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Politics Of Naming And Politics Of Responsibility, Rhoda Howard-Hassmann

Human Rights & Human Welfare

Mahmood Mamdani is right to complain that the American—and international—public is unaware of the political complexity of the Darfur conflict. He is also right to point out that selective or inconsistent uses of the terms “genocide,” “civil war,” and “insurgency” can mask covert, or even overt, political agendas. His comparison of Darfur to Iraq is telling. And he is right to point out that even with the best of humanitarian intentions, the presentation of a simplified version of Darfur, in which “Arabs” persecute “Africans,” can play into the “war on terror,” insofar as, in the minds of at least some …

The Iraq Paradox: Minority And Group Rights In A Viable Constitution, Makau Mutua

Buffalo Law Review

On October 15, 2005 an Iraq ravaged by a civil war spawned by the 2003 American invasion and subsequent occupation voted to decide the fate of a permanent constitution for the country. Although many Sunni Arabs took part in the vote, the referendum lost in the three governorates where they form a majority. But the constitution was approved because opponents only succeeded in recording "no" votes larger than two-thirds in only two of Iraq's eighteen provinces, in effect one province short of a veto. A two-thirds rejection in three provinces would have doomed the charter and the transition to a …

Bin Laden's War, David A. Westbrook

Buffalo Law Review

The GWOT/Global Jihad is different from prior conflicts (including the ideological struggle of the Cold War), and these differences have important strategic consequences which are not reflected in current US policy. First, US strategy has proceeded on traditional, and inapposite, understandings of the politics that informs this war. Second, radical neofundamentalism is a new form of political organization, attuned to a globalized world, with a distinctive form of violence quite different from the violence organized by the bureaucratic apparatus of a modern professional military grounded in a nation state. Third, the politics of radical neofundamentalism has strategic consequences. On the …

The Military Extraterritorial Jurisdiction Act And Its Implications For Private Military Companies, Dustin M. Tipling

ExpressO

Private Military Companies (PMCs) are civilian staffed corporations that provide military (and law enforcement) services, logistics, and support under contract to a government both inside and outside the country’s borders. Prior to Congress passing the Military Extraterritorial Jurisdiction Act, U.S. courts lacked jurisdiction to prosecute civilians accompanying United States’ Armed Forces overseas. This article will specifically address how the United States exercises jurisdiction and prosecutes the civilian employees of PMCs in United States courts for crimes they have committed in foreign countries while working under contract to the United States government.

U.S. Military Courts And The War In Iraq, Michael J. Frank

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

Throughout its history, the United States has frequently entrusted to military courts the task of prosecuting insurgents and terrorists during instances of military occupation.

Instead of carrying on this tradition in Iraq, the United States created the Central Criminal Court of Iraq (CCCI) and entrusted a band of Iraqi judges with this task. Infected with corruption, nationalism, tribal loyalties, and anti-U.S. animus, this court has repeatedly thwarted the United States by acquitting or only lightly punishing Iraqi terrorists. Thus, the terrorists have learned that they face an excellent chance of acquittal in the CCCI, or if per chance they are …

The Prohibition Of Widespread Rape As A Jus Cogens, Dean Adams

San Diego International Law Journal

This Comment explains why the prohibition of widespread rape should be recognized as a jus cogens through analyses of the failure of existing international legal instruments, advances within international law towards the universal prohibition of widespread rape, and policy reasons for classifying widespread rape as a jus cogens. In doing so, this comment will demonstrate the particular timeliness of this topic by reviewing the use of widespread rape in several countries through the 1990s, the widespread rape presently occurring in Kenya, and the emerging reports from Iraq of rape committed at the hands of the Saddam Hussein regime. Finally, this …

Human Rights And Post-War Reconstruction: Introduction, Roberto Belloni

Human Rights & Human Welfare

The expression “post-war reconstruction,” commonly adopted by both practitioners and academics, is somewhat misleading. Reconstruction does not entail rebuilding or return to the pre– war state of affairs as the expression seems to suggest. Rather, reconstruction involves difficult multiple transitions: from war to peace, from a state to a market economy, and from authoritarianism to democracy. Each transition taken by itself would be daunting. Taken together, they can be almost overwhelming.

