PSP for Use of Force

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Side-by-side portraits of Secretary Mark Esper, Department of Defense General Counsel Paul Ney and General Mark Milley.

Revisiting General Counsel Ney’s Speech in Light of New Pentagon Leadership

Former Department of Defense official (OSD) Luke Hartig critiques General Counsel Paul Ney's recent speech on the framework governing US military operations.
U.S. Soldiers stand in formation during a logistics course graduation ceremony.

Transparency on Civilian Harm in Somalia Matters – Not Just to Americans

"Under the Bush, Obama, and Trump administrations, much of the commentary on the use of lethal force in counterterrorism operations has focused on the importance of transparency…

Trump’s Revocation of Reporting on Lethal Strikes: All Eyes on Congress, Now

On Wednesday, President Donald Trump issued an Executive Order revoking a section of President Barack Obama’s Executive Order on civilian casualties that required annual reporting…

An Opportunity for National Security Transparency in the Trump Era

Hartig and Geltzer--who served in the National Security Council, Defense Department, and Justice Department--examine the benefits of transparency in national security policy, what…

“Reasonable Certainty” vs “Near Certainty” in Military Targeting–What the Law Requires

Former deputy legal counsel to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Commander (ret.) Mike Adams and former Special Counsel to General Counsel of the Dep’t of Defense, Ryan…
A U.S. Air Force MQ-1B Predator unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) (ie. drone), carrying a Hellfire missile after flying a mission in the Persian Gulf region on January 7, 2016.

Implications of Trump’s New Drone Policy for Countries Assisting the U.S.

At the end of October, the New York Times reported two government officials as saying that the Trump administration had adopted its anticipated new approach to the deployment of…

Trump Should Release His New Lethal Force Policy

In an important new development, President Donald Trump has reportedly signed new rules for when lethal force can be used against suspected terrorists outside of active war zones.…
Just Security

Addendum to My “Memo to the Human Rights Community” (on drone strikes outside of “hot battlefields”)

On Wednesday, I published an essay at Just Security titled, “Why the Laws of War Apply to Drone Strikes Outside “Areas of Active Hostilities” (A Memo to the Human Rights…

Why the Laws of War Apply to Drone Strikes Outside “Areas of Active Hostilities” (A Memo to the Human Rights Community)

Reports that the White House is poised to revise a four-year old set of policy restrictions on drone strikes and other lethal operations has generated a heated debate that turns…

Three Half-Truths on U.S. Lethal Operations and Policy Constraints

Late last week, Charlie Savage and Eric Schmitt of the New York Times reported that President Donald Trump might soon adopt a new policy on U.S. lethal operations outside hot warzones.…

Trump’s New Drone Strike Policy: What’s Any Different? Why It Matters

[Editor’s note: this article was originally published on September 21, 2017 at 9:50 PM] After months of continued tough talk and recent assurances that the United States…
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