On the strength of this weekend Washington Post review by Chris Bray, I’ve just ordered Bing West’s new book on Afghanistan, The Wrong War; I’ll let you know what I think once I’ve read it. What moved me to order it was this bit in Bray’s review: Endlessly engaged in euphemism and rhetorical triangulation, American […]
Archive | Afghanistan
“Cultural Defenses,” Crime, and De Minimis Violations
I just reread State v. Kargar, 679 A.2d 81 (Me. 1996), and was reminded how interesting and bloggable the case is (some paragrpah breaks added): Mohammad Kargar, an Afghani refugee, appeals from the judgments … convicting him of two counts of gross sexual assault in violation of 17-A M.R.S.A. § 253(1)(B) (Supp.1995) (Class A). [Footnote: […]
Counterinsurgency Then and Now
By Kenneth Anderson on November 21, 2010 10:21 pm in Afghanistan, Uncategorized, War and Armed Conflict
Over at SSRN, I have posted up a very old article by Jean-Marie Simon and me, Permanent Counterinsurgency in Guatemala. It appeared in 1987 in the critical theory journal Telos (No. 73, Fall 1987, 9-46). Here is the abstract, which includes a bit of information on why I have posted it up now: This 1987 […]
Targeted Killing and Drone Warfare Debate between Mary Ellen O’Connell and Benjamin Wittes
By Kenneth Anderson on October 26, 2010 1:46 pm in Afghanistan, International Law, Targeted Killing, War and Armed Conflict, War on Terror
Interest in targeted killing and drone warfare is not letting up in intensity – at least to judge by the pace of events on the topic. Right on top of my debate with Notre Dame’s Mary Ellen O’Connell on this at Washington University two weeks ago, Professor O’Connell and the Brookings Institution’s (and Hoover Institution’s) […]
Self Defense and Non-International Armed Conflict in Drone Warfare
By Kenneth Anderson on October 22, 2010 6:31 am in Afghanistan, International Law, Targeted Killing, War and Armed Conflict
Over the past year, I’ve been spending much time on the questions of drone warfare and the legal issues raised – many talks, panel discussions, debates, and so on. In the course of those discussions, as well as discussions with many experts one-on-one, I’ve wanted both to clarify a couple of my views and acknowledge […]
The Changing Conflict in Pakistan, and Targeted Killing
By Kenneth Anderson on May 20, 2010 12:26 am in Afghanistan, Counter-Terrorism Policy, Targeted Killing, War on Terror
Adam Entous, military affairs correspondent for Reuters, has authored, along with several colleagues, an outstanding, smart, balanced, and well-reported story on the evolution of drone warfare and targeted killing. A lot of reporting effort went into this story – this is not just an instance of a reporter being offered a little nugget of inside […]
Add Bad Ethics to the Problems of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell”?
By Dale Carpenter on April 6, 2010 5:29 pm in Afghanistan, Don't Tell (DADT), Executive Branch, Military, Sexual Orientation
My colleague Richard Painter, former chief ethics counsel to President Bush, thinks so because it “institutionalizes dishonesty.” Last fall, he sent a letter outlining his concerns to President Obama, whose administration has been lumbering toward pushing for a congressional repeal. “It is the only instance I know of,” writes Painter, “in which an employee of the United States government […]
House Subcommittee Hearing on Drone Warfare
By Kenneth Anderson on March 22, 2010 1:04 am in Afghanistan, Counter-Terrorism Policy, Robotics, Targeted Killing, War and Armed Conflict, War on Terror
In the midst of the healthcare debate in Congress, other business does go on (sort of), including a subcommittee hearing on drone warfare, at which I’ll be testifying, along with some other experts, including the author of the seminal Wired for War, which put the issue of robotics and war squarely on the table. I’ll […]
Targeted Killing, Safe Havens, and the President’s West Point Speech
By Kenneth Anderson on December 8, 2009 11:15 am in Afghanistan, Bush, Counter-Terrorism Policy, International Law, Targeted Killing, Terrorism, War and Armed Conflict, War on Terror
Several times in his West Point speech on Afghanistan and Pakistan, President Obama declared that the US would not permit Al Qaeda or “violent extremists” the use of safe havens. He specifically noted Pakistan, Yemen, and Somalia. The President unsurprisingly never overtly mentioned Predator or drone missile strikes, or the CIA as the operational agents […]
Left/Right bloggers not confident in Obama Afghanistan plan
By David Kopel on December 4, 2009 5:47 pm in Afghanistan, Congress, Counter-Terrorism Policy, Economy
This week’s National Journal poll of political bloggers asked “How much confidence do you have in President Obama’s Afghanistan strategy?” On both the Left and the Right, no-one chose “A great deal of confidence.” The figures for “some confidence”/”not much confidence”/”no confidence” were 29%/50%/21% on the Left; and 43%/43%/14% on the Right. I was among […]