The Status Of Detainees From The Iraq And Afghanistan Conflicts, Srividhya Ragavan, Michael S. Mireles

Faculty Scholarship

The paper is premised on the idea that the future course of international law will be impacted by the United States' ability to adhere to international treaties to which it is a signatory. Hence, the current administration bears a responsibility to avoid unwisely stretching, distorting, or avoiding the principles of international law for short-term gain in a manner that jeopardizes long-term sustainable policy. The United States should be wary of creating a dangerous precedent - not only for the world, but for itself. If the United States shirks from or misinterprets international legal principles, it leaves the forum open for …

Democratization In Iraq, Kate Lotz, Tim Melvin

Human Rights & Human Welfare

With the war in Iraq over, Coalition forces are still present as the cultivation of Iraqi democracy is underway. Coalition-led democratization in Iraq will prove to be a lengthy and complex objective, but one which will be pursued until successfully accomplished.

Neotrusteeship In Iraq, Tim Melvin

Human Rights & Human Welfare

This section deals with literature that examines the role and effectiveness of the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) in administering Iraq from 2003 till 2004. Foreign rule plays an important role in developing failed state’s infrastructure and institutions. By examining critical elements of the CPA’s administration, this section focuses on the overall success and failures of the CPA administrative capacity, and what this means for the future of Iraq’s new government. Since the cessation of the CPA, the Iraqi government has had its ups and downs and is still heavily reliant on the American presence. But some positive elements have been …

State-Building In Iraq, Hafsteinn Hafsteinnsson

Human Rights & Human Welfare

Whether the 2003 invasion of Iraq was principally strategic or humanitarian, the United States’ involvement in Iraq has become a complex state-building mission. While there is agreement within the international community on the importance of rebuilding a democratic Iraq, there are many conflicting viewpoints on how this operation should proceed.

Foreword: Rethinking Reconstruction After Iraq, Diane Marie Amann

Scholarly Works

Foreword to a symposium held on March 12, 2004 by the UC Davis Journal of International Law & Policy. Entitled “Rethinking Reconstruction After Iraq,” the symposium was designated a regional meeting of the American Society of International Law and the American Branch of the International Law Association, and further was sponsored by the American National Section of the International Association of Penal Law and the International Human Rights Committee of the Bar Association of San Francisco.

The Media At The Tip Of The Spear, Kevin A. Smith

Michigan Law Review

Due largely to the first widespread availability of the telegraph, through which breaking stories could be transmitted to the presses in moments, the debut of the American war correspondent occurred during the Civil War. From their beginning, American war correspondents have frequently "embedded" with the troops on whom they reported. General Grant, for example, allowed his favorite New York Herald reporter to travel with his entourage, and even used him as a personal messenger. Reporters proved an important component of the war effort for both the North and the South. Papers on both sides proved willing providers of propaganda to …

The War Against Iraq And The Future Of International Law: Hegemony Or Pluralism?, Andreas Paulus

Michigan Journal of International Law

This Article is devoted to the question of the future relevance of international law at a time when the idea of a "rule of law" in international affairs seems to be waning. Why should the sole superpower look to international law in its quest for protection from dangers of weapons of mass destruction and terrorists? Is the European insistence on questions of legality, which was visible in the dramatic British attempts to secure some kind of Security Council backing and to advance international legal arguments for its participation in the invasion of Iraq, more than a fig leaf for a …

Justice For Iraq, Justice For All, Michael J. Frank

Oklahoma Law Review

No abstract provided.

The End Of Legitimacy, Mary Ellen O'Connell

Journal Articles

IRAQ: ONE YEAR LATER

INTRODUCTORY REMARKS by Mary Ellen O'Connell, 261

THE USE OF FORCE IN IRAQ: ILLEGAL AND ILLEGITIMATE by Anne-Marie Slaughter, 262-63

THE IRAQ WAR AND THE FUTURE OF INTERNATIONAL LAW by Richard Falk, 263-66

THE ROLE OF INTERNATIONAL LAW AND THE UN AFTER IRAQ by Thomas M Franck, 266-69

THE END OF LEGITIMACY by Mary Ellen O'Connell, 269-70

THE PROBLEMS OF LEGITIMACY-SPEAK by James Crawford, 271-73

Ecocide And Genocide In Iraq: International Law, The Marsh Arabs And Environmental Damage In Non-International Conflicts, Aaron Schwabach

ExpressO

In 1991, after the first Gulf War, the Marsh Arabs of southern Iraq rose up against the Hussein government, with U.S. encouragement. The rebellion failed; in retaliation the government embarked on a massive water diversion project to drain the wetlands. In 1970 the wetlands covered nearly 11,000 square kilometers; today they cover fewer than a thousand. The Marsh Arabs whose ancestors had lived in the wetlands for five thousand years were forced to flee; many died. The drainage of the wetlands was a deliberate and calculated act of genocide and ecocide. At the time, Iraq was a party to several …

Exploding Causalities: An Example From Iraq, Ibpp Editor

International Bulletin of Political Psychology

This article provides explanations for a seemingly paradoxical social psychological response to the April 26, 2003 explosions within an ammunition dump in Baghdad.

