Rules of Engagement

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The guided-missile cruiser USS Vella Gulf (CG 72) fires a close-in weapons system during a live-fire exercise, April 27, 2020.

On Iranian Gunboats: Beware Conflating American and Mainstream Views of the Law

In a recent essay in Just Security entitled “Iranian Gunboat Harassment and the Rules of Engagement,” Michael Schmitt and Durward Johnson explore important questions raised…
Electronics Technician 2nd Class Hao Lienh, assigned to Commander Task Force 56, wears a face mask and stands watch on a Mark VI Patrol Boat before a weapons sustainment exercise in the Arabian Gulf, April 16, 2020.

Iranian Gunboat Harassment and the Rules of Engagement

What to make of Trump's order to “shoot down and destroy” lranian boats that harass US vessels. International law and Standing Rules of Engagement place significant limits.

Update: The Military, the Mexican Border and Posse Comitatus

Unlike the earlier deployment of National Guard personnel, the use of federal forces raises new issues concerning what they are permitted to do.

The Israeli Supreme Court Decision on the Gaza Riots: Factual and Legal Confusion

The Israeli Supreme Court’s recent ruling on the legality of lethal force the Israeli army used against Palestinian protesters in Gaza was unambiguous in its final decision:…

Analysis of Israel’s Supreme Court Decision Allowing Lethal Force in Gaza

On May 25th 2018, the Israeli Supreme Court rejected, in a unanimous decision of a three judge panel, a petition by a group of NGOs which challenged the legality of the Rules of…

Collectivizing Threat: An Analysis of Israel’s Legal Claims for Resort to Force on the Gaza Border

The aim of this article is not to vindicate one narrative over the other or to pass judgment on specific factual claims, which must be thoroughly investigated. It also doesn't…
Just Security

The Newly Relaxed Rules of Engagement in Afghanistan and Civilian Casualties

Military Times reported Monday that Secretary of Defense Mattis, appearing on Capitol Hill Tuesday alongside Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Joe Dunford told a pair…

Changes to Rules of Engagement Approval Levels and Civilian Casualties

Anyone serious about combating ISIS and minimizing civilian casualties needs to consider the importance of the Rules of Engagement (ROE) in Iraq and Syria.  We offer our thoughts…

The Pragmatic Reasons For Strict Rules of Engagement

As a presidential candidate, Donald Trump voiced his support for deliberately targeting the families of terrorists. Fortunately, he has not adopted this policy as president. But…
Just Security

A Right to Fight?

Do the laws of war give soldiers a right to fight, irrespective of their cause and free from other constraints? Or are the laws of war merely one set of constraints among others?…
Just Security

Letter to the Editor: Response to The Laws of War: Their Nature and Moral Function

Earlier this month, I entered the fray in a stimulating debate over Prof. Adil Haque’s innovative proposal to lower the threshold for defining non-international armed conflict…
Just Security

The MSF Airstrike Report: Better on the Facts Than on the Law

The military’s investigation of the October 2015 airstrike on the Médicins Sans Frontières (MSF) hospital in Kunduz, Afghanistan was back in the news last week thanks to highly…
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