Al Qaeda
203 Articles
Episode 42 of the National Security Law Podcast: The Magic Bullet Travel Ban(d)
In this week’s episode, Bobby Chesney and I start with a close look at Smith v. Trump, a case that seeks a judicial ruling on whether the Islamic State really falls within…
Pluses and Minuses of the Imminence Standard in Counterterrorism Strikes
Last month, I wrote on the revisions that the Trump Administration reportedly plans to make to President Obama’s drone policy. The piece set off a robust conversation with…
What next for Raqqa?
The military battle for Raqqa city appears to be over. The Syria Democratic Forces (SDF), with support from the US-led coalition, seized the Raqqa National Hospital, one of the…
How Obama’s Drones Rulebook Enabled Trump
In Trump’s New Drone Strike Policy: What’s Any Different? Why It Matters, Luke Hartig astutely flags some – but not all – of the key dangers in the Trump administration’s…
Bringing the AUMF Debate Back to its Constitutional Roots, and Recent History
A U.S. Army howitzer firing at Islamic State positions in Iraq in 2016. Last Friday, Rita Siemion published an insightful analysis of the Trump Administration’s first meaningful…
Hyping the Terrorist Threat: Trump Makes an Old Problem Worse
For the better part of two decades, American policymakers have struggled to explain the nature of the terrorist threat facing the United States. Mayors, governors, and members…
U.S.-Supported Government in Yemen Has Ties to Al-Qaeda
Defense secretary Jim Mattis has described Syria as “the most complex civil war probably raging on the planet at this time,” but Yemen is giving it a run for its money. In…
Hitting Iran Where It Doesn’t Hurt: Why U.S. Intervention in Yemen Will Backfire
It’s tempting to take last weekend’s attacks on al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) targets as evidence that the Trump administration is prioritizing narrow counterterrorism…
Rare U.S. Military Acknowledgment of Civilian Casualties in Yemen—Concerns about transparency persist
In a rare acknowledgment, the U.S. military admitted last night that civilians, including children, “were likely killed” in the commando raid in Yemen on Sunday. This acknowledgment…
Recommendations to the New President on Countering WMD and Terrorism
After the U.S. Presidential election, we are entering a particularly vulnerable period as militant Islamists seek to test the new American president just as al-Qaeda (AQ) tested…
Does JASTA Violate International Law?
The Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act (JASTA) is now the law of the United States, Congress having overridden President Obama’s veto of the bill. Among other things,…
Just Security’s Questions for Clinton and Trump
Given the importance of tonight’s prime-time debate between US presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, we’re again running our list of vital national…