Al Qaeda
200 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…

Judge (Justice?) Merrick Garland & International Law
I recently had occasion to review the international law jurisprudence of Judge Merrick Garland as part of an evaluation prepared by the American Bar Association’s Standing Committee…

The Early Edition: June 20, 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 and SYRIA The Kremlin…

JASTA and Reciprocity
In April, Curt Bradley and Jack Goldsmith wrote in The New York Times that the Justice Against State Sponsors of Terrorism Act (JASTA) then under consideration in the Senate —…

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…

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…

When Did the War With al-Qaeda Start?
On Wednesday, the DC Circuit is scheduled to hear oral arguments on a request to halt the military commission prosecution of Guantánamo detainee Abd al-Rahim Hussein al-Nashiri.…

Power Wars Symposium: Further on the law of the bin Laden operation, Part II
Editor’s Note: This is the third entry in a symposium Just Security is hosting in conjunction with this week’s release of Power Wars: Inside Obama’s Post-9/11 Presidency by…

Power Wars Symposium: Further on the law of the bin Laden operation, Part I
Editor’s Note: This is the second entry in a symposium Just Security is hosting in conjunction with this week’s release of Power Wars: Inside Obama’s Post-9/11 Presidency by…

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 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…