In The News

NYT: Obama Orders Intelligence Report on Russian Election Hacking – 10 December 2016

http://mobile.nytimes.com/2016/12/09/us/obama-russia-election-hack.html “When warranted, the United States will respond to hostile acts in cyberspace as we would to any other threat to our country. We reserve the right to use all necessary means — diplomatic, informational, military, and economic — as appropriate and consistent with applicable international law, in order to…


Guardian – Investigation into alleged abuses by British troops in Iraq could end after lawyer admits professional misconduct – 8 December 2016

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/12/08/investigation-alleged-abuses-british-troops-iraq-could-end-lawyer/ The Guardian reports that “[a]controversial investigation into alleged abuses by British troops in Iraq faces being wound up after the lawyer who brought the vast majority of the cases admitted 18 professional misconduct charges.” “Phil Shiner was tonight called on to apologise to British troops whose lives have been…


Policy – President Obama Delivers Remarks on the Administration’s Approach to Counterterrorism – 6 December 2016

https://na01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.whitehouse.gov%2Flive%2Fpresident-obama-delivers-remarks-administrations-approach-counterterrorism&data=01%7C01%7CBoardCERL%40law.upenn.edu%7C0e414bebb4864c3301cf08d41e1d270e%7C6cf568beb84a4e319df6359907586b27%7C1&sdata=C2CXI4eCP24wzAUUO7qAlX1t7c4jkBnRlg9Pzo%2BaKro%3D&reserved=0   President Obama will speak at MacDill Air Force Base, home to forces that have been crucial to his fight against extremists and to efforts to wind down the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. And see this 61 pp REPORT ON THE LEGAL AND POLICY FRAMEWORKS GUIDING THE UNITED…


Washington Post – Pentagon buries evidence of $125 billion in bureaucratic waste – 6 December 2016

https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/pentagon-buries-evidence-of-125-billion-in-bureaucratic-waste/2016/12/05/e0668c76-9af6-11e6-a0ed-ab0774c1eaa5_story.html The Pentagon has buried an internal study that exposed $125 billion in administrative waste in its business operations amid fears Congress would use the findings as an excuse to slash the defense budget, according to interviews and confidential memos obtained by The Washington Post. See briefing slides at: http://apps.washingtonpost.com/g/documents/investigations/defense-business-board-study-from-jan-2015-identifying-125-billion-in-waste/2236/?ref


CNN – War in Space: The Next Battlefield – 29 November 2016

“CNN’s Jim Scuitto takes you inside the most classified US operations centers to discover the devastating impact of the space war.” CNN Special Report: War in Space: The Next Battlefield” aired on November 29 at 9 P.M. ET/PT. Source: CNN See: https://youtu.be/j-ZBLFhb_lg and see: http://www.mpil.de/files/pdf3/04_schmittii1.pdf http://www.defense.gov/Portals/1/Documents/pubs/Law-of-War-Manual-June-2015.pdf https://poseidon01.ssrn.com/delivery.php?ID=469027001114070021104116071070124018103005090054068023064126004110067084100071066124042114059014058028043065112118111080070065050058063013093099103026125112015001052093081001007089100111015126095104073003095025020098003102000019103087024086090023097&EXT=pdf http://harvardnsj.org/2012/11/targeting-in-outer-space-legal-aspects-of-operational-military-actions-in-space/ http://warontherocks.com/2016/08/space-warfare-deterrence-dissuasion-and-the-law-of-armed-conflict/ http://www.unoosa.org/oosa/ourwork/spacelaw/…



Defense Support to Civil Authorities in Wake of Unrest in Charlotte, NC – 22 September 2016

North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory deployed the state National Guard and highway patrol to Charlotte after violent protests raged for a second night over the fatal police shooting of Keith Lamont Scott http://wlos.com/news/local/national-guard-provides-reinforcements-for-local-law-enforcement-in-charlotte http://www.cnn.com/2016/09/22/us/charlotte-protests/index.html?sr=fbCNN092216charlotte-protests1106AMVODtopVideo&linkId=29072263 http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2689907   And see: http://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/25/opinion/sunday/where-to-go-from-the-anger-in-charlotte.html?smprod=nytcore-iphone&smid=nytcore-iphone-share And for the President’s Task Force on 21st Century Policing, see: http://www.iacp.org/TaskForceReport…


MWI – U.S. Cybersecurity Gets a New Cyber Warrior General – 20 September 2016

U.S. Cybersecurity Gets a New Cyber Warrior General. MWI Contributor Robert Potter argues a turn for the positive in U.S. cybersecuirty with the recent appointment of Brigadier General (retired) Gregory J. Touhil as the first ever U.S. Federal Chief Information Security Officer (CISO). http://mwi.usma.edu/u-s-cybersecurity-gets-a-new-cyber-warrior-general/ and see also: http://militarylegitimacyreview.com/?s=Cyber and please…


The Atlantic – When Women Lead Soldiers Into Battle – 9 September 2016

  http://www.defense.gov/Portals/1/Documents/pubs/OSD014303-15.pdf The US ban on women in ground combat has been lifted and all combat roles are now open to women – who stand poised to take command of combat units for the first time. http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2016/09/women-combat-leaders/498800/?utm_source=fbia and see https://fas.org/sgp/crs/natsec/R42075.pdf and see http://www.defense.gov/News/Article/Article/632536/carter-opens-all-military-occupations-positions-to-women and see Carter Names First Female Combatant…


NYT – Air Force, Running Low on Drone Pilots, Turns to Contractors in Terror Fight – 5 September 2016

Ihttp://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/06/us/air-force-drones-terrorism-isis.html?smprod=nytcore-iphone&smid=nytcore-iphone-share “The Pentagon is increasingly relying on private contractors to operate drones for reconnaissance missions in Afghanistan and Iraq.” See also: Govern, Kevin H. and Schlager, Scott A, ‘Guns for Hire, Death on Demand’: The Permissibility of U.S. Outsourcing of Drone Attacks to Civilian Surrogates of the Armed Forces and…