By Jonathan Abrams, NSJ Staff Editor – Five American Muslims who were detained in Pakistan on suspicion of terrorism have alleged torture by American and Pakistani authorities. The men, all from the Washington, DC area, were detained in December shortly after arriving in Pakistan. The Pakistani government has accused them of plotting terrorist attacks in […]
NSJ Analysis: FBI Closes Amerithrax Investigation; Harvard Poll Questions Public’s Preparedness for Anthrax Attack
In September and October of 2001, an anonymous source dropped a white powder containing deadly anthrax into the mail. The attack killed five people; threatened the safety of Congress, the media, and the public at large; and rekindled the fears still raw from the September 11th attacks. The FBI ultimately focused on Bruce Ivins as […]
NSJ Analysis: Cyber Vulnerabilities and the Possibility of “Cyberdeterrence”
By John Cella — The intrusion by unidentified Chinese hackers into Google’s networks in January is likely not an isolated incident, but part of the growing trend of state-sponsored acts of cyberwarfare. While Google is a private corporation, attacks against it and other American corporations have significant national security implications. Beyond the private harms inflicted […]
Rules vs. Standards on the Battlefield
By John Thorlin, NSJ Staff Editor – Assassinating foreign leaders outside of an ongoing armed conflict is of questionable legality, even if doing so would prevent a broader war. Humanitarian interventions such as the NATO bombings in Kosovo–acts deliberately aimed at saving lives–are prohibited by the laws of war, which do not differentiate between the […]
NSJ Analysis: Increasing Use of Unmanned Drones Raises Data Security Issues
As part of the continuing war in Afghanistan, the United States has made extensive use of unmanned Predator drones to carry out reconnaissance as well as armed strikes. On Monday The New York Times reported that a U.S. drone killed three militants in North Waziristan, and on Friday CNN reported that a Haqqani network commander […]
UPDATE: Supreme Court Calls for Supplemental Briefing on First Post-Boumediene Case
By Jonathan Abrams, NSJ Staff Editor – On March 23rd, the Supreme Court is scheduled to hear arguments concerning the power of a federal judge to compel the Executive to admit detainees into the United States. But a two sentence order issued by the Court on Friday signaled that new developments may result in the […]