The functional arguments in support of the killing of Al-Awlaki — that he posed substantial, verified threats to the United States and could not reasonably be apprehended and placed on trial — seem fairl...

They are here.

For those interested in more detail on Anwar Al-Aulaqi's alleged operational role in terrorist plots, this piece from the Long War Journal back in March, written by Thomas Joscelyn, is well worth a read....

Professor Michael Lewis writes in with the following guest post: Why IHL and not Self-Defense Should be Considered the Legal Basis for the Awlaki Operation Anwar al-Awlaki is dead, apparently killed by ...

A senior administration lawyer involved in national security issues writes in with the following: I read the commentary by He Who Must Not Be Named On This Blog on the killing of Aulaqi, and while I unde...

A corollary to Bobby's second point in this post is that it is not enough to say the words "due process" by way of denouncing the Al Aulaqi strike, as though those words represent a discussion-ending arg...

In the flurry of al-Awlaki coverage today, there are two points that I think are particularly worthy of attention. First, does this show that the U.S.

Over at Salon.com, He Who Must Not Be Named on This Blog is upset by the fact that what he terms the "the due process-free assassination of U.S. citizens is now reality."

Here's the New York Times coverage, the Washington Post story, and the coverage on CBS News.

On Tuesday, lawyers for Abdulrahman Abdou Abou Alghaith Suleiman filed this letter with the Clerk of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.  The letter replies to an ear...

The case is United States v.

The European Parliament's Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs Committee released  this lengthy study today of oversight of national security and intelligence agencies by member states. Entitled "Pa...

Charges have just been referred in the al-Nashiri case.  Next step: arraignment.  Thanks to the very-slick new commissions website (www.mc.mil), the charges are available here.  They include some but not...

United States v.

Over at Best Defense, Tom Ricks has another post on the role of JAGs in the civ-mil relationship.  I'd given him some recommendations previously in response to his first post and my call to readers for s...

As we have emphasized on this site quite often, the legitimacy of the military commission system has been hobbled in the past by a lack of transparency in its proceedings.  There was very good news on th...

Interesting Charlie Savage story this morning about a newly released FBI document detailing rules for inclusion of terrorist suspects on watch lists. Of particular interest to Savage is the fact that tho...