Targeted Killing

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Targeted Killing Under Trump: Law, Policy, and Legal Risk

A recent Presidential Memorandum directs the Secretary of Defense to develop a preliminary plan to defeat ISIS. The plan “shall include . . . recommended changes to any United…

A Just Security Debate!—What’s Wrong with the DNI Report on Civilian Casualties

[Editor’s Note: For different perspectives, be sure to read a response to Gabor Rona’s article by Ryan Goodman “A Just Security Debate!—What’s With the Criticism…
Eight-year-old American Nawar al-Aulaqi sitting on stairs.

Rare U.S. Military Acknowledgment of Civilian Casualties in Yemen—Concerns about transparency persist

In a rare acknowledgment, the U.S. military admitted last night that civilians, including children, “were likely killed” in the commando raid in Yemen on Sunday. This acknowledgment…

Trump’s First Counterterrorism Operations and the Prior Interagency Review Process

When a U.S. service member or unanticipated civilian dies in a U.S. military operation, hard questions need to be asked about what happened and how to prevent such tragedies in…
A black and white targeting screen shows the explosions from an US airstrike with 2,000lb bombs on ISIS bank in Mosul, Jan. 11, 2016.

How News Media Can Get Misled by Tough Talk on Killing Terrorists

Image: US airstrike with 2,000lb bombs on ISIS bank in Mosul, Jan. 11, 2016 – CENTCOM Less than a half hour after Donald Trump took the oath of office on Friday, ABC News…
An MQ-9 Reaper sits in a hangar during a sandstorm at Joint Base Balad, Iraq, Sept. 15, 2008.

Obama Admin: Only One Civilian Killed by U.S. Outside of War Zones in 2016

On the eve of the inauguration of a new president, the Director of National Intelligence released a report (full text) that summarizes the number of military strikes taken by the…
Obama and Trump in the Oval Office.

Can Trump Unravel Obama’s Rules of War?

For eight years, the Obama administration has pursued a tough-minded war against al Qaeda and affiliated terrorist groups that has eliminated their leaders from Somalia to Afghanistan…
An MQ-9 Reaper sits in a hangar during a sandstorm at Joint Base Balad, Iraq, Sept. 15, 2008.

The Drone Memos Offers a Critique of Obama Administration’s ‘Shortsighted’ Policies on Targeted Killing

There are a lot of books about drones. In addition to fictionalized accounts of drone use and technical manuals, numerous policy books have been written that describe drone technology,…
Just Security

Category Mistake: There Is No Jus ad Bellum for Use of Force Against Non-State Actors

From South Asia to Europe and beyond, government lawyers have to inquire as to when a State is legally justified in resorting to military force against a non-State actor. What…

The Newly Released National Security Framework Report: An Important Step Forward

On Tuesday, President Obama made the case in his final national security speech that staying true to American values is not a weakness, but the country’s greatest strength…

The Bobbitt Version

Beginning in 2002 with the publication of The Shield of Achilles: War, Peace and the Course of History and continuing through Terror and Consent: the Wars for the Twenty First…
Just Security

What’s Actually New in the New Drone Strike & Military Force Disclosures?

Yesterday, President Barack Obama released a series of documents relating to the use of military force abroad, including a 66-page Report on the Legal and Policy Frameworks Guiding…
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