ISIS
411 Articles
Why Accountability for Iraq’s Militias Matters
Iraq is awash with daily atrocities, with the Islamic State (ISIL) reportedly burying people alive, drowning people in submerged cages, detonating explosives around victims’…
Is it legal to target ISIL’s oil facilities and cash stockpiles?
An important story in yesterday’s New York Times explains how the U.S. and coalition forces have dramatically increased their targeting of ISIL’s oil facilities (including…
Recap of Recent Posts on Just Security (May 14–20)
I. Guantánamo & ISIL Detainees Steve Vladeck, Can Detainees Plead Their Way Out of Guantánamo? (Tuesday, May 17) Jonathan Horowitz, The US’ Failure to Plan for ISIL…
The US’ Failure to Plan for ISIL Detention Operations is a Flawed Approach
When it comes to detaining ISIL suspects in Iraq and Syria, the US is taking a hands-off approach. The New York Times reported last week that the US is not planning to engage in…
The UK’s Report on Drones and Targeted Killing Leaves Unanswered Questions
Yesterday, the British Parliament’s Joint Committee on Human Rights published the report of its months-long inquiry into the use of drones for targeted killing. The 110-page…
Why Captain Smith’s suit to enforce the War Powers Resolution won’t be a big deal
Last week, Army Captain Nathan Michael Smith filed a federal court suit against President Obama, seeking a declaration that the War Powers Resolution requires the President to…
Obama Shouldn’t Wait for Congress to Ensure He Leaves Behind a Clearly Defined War
Against the backdrop of a collapsing ceasefire in Syria, President Obama announced last week that he approved the deployment of an additional 250 special operations troops to Syria,…
Congress’s Embarrassingly Empty (National Security) Record
This week, we learned the United States will send 250 special operations troops to the war in Syria, bringing the publicly known total number of American troops operating in the…
The Long War: The Real Threat of Militant Islamic Extremism
There has been much public criticism concerning European counterterrorism failings in the wake of the Paris and Brussels attacks. It has been widely reported in the media that…
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…
[UPDATED–Now with VIDEO] ASIL Speech by State Legal Adviser Egan on international law and the use of force against ISIL
Brian Egan, the new State Legal Adviser — and until recently the Legal Adviser to the National Security Council — just delivered this speech to the American Society of International…