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Burning Of The Kuwaiti Oilfields And The Laws Of War, Rex J. Zedalis

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

In this Article, the author addresses the question of whether Iraq's destruction of Kuwaiti oil fields constitutes a violation of the laws of war, particularly with respect to article 53 of the Fourth Geneva Convention, known as the Civilians Convention. After an introductory section evaluating the amount and nature of destruction suffered by the Kuwaiti oil industry, the author discusses whether article 53 covers destruction of state-owned oil fields. Although the specific language of the article appears to favor coverage, the history behind article 53 suggests that it protects property of a sort different than the state-owned property destroyed by …

Westmoreland V. Cbs: The Law Of War And The Order Of Battle Controversy, Stephen B. Young

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

This Article will contend that the law of war obligated Westmoreland to accept lower numbers for the military Order of Battle because the persons under consideration for inclusion were arguably noncombatant civilians entitled to the protections that the law of war reserved for nonbelligerents. To support this conclusion, this Article will first discuss the necessary distinction, as embodied in the law of war, between combatants and noncombatants. Next, it will discuss the circumstances of combat that Westmoreland discovered when United States forces entered the war to fight one-on-one with Vietnamese Communist units. It will then discuss Westmoreland's personal obligations under …

The Role Of International Organizations In The Implementation Of Human Rights And Humanitarian Law In Situations Of Armed Conflict, David Weissbrodt

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

This Article will first review how nongovernmental organizations attempt to apply human rights law and humanitarian law during periods of armed conflict. It will next review the practice of one principal inter-governmental organization--the United Nations General Assembly--inciting humanitarian law. Third, this Article will study the reasons why the United Nations and international nongovernmental organizations should or should not refer to humanitarian law in support of their human rights work. Fourth, it will consider the preeminent position in implementing international humanitarian law of the ICRC, a private Swiss organization engaged in various international activities including specific functions provided by international humanitarian …

Chemical And Biological Warfare: Focus On Asia, Lee D. Klein

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

This Note concludes that (1) the Geneva Protocol of 1925 and the Biological Weapons Convention of 1972 provide conventional restraints upon the use of lethal or seriously injurious CBWs; (2) modern treaties, customs, judicial decisions, and writings form a public international law norm that imposes a legal restraint limiting the use of lethal or seriously injurious CBWs and binding all states regardless of their acceptance of conventional prohibitions; and (3) the law of war today is characterized more accurately as the "law of armed conflict," because it must of necessity apply to conflicts that are not purely interstate. Before discussing …

The Legal Status Of United States Involvement In The Camp David Peace Process, Farooq Hassan

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

In one context or another, the turmoil in the Middle East has been tragic not only for the states in the region but for the prospects of world peace. Because of this, the United States has been both directly and indirectly involved in the crises that have erupted there from time to time. A major milestone was reached when, largely due to the personal efforts of President Carter, Egypt and Israel signed the Camp David agreements on September 17, 1978, in Washington, D.C. The United States played a key role in the execution of these agreements and consequential instruments. Indeed, …

The Israeli Aerial Attack Of June 7, 1981 Upon The Iraqi Nuclear Reactor: Aggression Or Self-Defense?, W. Thomas Mallison, Sally V. Mallison

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

On June 7, 1981, the State of Israel conducted an aerial attack on the Iraqi nuclear reactor known as Tamuz I located near Baghdad. The attack was carried out by F15 and F16 aircraft supplied by the United States. The reactor was damaged severely and three Iraqi civilians and one French technician were killed. On June 8 Israel announced the attack and described it as an act of legitimate self-defense, claiming Iraq planned to construct nuclear weapons. On the same day the Republic of Iraq requested an urgent meeting of the United Nations Security Council to consider what it described …

The Law Of The Flag, The Law Of Extradition, The Nato Status Of Forces Agreement, And Their Application To Members Of The United States Army National Guard, Fred W. Beesley, Jr.

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

With the advent of Project Capstone in 1980, the United States Army adopted a master European war plan which committed virtually every Army National Guard and Army Reserve unit to a large-scale field army for use in the European Theater of Operations. The plan was designed to combat a hypothetical offensive by tank-heavy Warsaw Pact forces through the centuries-old Fulda Gap invasion route in the central region of the Federal Republic of Germany, or through the relatively vulnerable North German Plain.

Actions by Warsaw Pact troops in Poland and Afghanistan increase the likelihood that United States contingency war planning will …

Conference On Security And Cooperation In Europe: Final Act, Helsinki, 1975, Journal Staff

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

The Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe, which opened at Helsinki on 3 July 1973 and continued at Geneva from 18 September 1973 to 21 July 1975, was concluded at Helsinki on August 1975 by the High Representatives of Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, Cyprus, Czechoslovakia, Denmark, Finland, France, the German Democratic Republic, the Federal Republic of Germany, Greece, the Holy See, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Malta, Monaco, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, San Marino, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, the United Kingdom, the United States of America and Yugoslavia.

During the …

Book Reviews, Kevin M. Clark Reviewer, Charles A. White, Jr. Lieutenant Colonel

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

LEGAL REASONING AND LEGAL THEORY

Philosophers have always questioned the nature of rationality. The history of philosophy appears to many as an ongoing struggle between dogmatism and scepticism, between those who defend the broad scope of reason and those who assert its strict limitation. Concern for the nature of reason has thus become almost synonymous with philosophy. In the past few decades, however, the nature of this concern has changed in a fundamental manner, giving rise to inquiry into the interrelation between different modes of rationality.

