Department of Defense (DoD)
290 Articles
Precautions to Minimize Civilian Harm are a Fundamental Principle of the Law of War
Editor’s Note: Just Security is holding a “mini forum” on the new Defense Department Law of War Manual. This series includes posts from Sean Watts, Eric Jensen, Adil Ahmad…
DOD’s Unbalanced Stance on Precautions Against Harming Civilians
Editor’s Note: Just Security is holding a “mini forum” on the new Defense Department Law of War Manual. This series includes posts from Sean Watts, Eric Jensen, and others.…
Law of War Manual: Information or Authoritative Guidance?
Editor’s Note: Just Security is holding a “mini forum” on the new Defense Department Law of War Manual. This series includes posts from Sean Watts and others. After reviewing…
The DOD Law of War Manual’s Return to Principles
Editor’s Note: Just Security is holding a “mini forum” on the new Defense Department Law of War Manual. This post is the first in a series. Stay tuned for more from Eric…
The Defense Department Stands Alone on Target Selection
A deeply troubling provision in the Defense Department’s new Law of War Manual suggests that commanders are not legally required to minimize civilian casualties when selecting…
Human Shields and Proportionality: A Reply to Charlie Dunlap
In its new Law of War Manual, the Defense Department takes the position that harm to human shields, no matter how extensive, will be “understood not to prohibit attacks under…
The OPM Hack and the New DOD Law of War Manual
Last Friday was a big day in cybersecurity news. OPM announced that, in addition to the compromise of the personnel information of federal employees revealed on June 4, Chinese…
The Law of War Manual is here (no, really)
The last time the U.S. Department of Defense published a comprehensive manual on the law of war was in 1956, when Richard Baxter set the standard. Much has happened since then–the…
Why not, Secretary Carter?
Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula has announced that a U.S. drone strike recently killed one of AQAP’s senior commanders, Nasr Ibn Ali al-Ansi. This would, of course,…
The DoD detainee directive and its definition of “unprivileged belligerency”
I appreciate both Professor Lederman’s (1 and 2) and Mr. Rona’s (1 and 2) thoughtful comments regarding the re-issued DoD Directive on detention (DoDD 2310.01E), and particularly…
Guest Post: A Reply to Ryan Vogel and Marty Lederman on DoD Directive 2310.01E [Updated]
Time and again since 9/11 we’ve seen laws, regulations and government officials say one thing, but when awkward facts come to light, we find out that they meant something…
A Response on Department of Defense Directive 2310.01E (Detainee Program)
Over the past couple weeks, Steve Vladeck, Gabor Rona, and Marty Lederman have posted comments and raised some questions about the new Department of Defense (DoD) detainee directive…