Civilian Casualties (CIVCAS)
218 Articles
A Just Security Debate!—What’s With the Criticism of the DNI Report on Civilian Casualties?
A U.S. Air Force MQ-1B Predator drone, carrying a Hellfire air-to-surface missile taxis after landing at a secret air base in the Persian Gulf region on January 7, 2016. In a recent…
A Just Security Debate!—What’s Wrong with the DNI Report on Civilian Casualties
[Editor’s Note: For different perspectives, be sure to read a response to Gabor Rona’s article by Ryan Goodman “A Just Security Debate!—What’s With the Criticism…
Campaign Promises of War Crimes: Now a Stain on the Military
As we try to figure out what happened in Yemen during the U.S. military raid on January 28th, there are a host of questions that remain unanswered. Here, we explore another very…
How News Media Can Get Misled by Tough Talk on Killing Terrorists
Image: US airstrike with 2,000lb bombs on ISIS bank in Mosul, Jan. 11, 2016 – CENTCOM Less than a half hour after Donald Trump took the oath of office on Friday, ABC News…
Obama Admin: Only One Civilian Killed by U.S. Outside of War Zones in 2016
On the eve of the inauguration of a new president, the Director of National Intelligence released a report (full text) that summarizes the number of military strikes taken by the…
The Defense Dept’s Law of War Manual: “Exempt” Military Objects and Investigations’ Positive Feedback Loop
Several revisions in the amended U.S. Department of Defense’s Law of War Manual address what military objects might be excluded from a strike list, and what investigations should…
US-led Coalition Needs to Improve ‘Opaque, Ad Hoc’ Process for Reporting Civilian Casualties, New Report Says
President Barack Obama’s July 2016 Executive Order on Civilian Casualties has improved U.S. monitoring and reporting of civilian casualties caused by its airstrikes, but far…
Congress on Track to Extend Condolence Payments to Syrians
The Pentagon will soon have permission from Congress to make condolence payments to the families of civilians killed or injured by American airstrikes in Syria, as well as Iraq…
“Applying the Law of Targeting to the Modern Battlefield” – Full Speech Given by DOD General Counsel Jennifer O’Connor
Below is the speech, “Applying the Law of Targeting to the Modern Battlefield,” given by Jennifer O’Connor, general counsel of the Department of Defense, tonight…
How We Read a NYT Story on UN Responsibility for Peacekeepers’ Misconduct
A new Haitian cholera vaccination program. Image by UN/MINUSTAH/Logan Abassi In this post, we’re trying something attempted once before at Just Security. Below, we present an…
The Good and Bad in the US Government’s Civilian Casualties Announcement
The US government on Friday, July 1 released long-sought information on its views as to how many people it has killed in drone and other strikes “outside areas of active hostilities,”…
The Law of War Manual’s Threat to the Principle of Proportionality
On Saturday, I had the honor of speaking to the Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) USA General Assembly. In preparing for my talk last week, I came across a section of the US Defense…