War Powers
173 Articles
The Obama Legal Team and the Lawfulness of Attacking Assad
Editor’s note: This post also appears on Charlie Savage’s blog Power Wars and Lawfare. Several prominent law professors who were formerly members of the Obama national security…
“Effective” Policy in Syria: Ambassador Robert Ford’s View
I wrote here yesterday in response to a post by Marty Lederman and Ashley Deeks about the recent, much-publicized dissent channel cable signed by 51 US diplomats. While my discussion…
Another Legal View of the Dissent Channel Cable on Syria
Since Vietnam, East Pakistan, and the Balkans, it has been a time-honored tradition that State Department officials who disagree with official policy may challenge it through the…
Would airstrikes against Assad be lawful and effective?: Reactions to the State “dissent cable”
Editor’s note: This post also appears on Lawfare. As you have probably read, 51 career foreign service officers in the State Department have written an internal memorandum recommending…
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…
Moves toward greater transparency on the use of lethal force [UPDATED]
Unless I’m overlooking something, this weekend’s strike directed at Taliban leader Mullah Akhtar Muhammad Mansur, in the province of Baluchistan, was only the second…
Why Captain Smith’s suit to enforce the War Powers Resolution won’t be a big deal
Last week, Army Captain Nathan Michael Smith filed a federal court suit against President Obama, seeking a declaration that the War Powers Resolution requires the President to…
Obama Shouldn’t Wait for Congress to Ensure He Leaves Behind a Clearly Defined War
Against the backdrop of a collapsing ceasefire in Syria, President Obama announced last week that he approved the deployment of an additional 250 special operations troops to Syria,…
Are all “members” of ISIL targetable?
Rita Siemion and Heather Brandon of Human Rights First have published a comprehensive post on some of the more important aspects of Brian Egan’s speech to ASIL. (My own…
International Law à la Carte: Brian Egan’s Jus ad Bellum Doctrine
Last week’s speech by State Department Legal Adviser Brian Egan laying out the legal and policy rationales behind the US’s war against ISIL was largely overlooked in the mainstream…
Should (and can) the CIA use non-covert force against ISIL in Iraq and Syria?
Ken Delanian of NBC has an important new story (written and video) about an apparent interbranch dispute concerning whether the CIA should be authorized to use force against ISIL…
Obama’s Plan Is Not a Guantánamo North
President Obama’s plan to close Guantánamo has seemingly been criticized by all sides of the political spectrum. At a hearing before the House Foreign Affairs Committee this…