A video clip of Defense Secretary James Mattis speaking with troops deployed in Jordan has been making the rounds on various social media outlets, with varied and strong reactions. Upon seeing the clip, I noted on Twitter, “Mattis is reflecting a line I have from many (mil esp but also civ): society is gone to hell and mil is only + last bastion of virtue.” A lively discussion ensued between current and former military personnel, academics and national security professionals about what he said.…   continue »

The week of confirmation hearings is over, and it’s time to take stock of what we have learned from the people the President-elect has nominated to lead his administration in areas of national security. On many of Mr. Trump’s most troubling campaign promises (especially in the national security sphere), the nominees disagreed with their new boss.…   continue »

Retired Gen. James Mattis, President-elect Donald Trump’s choice to be defense secretary, will appear before the Senate Armed Services Committee Thursday at 9:30 a.m. Rep. Mike Pompeo (R-Kansas), Trump’s pick to lead the CIA, was set to appear before the Senate Intelligence Committee on Wednesday, but his hearing was moved to Thursday.…   continue »

[Editor’s Note: On Tuesday, the Department of Defense released an updated version of its Law of War Manual. Just Security is hosting an online “mini forum” to discuss the new changes to the Manual.]

An important function of the 2015 DoD Law of War Manual has been to address longstanding confusion concerning the U.S.…   continue »

The Defense Department published new revisions to its Law of War Manual this evening. This is the second time the document has been changed since it was first released in the summer of 2015. The first round of revisions focused on the section on journalism and changed some of the language to provide greater legal protection to reporters working in war zones.…   continue »

In a recent post, Marty Lederman echoed criticisms previously leveled by Oona Hathaway about the US DOD’s Law of War Manual. The thrust of their criticism is that several Manual provisions improperly state customary international law regarding the protection to be afforded to civilians.…   continue »

Editor’s note: This post also appears on Lawfare.

Earlier this year, we wrote about the US Government’s broken pre-publication review process (see here, here, here, here, and here). Last week, the Defense Department’s Inspector General released a report titled Review of the Policies for Prepublication Review of DoD Classified or Sensitive Information to Ensure no DoD Sensitive or Classified Information is Released to the Media.…   continue »

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 Department Law of War Manual — section 7.8.2.1 — that I initially found puzzling.…   continue »

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 time that the United States has publicly acknowledged a particular use of force in Pakistan — the first occasion being the operation against Osama bin Laden. …   continue »

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) hospital in Kunduz, Afghanistan by US forces. The attack killed 42 civilians and wounded dozens of others.…   continue »