Syria
524 Articles

Horrific New Evidence of Syrian War Crimes Emerges
The Guardian has published a piece describing the emergence of disturbing new evidence of the commission of “industrial scale war crimes” in Syrian detention centers. …

Dissecting Seymour Hersh’s Account of the Sarin Attacks on Ghouta
I greatly admire Seymour Hersh’s investigative journalism, especially his revelations of the My Lai massacre and Abu Ghraib. If he were judged by those works alone, we should…

“This One Goes To Eleven”: The ICC and the Security Council
The unprecedented rejection by Saudi Arabia of its elected seat on the Security Council in October, 2013, ostensibly in protest of the Council’s perceived failures in the Middle…

Excerpts of Interview with Seymour Hersh
In a video interview with Amy Goodman (no relation) aired today on Democracy Now!, Sy Hersh elaborates on his story published in the London Review of Book (LRB). Below are some…

“Tweet Roll”: Twitter Reacts to Seymour Hersh Article on Sarin Attack in Syria
As Ruchi Parekh reported in this morning’s Daily News Roundup, Seymour Hersh has published a provocative and important piece in the London Review of Books, in which he…

Enforcing all the Security Council Resolutions: Who Comes to the Peace Table and Why Inclusivity Matters
The Geneva II peace conference faces tough challenges, as Gen. Salim Idris, the head of the opposition group Free Syrian Army stated recently, “We will not stop fighting at all,…

Why the US Failure to Support an ICC Referral for Syria does not Protect Israel (or American Interests)
As we watch and wait for the outcome of the destruction and disposal of the chemical weapons in Syria, the issue of accountability for war crimes and/or crimes against humanity…

Humanitarian Intervention and Global Legal Norms
Thank you to Harold Koh for spurring (here and here) a discussion about some of the most important issues of our time—on matters concerning wars of choice and building an effective…

Syria and the Law of Humanitarian Intervention (Part III – A Reply)
My recent two-part essay on Syria, posted on this blog, made both a policy claim and a legal claim. My policy claim was that despite undeniable political miscues, President Obama’s…

Maj. Kurt M. Sanger, Letter to the Editor: Response to Harold Koh’s Just Security post of Oct 2, 2013
While considering Harold Koh’s interpretation of the UN Charter and its justifications for the use of force against Syria, try standing in the shoes of foreign ministers in China…

Harold Koh’s Case for Humanitarian Intervention
The week before last, Harold Koh posted a defense of President Obama’s authority to use force in Syria without congressional authorization. Last week Professor Koh turned to…

Syria and the Law of Humanitarian Intervention (Part II: International Law and the Way Forward)
My first post for Just Security explained why, despite some bungled politics, President Obama’s proposed military action in Syria could have been lawful under U.S. domestic law.…