NEW YORK (AP) — A former personal secretary to Osama bin Laden got a strong rebuke from a judge Tuesday as he was sentenced to life in prison for a second time after claiming the Sept. 11 attacks and Superstorm Sandy were “God’s punishment” for injustice against himself and others by the United States. “You sir, in my judgment, are a committed terrorist who has betrayed his country,” U.S. District Judge Lewis A. Kaplan told Wadih El-Hage after listening to the claims of the Lebanese-born man who became a U.S. citizen. El-Hage said he was treated unjustly before his 2001 [...]
Dead Men Tell No Tales: SCOTUS’s Denial of Cert to Redefine Naval Piracy Gives Vitality to 1820 Case.
Dead Men Tell No Tales: SCOTUS’s Denial of Cert to Redefine Naval Piracy Gives Vitality to 1820 Case. By James Lechter “The penalty for attempted theft is life in prison.” At first blush, this sounds draconian and savage. An exploration of modern piracy suggests that this rule, if you’ll forgive the pun, floats. Piracy is big business, and business is booming off the coast of Somalia. The worldwide community in 2010 suffered 445 pirate attacks, matching 2003 for an all-time high, with 92% of successful hijackings being done by Somali pirates[1]. 219 of the 445 (49%) attacks were Somali/Gulf of [...]
The Drug War’s Effect on National Security
The Drug War’s Effect on National Security By: Gretchen Cothron National Security and Armed Conflict Law Review The United State’s attack on the trade of illicit drugs has had dire consequences on the national budget, including funds that could be used to enhance national security to protect from terrorist attacks. By calling the attack on drugs a “Drug War”, the government has connoted that the law enforcement crackdown on illicit drugs is much more than a law enforcement initiative. The term “Drug War” connotes that the government is fighting a war with opposing countries’ governments and militaries. However, [...]
Professor Frohock Lectures Miami Law Students on Hamdan
After a successful lecture given to University of Miami Law Students on her recent article “The Eyes of the World: Charges, Challenges, and Guantánamo Military Commissions After Hamdan II” the National Security and Armed Conflict Law review invites you to read the full decision here: Hamdan_v_US
Can the President Legally Order a Drone Strike in the U.S.?
Can the President Legally Order a Drone Strike in the U.S.? By: TJ Green, University of Miami National Security & Armed Conflict Law Review A recent letter by U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder provides new information about the legal reasoning behind the President’s authority to use drones as a weapon within the U.S. According to Holder, the Obama administration believes it could technically use military force to kill a U.S. citizen located on American soil in an “extraordinary circumstance” but has “no intention of doing so.” The Attorney General’s March 4th letter was disclosed by Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), who had [...]
North Korean Propaganda Video “Threatens” Attack on U.S. Capital
North Korean Propaganda Video “Threatens” Attack on U.S. Capital By: Mark DeSanto, University of Miami National Security & Armed Conflict Law Review North Korea has posted a new propaganda video (available, here) to its YouTube channel contained in its government website, Uriminzokkiri. The video features images of a fictitious missile attack on the U.S. government buildings in Washington, D.C., including the Capitol Building and the White House. It depicts a “montage of clips of different weapons, including artillery guns firing and large missiles on display at military parades.” Although military intelligence analysis claim that North Korea is still years away [...]
Cold War Flashback in Turkey & the International Law Concept of “Attribution”
Cold War Flashback in Turkey & the International Law Concept of “Attribution” By: Mark DeSanto, University of Miami National Security & Armed Conflict Law Review A terrorist suicide bomber attacked the United States embassy in the Turkish capital city, Ankara, on Friday, February 1, 2013. The bomber was identified, using DNA testing, as 40-year-old, Ecevit Sanli, who reportedly detonated an explosive device on the outside perimeter of the embassy. The attack tragically claimed the life of an embassy guard and severely injured a television journalist Sanli was formerly arrested in 1997 for acts of terrorism and participation in the outlawed [...]
La Revolución Nueva: How the Calderón Reforms Have Revolutionized The Mexican Legal System in the Face of Cartel-Related Violence
La Revolución Nueva: How the Calderón Reforms Have Revolutionized The Mexican Legal System in the Face of Cartel-Related Violence By: Claire Rumler, University of Miami National Security & Armed Conflict Law Review On May 12, 2012, over 50 mutilated corpses, several of whose hands, feet, and heads were cut off, were discovered in a pile next to a highway in the Mexican state of Nuevo Leon.[1] The massacre was the largest in a month-long string of cartel violence, including the decapitation of 18 bodies near Guadalajara, and the mutilation of 14 bodies in the American city of Laredo near [...]
Autonomy in the Battlespace: Independently Operating Weapon Systems and the Law of Armed Conflict
Autonomy in the Battlespace: Independently Operating Weapon Systems and the Law of Armed Conflict By: Markus Wagner, Faculty Advisor, University of Miami National Security & Armed Conflict Law Review The article analyzes the use of autonomous weapon systems (AWS) and the challenges that such systems pose with respect to compliance with the law of armed conflict. Importantly, AWS pose different questions than those surrounding the current use of unmanned aerial systems. For that reason, the article briefly sketches the history of AWS. It then distinguishes the current technologies, which operate either by way of remote control or through automated mechanisms, [...]
