By Natasha Hall In last week’s Republican presidential debate, we heard all about saturation bombing and destroying the Islamic State group. Republican contender Sen. Ted Cruz recently proffered his opinion that we should “carpet bomb ISIS into oblivion.” In the past two weeks, a 34-nation Islamic military coalition to combat terrorism was announced, President Barack…
Article by Nicolette Boehland, Harvard Law Fellow at CIVIC. “What I think is that there is no line at all … Civilians can turn into fighters at any time. Anybody can change from a fighter to a civilian, all in one day, all in one moment.” I remember pausing when I heard this assertion. It…
The way proponents talk about them, you’d think Zeus gifted drones straight from his backpack. Alternatively, you might also believe that drones herald the age of robotic, soulless warfare and are evil in their very nature. We’re watching the renewed drone debate this week, much of which is focused on whether drones are legal and…
Letter to the Editor by Sarah Holewinski Thomas E. Ricks was exactly right in his Oct. 27 Sunday Opinion column, “Can the military learn from its mistakes?”: Military introspection is falling short. I see this starkly in the issue of civilian harm in combat. Anger at civilian casualties in Afghanistan caused U.S. commanders to make…
Submitted testimony of Sarah Holewinski, Executive Director, Center for Civilians in Conflict to the US Department of Defense, Defense Legal Policy Board. The resulting subcommittee report—including Center recommendations—can also be downloaded below. Center Testimony, DOD DLPB Subcommittee Report on Military Justice in Conflict Zones ### Notes to editors: Center for Civilians in Conflict (CIVIC)’s mission is to…
At last, the long war against Voldemort and his army of Death Eaters has been brought to a responsible end. A short time ago, just a small band of brave witches and wizards at Hogwarts School stood between the dark forces and their ascension to power. Now their evil leader is dead, his armies are…
01 April 2009 | Submitted Testimony of Jonathan Tracy, former Center military legal advisor, to US Senate Committee on Appropriations on the history of the Foreign Claims Act and Condolence Payments and ways forward. Jonathan Tracy Testimony, State & Foreign Ops Hearing ### Notes to editors: Center for Civilians in Conflict (CIVIC)’s mission is to improve…
The Iraqis I met a few weeks ago are still fleeing car bombs and sniper fire, but they’re not running for their lives. Instead, they are running for a living, earning money by playing distraught civilians in a fake Iraqi province called Ghanzi. Created by the U.S. military in California’s Mojave Desert, Ghanzi is part…
Spend some time in Brussels and Kabul with the soldiers and civilians of NATO and you’ll hear the same thing: If there ever was a place and a time when winning support of the local population would help win a war, the place is Afghanistan — and the time is now. Afghanistan is beginning to…