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MILITARY OBEDIENCE

Two major characteristics, the concepts of command responsibility and obedience to …

Recent U.S. Efforts To Control Nuclear Proliferation, John D. Gleissner

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

The explosion of a nuclear device by India on May 18, 1974, initiated a new wave of concern for the prospects of limiting the proliferation of nuclear weapons. Subsequent developments such as the Nixon proposal to provide nuclear materials to Egypt and Israel and the announcement by West Germany of its intentions to sell Brazil a plutonium reprocessing facility increased fears in the United States that the number of countries possessing nuclear weapons would continue to grow at the expense of world peace and security. Apprehension is likely to continue since the development of an atomic bomb blueprint by a …

Arms Sales And The Major Western Powers, Arthur Cyr

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

The purpose of this essay is to discuss analytically the overseas arms sales policies of the three major Western supplier nations--the United States, Britain, and France. It is appropriate to group them together because they all have similar goals and characteristics. All are Atlantic Area NATO nations. They are democratic and are based upon largely private economies. The three nations have general histories of cooperation and alliance dating back to before the beginning of this century.

This analysis is based on the assumption that military trade between the industrialized and lesser-developed countries is especially likely to destabilize international relations since …

Books Received, Journal Staff

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

G.I. RIGHTS AND ARMY JUSTICE: THE DRAFTEE'S GUIDE TO MILITARY LIFE AND LAW

By Robert S. Rivkin

New York: Grove Press, Inc., 1970. Pp. vii, 383. $1.75.

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HUMAN RIGHTS AND INTERNATIONAL ACTION

By Ernst B. Haas

Stanford, California: Stanford University Press, 1970.Pp. vii, 184.

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INDIRECT TAXATION IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES

By John F. Due

Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins Press, 1970. Pp. v, 201. $9.00.

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INTERNATIONAL TELECOMMUNICATIONS AND INTERNATIONAL LAW: THE REGULATION OF THE RADIO SPECTRUM

By David M. Leive

Dobbs Ferry, N. Y.: Oceana Publications Inc., 1970. Pp. 11, 386.$16.50.

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THE WINDS OF FREEDOM

By Dean Rusk …

Nato Before And After The Czechoslovak Crisis, Leo J. Reddy

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

There are few black and white issues in the field of foreign relations. The problems that NATO faced and that our government faced as a member of NATO in responding to the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia illustrate at least some of the complexities that may not have been evident in the news reports. For example, there is a widely held impression that NATO was in a state of decline prior to August 20, 1968 when the Soviet armies marched on Prague, and that this event snatched the organization from the jaws of historical oblivion. This statement greatly oversimplifies the actual …

Vietnam And Public International Law: Comment, Anthony A. D'Amato

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

With each international crisis inevitably come the self-styled "realists" proclaiming that there is no such thing as public international law. The Vietnam war is no exception, although here, due to the unusual complexity of the facts and the controversy over the applicable rules of international law, many of the published replies to the "realist's" positions have themselves been insubstantial and unconvincing. Let us look first, briefly, at the arguments of one of the realists, and then, with equal brevity, at some of the counter claims. The remainder of this comment will be addressed to the larger issues involved and some …

Case Comments, Journal Staff

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

Sovereign Immunity and Act of State -- A Foreign Sovereign instituting Suit in a United States Court waives Immunity to a Set-off arising from an Act of that Sovereign

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International Law--Nuremburg Doctrine invoked in Domestic Court-Martial

Book Reviews, Josef Rysan, L. G., G. C., R. P. B., W. E. W.

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

THE FUTURE OF GERMANY

It is significant that the most brilliant and penetrating analysis of the West German democracy comes from the pen of the leading German philosopher, Karl Jaspers. This fact demonstrates that German philosophy which used to be exclusively an "ivory tower" affair has finally come to grips with contemporary social problems. The English edition contains not only the translation of Jaspers' German bestseller, but also of the philosopher's just published "Answer to My Critics."

reviewer: Josef Rysan

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THE ENGLISH

by David Frost and Antony Jay

255 pages Stein and Day, New York, 1968.

reviewer: L.G.

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The Law School Looks At Vietnam, W. G. C.

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

On November 7, 1967, while pollsters were busy recording increased popular dissatisfaction with President Johnson's Vietnam policy, the Vanderbilt International Law Society decided to find out what law students at Vanderbilt felt about the War and the legal implications stemming from it.

About two-thirds of the entire student body participated in the poll. A multiple-choice format was used; yet, many students added lengthy comments of their own on the War. Of course, their interest wasn't just academic. As one voter noted, "My answers are affected by the probability that I'll be going to Vietnam...and I don't want to get shot …

The Vietnam War: Tax Costs And True Costs, Peter B. Lund

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

The Common Man in the Street, on being interviewed and asked the question, "What is the cost of the Vietnam War?," might respond, "I understand it's about twenty-five billion dollars a year." Twenty-five billion dollars per year is the current estimate of the tax cost of the Vietnam War and a figure which is widely circulated in this country. However, one need not be an especially astute observer of the domestic and international effects of the Vietnam situation as it affects this country domestically and internationally to realize that the cost to the United States of conducting a war of …