Although officially offline and on vacation, I thought I would share one conversation with one of the rangers here in the national park. She remarked that the ranger services – national parks, national forest, etc. – had been watching with great interest the growth of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) in civilian use. So far this […]
Archive | War and Armed Conflict
Deepening US Special Ops Forces in Pakistan
By Kenneth Anderson on July 20, 2010 11:59 pm in Targeted Killing, Uncategorized, War and Armed Conflict
Julian Barnes has a good story in today’s Wall Street Journal on the expanding and deepening boots on the ground role of US special operations forces in the Pakistan border region. It is well sourced and reported, and overall points to a deeper cooperation with the Pakistan military. I wanted to flag a couple of […]
This July 4, While Many of Us Give Thanks for the Troops
… and pray for their safety and honor their sacrifices, the chief foreign affairs correspondent for ABC news, Martha Raddatz, delivers herself of the following opinion concerning American fighting forces and drone warfare: Traditionally, when a nation went to war, it had to invest its blood and treasure, but today’s joystick-wielding drone pilots can launch […]
Gabriella Blum and Philip Heymann on Targeted Killing
By Kenneth Anderson on June 29, 2010 9:25 am in Targeted Killing, War and Armed Conflict, War on Terror
Harvard professors Gabriella Blum and Philip Heymann have a new, short article online at the Harvard National Security Law Journal (which, by the way, is doing many interesting things), Law and Policy of Targeted Killing (June 27, 2010). (A version of it will appear as a chapter in their forthcoming book on terrorism and counterterrorism.) […]
Mallaby on Soros and the Pound, and Some Other Summer Reading in Philosophy and Economics
By Kenneth Anderson on June 7, 2010 10:01 am in Economy, Financial Crisis, Legal Professor, War and Armed Conflict
The Atlantic is running an excerpt from Sebastian Mallaby’s new book, More Money Than God: Hedge Funds and the Making of New Elite, which is out on June 14. The excerpt covers the famous moment when George Soros broke the pound in 1992. (It was then that I went to work for him, as general […]
My House Testimony in “Drones II”
By Kenneth Anderson on June 3, 2010 12:37 pm in Counter-Terrorism Policy, International Human Rights Law, International Law, Targeted Killing, War and Armed Conflict, War on Terror
As Professor Philip Alston’s report as special rapporteur to the UN Human Rights Council on targeted killings, drones, CIA and military, and related issues is released today, I’ve been asked by numerous people to comment on it. I’ve read it once, but need to finish re-reading it before I’m ready to say anything that goes […]
Drone Warfare, the CIA, and Charlie Savage’s NYT Article
By Kenneth Anderson on May 28, 2010 6:42 pm in Counter-Terrorism Policy, International Law, Targeted Killing, War and Armed Conflict, War on Terror
Charlie Savage reports in the NYT today that Philip Alston, the UN special rapporteur on extrajudicial execution, will be coming out with a new report next week calling on the US government to withdraw the CIA from conducting drone strikes and giving it over to the US military instead. The article has an extended and […]
Clandestine Military Operations
By Kenneth Anderson on May 25, 2010 10:02 am in Counter-Terrorism Policy, Uncategorized, War and Armed Conflict, War on Terror
The New York Times, in a story by national security correspondent Mark Mazzetti today (Tuesday, May 25, 2010), reveals the contents of a September 2009 secret directive signed by General Petraeus ordering “broad expansion of clandestine military activity in an effort to disrupt militant groups or counter threats in Iran, Saudi Arabia, Somalia and other […]
A Follow-on Drone Hearing
By Kenneth Anderson on May 1, 2010 11:10 pm in International Human Rights Law, Robotics, Targeted Killing, Uncategorized, War and Armed Conflict, War on Terror
The House Subcommittee on National Security and Foreign Affairs, chaired by Rep. John Tierney, held a second hearing (Wednesday, April 28, 2010), once again on the topic of drone warfare. The first, held back on March 23, was focused on the technology of UAVs; this follow-up hearing was specifically about targeted killing and drone warfare. […]
Washington Post Editorializes in Praise of Harold Koh’s Drone Statement
By Kenneth Anderson on April 13, 2010 1:11 pm in Robotics, Targeted Killing, War and Armed Conflict, War on Terror
The Washington Post has an editorial today praising State Department Legal Adviser Harold Koh’s March 25 statement defending the legality of drone warfare (part of a long speech on several international law topics). The editorial specifically endorses the Legal Adviser’s invocation of self-defense as a separate ground for using force apart from armed conflict in […]
Acquiring UAV Technology
By Kenneth Anderson on April 9, 2010 9:50 pm in Counter-Terrorism Policy, Robotics, Targeted Killing, Uncategorized, War and Armed Conflict, War on Terror
I’ve noticed a number of posts and comments around the blogosphere on the spread of UAV technology. Which indeed is happening; many states are developing and deploying UAVs of various kinds. The WCL National Security Law Brief blog, for example, notes that India is now acquiring weaponized UAVs: India is reportedly preparing to have “killer” […]
Opinio Juris Discussions of Targeting of US Citizen
By Kenneth Anderson on April 7, 2010 8:35 pm in Counter-Terrorism Policy, Targeted Killing, War and Armed Conflict, War on Terror
Scott Shane’s report in this morning’s NYT on the Obama administration putting the radical cleric, but US citizen, Anwar al-Awlaki, on the kill or capture list has stirred a lot of discussion. (Update: let me add Max Fisher’s Atlantic discussion as well.) Scott Shane: The Obama administration has taken the extraordinary step of authorizing the […]
Predator Drone Warfare – Assorted Links
By Kenneth Anderson on April 5, 2010 5:23 pm in Counter-Terrorism Policy, Robotics, Targeted Killing, Uncategorized, War and Armed Conflict, War on Terror
It’s not true that everything I do is about drone warfare, but it has taken a lot of my time lately and, of course, a lot of stuff is happening, both on the operational side as well as legal side. So here’s a little round-up of links, more or less at random. First, the New […]
Inside Baseball on Obama Legal Team Deliberations on National Security
By Kenneth Anderson on March 29, 2010 8:05 am in Counter-Terrorism Policy, Libertarianism, Robotics, Targeted Killing, War and Armed Conflict, War on Terror
Over at Opinio Juris, Julian Ku points to today’s front page NYT story by Charlie Savage detailing secret memos and meetings among the leading lawyers seeking to address national security and terrorism issues, including detentions, drone strikes, the question of armed conflict, and other things. In my posts, I have been focused on the question […]
Assassination, Self-Defense, and the Koh Speech
By Kenneth Anderson on March 28, 2010 5:30 pm in Counter-Terrorism Policy, International Law, Robotics, Targeted Killing, War and Armed Conflict, War on Terror
(Note: I started composing draft posts about Harold Koh’s important ASIL speech, particularly its discussion of drones and targeted killing, and concluded it would be better not to do a post that would turn into an online article, but instead some shorter posts on particular issues, even if they are somewhat random.) Toward the end […]