UPLIFTING

The following article was originally published in Just Security by one of our veteran partners. Read the original here. Is it legal to use lethal force to target suspected drug trafficking boats on the high seas or kill those on board? No. The United States is not in an armed conflict with any cartel or criminal gang. That means the law of armed conflict (LOAC), also known as international humanitarian law (IHL), does not  apply to the military operations that began on Sept.

The following article was originally published in Just Security by one of our veteran partners. Read the original here. According to recent media reports , Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth verbally ordered special forces to “kill everybody” ahead of a Sept. 2 operation targeting alleged drug traffickers in international waters. That order allegedly resulted in a follow-on “double tap” strike that killed two survivors who were clinging to wreckage. I agree with Professor Jack Go

The following article was originally published in Just Security by one of our veteran partners. You can read the original here. The recent lethal boat strikes in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific have drawn intense scrutiny—not only for the operation itself, but for the opaque legal framework behind it. A key legal opinion by the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) allegedly authorizing the strikes remains classified, despite the fact that similar OLC analyses

After President Trump’s reelection, a retired Army general who had previously criticized the president grew concerned about how the incoming administration might retaliate if he chose to speak publicly again. He outlined three ways the government could target him: a civil lawsuit, an IRS audit, or even recall to active duty where he could face military justice action. He recently reflected on those fears after Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced that the Pentagon would i

This article was originally published by one of our veteran partners. Read his original article here. The Trump Administration continues to confound the gods of legal reasoning with its inability to maintain a consistent — let alone plausible — legal argument in defense of its extraordinary assertions of executive power.  This time, their tenuous legal reasoning relates to the continued use of drones to eliminate illicit drug-carrying vessels and their crews on the high seas