The Continuing Saga of Drone Warfare

If you recall, in March, AG Holder justified the use of drones in “targeted killings” (see related post here). The comments were of interest, in part, because a drone had been used recently to kill Anwar al-Awlaki, a US citizen, in Yemen and in part because Congress was authorizing the expanded use of drones domestically [...]

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Holder on the Use of Lethal Force against US Citizens Abroad

Attorney General Eric Holder gave a speech yesterday at Northwestern Law School on the administration’s policy regarding the targeted killing (not assassination) of US citizens abroad.  Full remarks can be found here. Here are a few interesting excerpts. The difference between targeted killings and assassination:  Some have called such operations “assassinations.” They are not, and the [...]

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Send in the Fighter Jets!

[M]ilitias are out of control and holding thousands of people in secret detention centres… More than 8,000…are being held by militia groups, amid reports of torture, UN officials said… Four died in clashes…on Monday. Where is this happening? Libya. Responsibility to protect whom?

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More U.S. Taxpayer-Funded Repression

The latest from Egypt: “I was in Tahrir Square during the 25 January revolution and I saw a lot of injured people, but this time I think there are more serious injuries,” says Dr Omar Qassar who is working on makeshift premises. “I’ve seen two people hit by shotgun pellets in their chest and abdomen. [...]

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With Friends Like This…

Now that the US is going to exit Iraq—finally—perhaps we can take the time to reconsider the war in Afghanistan. With rockets being fired at US troops from Pakistan, I am sure that this weekend’s moment of clarity from President Karzai has raised a few concerns: “God forbid, if any war took place between Pakistan [...]

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This Week in Democracy Promotion, Bahrain Edition

Glenn Greenwald highlights the fact that the Obama Administration is doing something about the Bahrain regime’s crackdown on pro-democracy protestors… by selling the government more weapons. Does anyone really think US intervention in Libya is about human rights?

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Palestinian Statehood: Dispensing with Bad Arguments

The debate over the Palestinian Liberation Organization’s imminent application for full recognition at the United Nations continues to rage domestically and internationally. The dominant perspective here in the U.S., at least among Republicans, is that Palestinian statehood should be denied except on Israel’s terms. The most common reason given seems to be that the Israelis [...]

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Somalia Blunder II

The Nation has an excellent article on “Blowback in Somalia,” about the United States’ disastrous decision in 2006 to back an Ethiopian invasion and overthrow of the Islamic Courts Union in Mogadishu. The Union was a largely moderate confederation of allied civilian groups that had finally kicked the warlords out of the Somali capital. However, [...]

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Interposition: Part Nine: The Hartford Convention

Few in power find it convenient to notice inconsistencies in their own conduct. Alas, but President Madison was no exception. Federalism and decentralization exist precisely because free constitutions should not depend on the good graces of those in office, but on the checks necessary to harry them back under the law. Seeking the financial means [...]

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Interposition: Part Eight: Federalism, Finance and The War of 1812

When tensions with England finally began to degenerate into violent altercations, first on the western frontier in such places as Tippecanoe and later along the Great Lakes, the Madison administration decided the time had come to vindicate America’s claims of offended sovereignty. Unsurprisingly, these claims also happened to coincide with popular desires to expand into [...]

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Declare Victory and Come Home

Wednesday night, President Obama is scheduled to announce his plans for reducing the number of troops in Afghanistan. According to the LA Times: Pentagon and White House officials say about 10,000 troops will probably come home this year, a bigger number than Gen. David Petraeus wanted. …In 2009 the president coupled his decision to send [...]

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Interposition: Part Seven: The Embargo and Noncooperation

With the war in Europe between France and England intensifying, Americans found their rights as neutral traders regularly violated by both French and British navies, and French and British port restrictions further limited American opportunities for commerce. To make matters worse, on numerous occasions, English vessels had boarded American ships and “impressed” many of their [...]

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Feminism and International Relations Theory, continued

In an ongoing attempt to improve the quality of Grover’s lectures, I offer him the following quotes from today’s Maureen Dowd piece in the NY Times: There is something positively mythological about a group of strong women swooping down to shake the president out of his delicate sensibilities and show him the way to war. [...]

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What If Libyans Had Remained Nonviolent?

I caught a little bit of flak around the Internet for my piece, “Why Isn’t Violence the Answer?,” during the early days of the Egypt protests. I was galled by official demands from the U.S. government and other places that Egyptian protestors remain nonviolent, no matter what. Thankfully, significant violence wasn’t required to get rid [...]

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Free trade for the Pacific

A couple of weeks ago, one of the NZ student delegates to the US NZ Future Partners Forum popped in asking about the Trans Pacific Partnership. Since he offered me a decent beer, I was happy to have a chat. In 2005, New Zealand joined with Brunei, Singapore and Chile in a free trade zone [...]

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Why Isn’t Violence the Answer?

Mubarak: Sic semper tyrannis, bitch.

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So I Was Wrong About the Megrahi Release

A few months ago on Pileus, I offered an explanation for the Scottish Government’s decision to release Abdelbaset al-Megrahi that now seems to have been partially incorrect. Here’s the offending portion of what I wrote: 4) There was no reason for the SNP or the Scottish government to want to please BP or the British [...]

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South Korea Should Defend Itself

So saith Doug Bandow in the American Spectator. (BTW, how far has the American Spectator come in publishing a piece like this?) Why hasn’t the South put its resources to better military effect? Because it doesn’t have to. So long as America offers a security guarantee, maintains a tripwire troop presence on the peninsula, and [...]

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Solving the Budget Deficit: Cleveland Edition

Following the suggestion of one of our readers (as well as Jason’s bold spending cut-dominated march into the breach), I too attempted to solve the deficit using the New York Times’ slick online tool.  Behold, problem solved: here.  I actually produced a budget surplus  – which I’d be more than happy to refund to the taxpayers since it is [...]

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Sudan on the Brink of an Abyss

Tensions are rising in Sudan ahead of January’s scheduled vote in South Sudan over independence. Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir has accused members of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement, the primary political party in the South, of violating the terms of the peace deal, and Sudan’s government is dragging its feet on referendum preparations. Moreover, al-Bashir [...]

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