Turkmen?
As Marcia Coyle reported last week in The National Law Journal, and as I predicted back in December, the Solicitor General has filed a petition for certiorari in Ashcroft v.…

Guilty Pleas For GTMO Detainees (Without Ever Setting Foot on US Soil)
Last week Steve wrote about the then-not-yet public provision in the Senate version of the FY2017 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) that would permit Guantánamo detainees…

Recap of Recent Posts on Just Security (May 14–20)
I. Guantánamo & ISIL Detainees Steve Vladeck, Can Detainees Plead Their Way Out of Guantánamo? (Tuesday, May 17) Jonathan Horowitz, The US’ Failure to Plan for ISIL…

Why Federal Agencies Must Still Preserve (and Should Finally Read) the SSCI Torture Report
This week’s news that the CIA’s Office of Inspector General destroyed two copies of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence Report (SSCI Report) on the CIA’s Detention…