International Law And The Pre-Emptive Use Of Force: Afghanistan, Al-Qaida, And Iraq, Christopher Greenwood

San Diego International Law Journal

This Article will review the legal framework on the use of force and suggest that there are cases in which the use of "preemptive force" may be justified, provided that certain important conditions are satisfied. Parts III and IV will then apply this analysis to the two cases that have focused attention on the whole issue of preemptive action, namely, the threat from international terrorism (Part III) and the situation in Iraq (Part IV). The writer's conclusions are summarized in Part V.

Editor's Note, Padraig O'Malley

New England Journal of Public Policy

Much has changed in the world since the last issue of this journal. All is indeed changed and changed utterly. But we have no terrible beauty with which to console ourselves. For the foreseeable future, the debate over whether we live in a unilateral or multilateral world is moot. A new Rome rules with an arrogance only the truly certain can master.

The invasion of Iraq definitively answered the question: What is the New World Order? America is, and America’s order will continue until Americans themselves decide otherwise, and that, in the short term at least, means whether they will …

Trends. A Casualty Of War: Suicide As A Response To An American-Led Invasion Of Iraq, Ibpp Editor

International Bulletin of Political Psychology

This Trends article discusses the political psychology of suicide as protest.

Trends. Personalities, Motivations, And Capabilities: The Iraq-North Korea Distinction, Ibpp Editor

International Bulletin of Political Psychology

This Trends article discusses and evaluates the handling of public affairs and justifications for military intervention in Iraq by the United States Secretary of State.

Agora: Future Implications Of The Iraq Conflict Editors' Introduction, Lori Fisler Damrosh, Bernard H. Oxman

Articles

No abstract provided.

Operation Iraqi Freedom: Just Or Unjust War? Humanitarian Action, Or Simply Geopolitics?, Ruti G. Teitel

Other Publications

No abstract provided.

Trends. Predicting An Iraqi Insurrection: A Contribution From Balance Theory, Ibpp Editor

International Bulletin of Political Psychology

This Trends article evaluates the problematic of concept of enemies and supposed allies among supporters of a United States-led military intervention in Iraq.

The Legality And Constitutionality Of The President's Authority To Initiate An Invasion Of Iraq, Mark R. Shulman

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Interpreting Intervention, Craig Scott

Articles & Book Chapters

The present article, written in May 2001, discusses the significance for the doctrine of humanitarian intervention of the normative signaling practices that transpired throughout the 1990s with respect to the use of military force outside of explicit authorization by UN Security Council resolutions. The first part of the article analyses the sociological and legal-theoretical dimensions of the relationship between interpretation of Security Council resolutions and the interpretive evolution of the UN Charter. Iraq and Kosovo then provide the focus for contextualizing the analysis. The article ends with an account of the interplay of the powers of the General Assembly and …

Trends. Straight Talk On Why Saddam Hussein Can't Go Straight, Ibpp Editor

International Bulletin of Political Psychology

The author discusses Saddam Hussein's inability to give up nuclear weapons development.

Force Without Law: Seeking A Legal Justification For The September 1996 U.S. Military Intervention In Iraq, Gavin A. Symes

Michigan Journal of International Law

This note concludes that none of the various legal arguments offered in support of the September 1996 military intervention against Iraq adequately justifies U.S. actions under international law and that in fact international law was never a real concern in planning, implementing, or even justifying the intervention. Part I relates the general history of the "Kurdish problem" and the particulars of the incident under scrutiny. This Part then goes on to describe the aftermath of the intervention and its failure to achieve any of the stated goals of the United States. Part II addresses the general validity under international law …

Agony Of The Innocents, Feisal Amin Istrabadi

Articles by Maurer Faculty

No abstract provided.