Afghanistan
362 Articles
Donald Trump’s Wall, David Rieff’s Long War, and the Dangers of Fear-Mongering
This post is the latest installment of our “Monday Reflections” feature, in which a different Just Security editor examines the big stories from the previous week or looks…
The Early Edition: June 17 2016
Before the start of business, Just Security provides a curated summary of up-to-the-minute developments at home and abroad. Here’s today’s news. IRAQ, SYRIA, and THE ISLAMIC…
The Early Edition: June 6, 2016
IRAQ and SYRIA Syrian troops reached the “administrative border” of Raqqa province on Saturday afternoon, under cover of Russian airstrikes. The province is home to the Islamic…
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…
The MSF Airstrike Report: Better on the Facts Than on the Law
The military’s investigation of the October 2015 airstrike on the Médicins Sans Frontières (MSF) hospital in Kunduz, Afghanistan was back in the news last week thanks to highly…
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…
The US’ Failure to Plan for ISIL Detention Operations is a Flawed Approach
When it comes to detaining ISIL suspects in Iraq and Syria, the US is taking a hands-off approach. The New York Times reported last week that the US is not planning to engage in…
Transparency, Review, and Relief: The Far-Reaching Implications of the Kunduz Report
Thus far, many discussions of the US military’s release of a 120-page detailed report of the lawfulness of its attack on the Médicins Sans Frontières (MSF) facility in Kunduz,…
What the Kunduz Report Gets Right (and Wrong)
Over the past week, many thoughtful posts have appeared, here and elsewhere, reacting to the US military’s report on the 2015 airstrike of a Médicins Sans Frontières (MSF)…
Recklessness, War Crimes, and the Kunduz Hospital Bombing
Last Friday, the US military announced that it was disciplining 16 service members involved in the bombing of the Médicins Sans Frontières hospital in Kunduz, Afghanistan that…
US Government Concludes no “War Crimes” in Kunduz Strike, But Fails to Explain Why
The US government’s 120-page report on the Kunduz airstrike — in which US forces killed 42 civilians and destroyed a Médicins Sans Frontières hospital — found that US forces…
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…