Terrorism & Violent Extremism
Just Security provides expert legal and policy analysis of terrorism, counterterrorism, and domestic and international violent extremism.
2,224 Articles
After the NDAA Veto: Now What?
This time, he’s serious. After all these years of unexecuted veto threats, on October 22, 2015, President Obama finally vetoed the $612 billion National Defense and Authorization…
The Latest Stumbling Block in the 9/11 Case: Self-Representation and Classified Evidence
Can a military commission defendant represent himself if he can’t see the classified evidence against him? That’s the outstanding issue in the 9/11 case taking place at the…
The UN Security Council’s New Resolution on Women, Peace, and Security
The United Nations Security Council this week unanimously adopted a new resolution on women, peace, and security meant to improve the UN’s agenda for these issues. The new resolution (UNSCR…
The Obama Administration’s Misguided Opposition to Tariq Ba Odah’s Request for Judicial Relief
On October 15, a federal district court in Washington, DC, will hear argument in Ba Odah v. Obama, a habeas challenge by a Guantánamo detainee whose prolonged hunger strike has…
Congressional Due Process Failure: A Benghazi Example
The consequences of congressional scrutiny can be profound for the subjects of lawmakers’ investigations, yet the second Congress calls, almost none of the safeguards of the…
Letter to the Editor: To Combat Extremism, We Will Need More Than Words
Earlier this week, the UN hosted a high level meeting in response to President Obama’s call for a new strategy to “combat violent extremism.” As Syrian refugees flee to Europe…
The Bass-Ackwards Detainee Transfer Provision in the FY2016 NDAA
There’s a lot to say about the 1,915-page National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2016 that was unveiled yesterday by the House and Senate Armed Services…
The AUMF, ISIL, and… FOIA?
Earlier today on Twitter, USA Today‘s Brad Heath posted the key paragraphs from DOJ’s denial of his FOIA request for any OLC memos relating to the applicability of…
The First Case for the ICC Prosecutor: Attacks on Cultural Heritage
Over the weekend, the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC), Fatou Bensouda, announced an arrest in the Mali situation, charging Ahmad Al Faqi Al Mahdi with the…
A Short (Yet Still Forlorn) Reply in the Taliban Sources Project Debate
It appears from the reply of Shaheed Fatima to my earlier post that the UK’s counterterrorism legislation is engendering ever deeper difficulties in gauging its meaning and impacts.…
D.C. Circuit Grants Rehearing En Banc in al Bahlul (and Highlights My Poor Math Skills)
This afternoon, the D.C. Circuit granted rehearing en banc in al Bahlul v. United States, the constitutional challenge to the Guantánamo military commissions’ authority to try…
UK’s Legal Rationale for Drone Strikes Differs Fundamentally From US Rationale
Much of the public commentary concerning the UK’s targeted strike in Syria against a British national who had joined ISIS (along with other individuals with him at the time)…