(Special note: Lawfare, where I serve as His Serenity, Book Review Editor, is absolutely delighted VC’s own Orin Kerr has agreed to post there when the Spirit of National Security Law moves him.) Over at Lawfare, I have a longish post about the declared US government policy of preferring capture operations over kill operations where […]
Archive | War on Terror
Does Nigeria Share Responsibility for Pirate Attack on US Sailors?
By Eugene Kontorovich on October 24, 2013 10:24 am in International Law, National Security, War and Armed Conflict, War on Terror
Two Americans have been kidnapped off an oil supply vessel off of Nigeria by local pirates, according to breaking new accounts. Nigeria, like many nations, has been making it difficult for private security contractors to work off its shores. For example, it has recently arrested 15 Russian sailors from a ship operated by a security […]
Legal Commentary on the Baraawe Raid and the Tripoli Rendition
At Lawfare, Bobby Chesney writes on the legal issues raised by this weekend’s military raid against al-Shabaab in Baraawe, Somalia and the capture-and-rendition of a terrorist suspect in Tripoli, Libya. Meanwhile, over at Just Security, Steve Vladeck and Marty Lederman add their thoughts.
The 12th Anniversary of the 9/11 Attacks
Today is the twelfth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. I don’t think anyone who lived through that day at an age old enough to understand what was happening is likely to ever forget it. I doubt I can say anything about that event which has not already been better said by others. But, for what […]
The Nature of the Syrian Rebels and the Case for Intervention in Syria
I have previously suggested that the case for military intervention in Syria depends in large part on the nature of the rebels fighting to overthrow the regime of Bashar Assad. If the rebels are primarily radical Islamists who would establish a government as oppressive and anti-American as Assad’s, it would be both foolish and immoral […]
2008 Restrictions on NSA Lifted in 2011
The Washington Post has a story that begins: The Obama administration secretly won permission from a surveillance court in 2011 to reverse restrictions on the National Security Agency’s use of intercepted phone calls and e-mails, permitting the agency to search deliberately for Americans’ communications in its massive databases, according to interviews with government officials and recently declassified […]
Thoughts on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee’s Narrow Version of the Syria AUMF
The Senate Foreign Relations Committee has drawn up its own version of a resolution authorizing the use of military force in Syria, which imposes significantly tighter constraints on the president than the administration version. Here is the key language [SEE IMPORTANT UPDATES BELOW]: SECTION 2. AUTHORIZATION FOR USE OF UNITED STATES ARMED FORCES. (a) AUTHORIZATION-The […]
Syria and the Morality of Humanitarian Intervention
Legal scholar Fernando Teson, a leading academic expert on humanitarian intervention has an interesting post on why the humanitarian case for intervening in Syria is weak. Like Fernando, I’m not opposed to such intervention on principle. But it can only be justified if there is a high probability of improving the situation in the targeted […]
DEA Has Its Own Phone Call Database
The NYT reports on the Drug Enforcement Administration’s “vast phone trove,” “an enormous AT&T database that contains the records of decades of Americans’ phone calls,” and appears more expansive than that maintained by the National Security Agency. The Hemisphere Project, a partnership between federal and local drug officials and AT&T that has not previously been reported, […]
Obama Will Seek Congressional Approval for Military Intervention in Syria
By Ilya Somin on August 31, 2013 2:57 pm in Congress, Constitutional Law, War and Armed Conflict, War on Terror
President Obama announced today that he will seek congressional approval for US military action against Syria in retaliation for the Assad regime’s use of chemical weapons [BUT SEE IMPORTANT UPDATE BELOW]: President Barack Obama said that the United States “should take military action against Syrian targets” in a Rose Garden address Saturday. However, he said […]
Democratic Members of Congress Press Holder for Answers on Use of NSA Surveillance Data in the War on Drugs
Eight Democratic members of Congress are pushing Attorney General Eric Holder to answer questions about the use of NSA surveillance data in the War on Drugs: Eight Democratic senators and congressmen have asked Attorney General Eric Holder to answer questions about a Reuters report that the National Security Agency supplies the Drug Enforcement Administration with […]
The Administration of the “Least Untruthful Answer”
In an article titled “The Lies Aren’t What Makes Obama’s NSA Stance So Awful,” TNR‘s Jeffrey Rosen takes apart the legal justification for the NSA’s surveillance and data collection programs. (Orin discussed the relevant memos here.) The Obama administration’s 22-page White Paper setting out the supposed legal basis for NSA surveillance demonstrates that the Obama […]
Using NSA Surveillance Data in the War on Drugs
By Ilya Somin on August 10, 2013 11:45 am in Growth of Government, Privacy, War on Drugs, War on Terror
On Monday, Reuters reported that the Special Operations Division, a secretive unit of the Drug Enforcement Administration is using NSA electronic surveillance data in the War on Drugs, and then deceiving judges and defense lawyers about the source of the evidence when it is used in criminal trials. As various experts quoted by Reuters point […]
Former Bush Attorney General Alberto Gonzales Responds to my USA Today Op Ed on Unanimous Supreme Court Decisions and Executive Overreach
By Ilya Somin on July 29, 2013 5:07 pm in Constitutional Law, Executive Branch, National Security, Supreme Court, War on Terror
Former Bush Administration attorney general and White House counsel Alberto Gonzales has written a response to my USA Today op ed on unanimous Supreme Court opinions and executive overreach. Gonzales largely agrees with my assessment of the Obama administration’s record, but – not surprisingly – he takes issue with my argument that Obama’s overreach was […]
Julian Sanchez on Pilon and Epstein’s Defense of the NSA Electronic Data Collection Program
Last week, Roger Pilon of the Cato Institute and famed libertarian law professor Richard Epstein published an op ed defending the NSA policy of collecting data on millions of Americans’ electronic communications. Pilon and Epstein may be the only prominent libertarian defenders of the NSA on this issue; though, obviously, that doesn’t necessarily mean they […]