Military
919 Articles
The Bergdahl Exchange [Fifth UPDATE (with clarification)]
This is truly wonderful news. The five Taliban detainees transferred to Qatar apparently are: Abdul Haq Wasiq (ISN 004) Mullah Norullah Noori (ISN 006) Mullah Mohammad Fazl (ISN…
Targeting Transparency: A Call for DoD to Automatically Release Investigations of Civilian Casualties in Armed Conflict
There has been much discussion on the lack of demonstrable government follow through after President Obama’s 2013 claims of increased transparency of US lethal targeting of suspected…
Ending the Forever War: One Year After President Obama’s NDU Speech
Today, May 23, 2014, marks the one-year anniversary of President’s important speech at the National Defense University (NDU) setting forth his proposed framework for post-9/11…
Letter to the Editor from former U.S. Army JAG replying to Ryan Goodman on recent amends legislation
As a former judge advocate of the U.S. Army who served as a claims officer in Iraq for 14 months, I strongly support the new statute that allows for payments to be offered to civilian…
New study may explode some myths about drones (and may create new ones)
The CNA Corporation, a non-profit research and analysis organization which runs the Center for Naval Analyses, recently published an important report by Larry Lewis, entitled Drone…
New Statute Provides Amends to Foreign Civilians Killed by the United States – but only if they’re “friendly”
Earlier this month, Just Security published a guest post by Sahr Muhammedally outlining a new congressional statute whereby the Defense Department can now move ahead in establishing…
UK Defence Select Committee: Extensive legal scrutiny undermining willingness of commanders to take necessary risks
The UK’s House of Commons Defence Select Committee published a report on Wednesday [full text] concerning the legal framework for future operations of the armed forces. The…
Civilian War Victims Receive Recognition in US Law
When the US military was deployed to Afghanistan and Iraq, it had no plan for addressing civilian casualties despite following rules prohibiting disproportionate or deliberate…
Rep. Schiff Op-Ed in NYT: moving drone program from CIA to JSOC would result in more transparency — But is he right?
Today, Representative Adam Schiff has an opinion piece in the New York Times where he advocates that Congress should allow the President to move the drone program from the CIA…
Missing Transparency: Is the US Response to Reported Drone Attack on Wedding Party Self-Defeating?
On Thursday, Human Rights Watch (HRW) released a fact-intensive report based on the group’s investigations into a US drone strike that allegedly hit a wedding party in Yemen…
General Stanley McChrystal Discusses the Downsides of Drones
In an interview with BBC Radio 4, General Stanley McChrystal, the retired commander of forces in Afghanistan, stated his general view that the use of drones will and should increase.…
US Announces Investigation into Wedding Convoy Drone Strike: A Step Toward Accountability?
Last night, NBC’s Michael Isikoff reported that (anonymous) US officials said: “The Obama administration has launched an internal investigation into a Dec. 12 drone strike…