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A Rejoinder to Jeff Kahn on Latif and Fundamental Rights
In Jeff Kahn’s response today to my post last week about American citizens’ right not to be stranded abroad by their government, Jeff asks more about my views: “Is international…
A Reply to Margo Schlanger on Latif and Fundamental Rights
Margo Schlanger’s post on Thursday takes as its “vital point” the right of an American citizen to reenter the United States. Margo is responding to Tuesday’s news about…
Abu Khattalah and the Evolution of Ship-Based Detention
The N.Y. Times reports that Ahmed Abu Khattalah arrived in Washington, D.C., this morning by helicopter following his transport across the Atlantic on a Navy warship. Khattalah,…
New Resource — Civil Rights Litigation Clearinghouse FISA Archives
Thanks to Just Security for letting me blog today about a new resource. Obviously there have been load of disclosures about FISA matters over the past year—between the Snowden…
The Bigger No Fly List Problem
Yesterday, Judge Anna Brown issued her much-anticipated opinion in Latif v. Holder, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon. As Jennifer Daskal explained in her excellent…
Is al-Qaeda in Iraq?
As an analyst in the CIA’s Counterterrorism Center, I spent four years as one of the agency’s leading experts on al-Qaeda’s affiliate in Iraq. Thus, the debate on Just Security…
The Trial of Ex-Blackwater: An Overview of the Competing Stories
Opening statements in the trial of the four Blackwater members alleged to have carried out the killings in Nisour Square, Baghdad, Iraq ended in Washington D.C. this week. On Tuesday…
Autonomous Weapons Debate: Three issues for further consideration
As recently reported by Sarah Knuckey and Bonnie Docherty, the “Certain Conventional Weapons (CCW) Informal Meeting of Experts on Lethal Autonomous Weapons Systems” was held…
The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court: Is Reform Needed?
With the advent of the Edward Snowden leaks commencing in June 2013, much has been written about Snowden and the United States intelligence community. This short blog post examines…
Interpretation and Retaliation in the Obama Administration
Caitlin Hayden’s statement last week on “why it was lawful” to exchange five Taliban prisoners held at Guantanamo for Sergeant Bergdahl, “notwithstanding the notice requirement…
Sgt. Bergdahl and the High Priority to Recover Missing Soldiers
So far as I can tell, the issue of whether Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl was a deserter is an issue that has very little relevance to any question of the legality or wisdom of the US…
Is Edward Snowden Engaged in Civil Disobedience? —A Response to Glennon
In his recent post, “Is Snowden Obliged to Accept Punishment?,” Michael Glennon takes on Edward Snowden’s critics who argue that the former contractor’s unwillingness to…