Confession time: I'm not so great at lawfare observances. That's why I, like, read Lawfare and the more expert journalists Adam Serwer and Charlie Savage. But that would feel like a cop-out on a day when the U.S. (probably) killed an American citizen accused of being an operational member of al-Qaida.
So I rustled together this piece for Danger Room, based on the contrasting perspectives of two leading experts in lawfare: retired Air Force Maj. Gen. Charlie Dunlap and University of Notre Dame professor Mary Ellen O'Connell. If the piece succeeds, it'll have explored the complexities of the question, itemized the specific legal issues at stake, and distinguished between moral, political and strictly legal dimensions of the Awlaki dilemma. If it fails, it'll be a he-said-she-said.
Will you let me know what you think? I want to make sure I do these kinds of pieces better in the future.
Nice article and great intro to the complex legal issues at play here. It seems like there are two problems here. First, international law is still structured on the basis of state-state relations and has trouble accounting for state-subnational actor interactions. Second, this is the kind of dilemma that arises when you try to solve law-enforcement problems through military action.
Not at I expect the cretins on the DR comments page to appreciate this...
Posted by: Chris | 09/30/2011 at 12:17 PM
Well you asked for feedback, so here goes:
It felt more "he-said/she-said". But I'm not sure you can avoid that with this sort of legal discussion - it's complex.
Maybe if you'd have had more time, would you have been able to find a way to identify where their common basis was, and where they diverged? I'm not a legal expert, but it felt like they were arguing two different points - his being that it was OK to kill without regard to national origin in war, and hers being that international law forbade this activity, whatever that means.
But I didn't get the sense that we identified the common framework they were using to base their opinions on, and then identify where they diverged. Or maybe I'm just a crappy reader.
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