Military
804 Articles
“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…
A Duty to Disobey?
The United States is in the midst of an uncertain era of complex global threats. Some have described the nation’s defense policy as one of “forever war.” During this…
Technology and Autonomy in Warfare: A Consideration of the Issue by the US Defense Science Review Board
A new report from the Pentagon’s Defense Science Review Board (DSRB) provides a useful examination of the technical issues concerning the fielding of autonomous weapons. Unquestionably,…
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…
Congress Needs to Press the Pentagon, Saudi Arabia on Abuses in Yemen War
On August 9, one day after the Pentagon notified Congress of its intention to sell $1.2 billion in weapons systems to Saudi Arabia, the Saudi-led coalition resumed airstrikes on…
Is it Unconstitutional for the Supreme Court to Hear Court-Martial Appeals?
According to a provocative new amicus brief filed by the Hoover Institution’s Adam White and UVA Law Professor Aditya Bamzai in opposition to certiorari in Akbar v. United…
The CMCR’s Latest (Non-)Decision in al-Nashiri [UPDATED with links to supplemental briefs]
After a very long delay, and a couple of new presidential appointments of military judges to the court (resolving one of the two serious structural problems Steve has described…
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…
Guilty Pleas For GTMO Detainees (Without Ever Setting Foot on US Soil)
Last week Steve wrote about the then-not-yet public provision in the Senate version of the FY2017 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) that would permit Guantánamo detainees…
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…
A Supplement to Steve Vladeck’s Assessment of the Supreme Court’s Treatment of Courts-Martial
Professor Steve Vladeck recently published an interesting analysis of the Supreme Court’s “troubling neglect of courts-martial,” and I agree with most of what he puts forth.…