O.I.L. Media Roundup (8 October)

[This is a roundup of news articles and other materials circulating on Occupation, Intervention, and Law and reflects a wide variety of opinions. It does not reflect the views of the O.I.L. Page Editors or of Jadaliyya. You may send your own recommendations for inclusion in each biweekly roundup to OIL@jadaliyya.com by Monday night of every other week] 

News

"White House Widening Covert War in North Africa", Kimberly Dozier
The Associated Press reports on small teams of American special operations forces that have arrived at US embassies in North Africa in the months prior to the months before the attacks at Benghazi.  Dozier reports on speculation that the Obama administration is "taking its time" setting up the new units in an effort to counter criticisms that the White House is establishing shifting the anti-terrorism fight to a secret war in North Africa.

"People's Justice: Addressing the 1988 Massacre of Political Prisoners in Iran", Parisa Zangeneh
Zangeneh argues the establishment of a People's Tribunal to address the victims of a 1988 massacre of political prisoners in Iran is vital in light of the "selective justice" approach to human rights atrocities taken by "humanitarians of the world".  Zanganeh also considers the question of whether the victims of the massacre fulfill the criterion of genocide under the 1948 Genocide Convention definition.

Blogs

"In Search of Limits for the Alien Tort Statute", Jenny S. Martinez
Martinez, writing for IntLawGrrls, summarizes oral arguments of the rearmament of Kiobel v. Royal Dutch Shell this week in front of the Supreme Court, offering an overview of the proceedings and speculation as to the leanings of the nine justices.

"U.S. Prepares for Retaliatory Military Strike in Libya", Julian Ku
For Opinio Juris, Ku discusses rumors that the United States is preparing a military strike in Libya, writing that while the Obama administration would seem to have "ample legal authority" to launch such a strike, Ku also weighs a variety of legal objections might be raised, depending on whether the Libyan government consents to such a strike or not.

"The Crisis of the Israel Lobby", Philip Weiss
Philip Weiss praises the Obama campaign for openly flouting the attempts of Israel's Netanyahu government to inject itself into the US' presidential race, and is pleasantly surprised that Obama appears not have paid a political price for it.  Weiss warns that this doesn't mean the end of the "Israel lobby", however, warning that "the debate has a long way to go".

"Farce of the US Justice System", As'ad AbuKhalil
AbuKhalil, writing on his "The Angry Arab News Service" blog, criticizes a largely symbolic recent US court decision ordering Iran, Al-Qaeda, and several other defendants to pay $6 billion to the victims of the 11 September 2001 attacks, taking issue in particular with the inclusion of Iran in the judgment.

Commentary

"We Stand Ready to Help", Robert Lane Greene
The Economist's Greene interviews Anders Fogh Rasmussen, the Secretary General of NATO, on the recent attacks in Libya and the direction of the war in Afghanistan.  Rasmussen speaks of NATO's willingness to assist the LIbyan government in their "reforming" of their security structure and armed forces in the wake of the attacks at Benghazi.

"A Framework to End the Afghan War", David Ignatius
Ignatius writes in The Washington Post of several pathways explored by NATO in recent months for ending the war in Afghanistan, including a set of informal talks not dissimilar to the 1993 Downing Street Declaration that played a large role in ending religious conflict in Northern Ireland.

"The Folly of Drone Attacks and U.S. Strategy", Mirza Shahzad Akbar
Akbar, a human rights lawyer in Islamabad who represents the families of victims of a number of drone strikes, argues on CNN.com that drone strikes have reached a fever pitch under the Obama Administration, happening almost twice a week on Pakistani soil.  Akbar furthermore argues that the attacks are part of a "cycle of terror", directly contributing to the emergence of new combatants to replace those killed in drone attacks.

"Guantanamo.  Forgotten." Brent Rushforth, Robert L. Palmer, M. Alexander Bowie II and James G. Szymanski
The authors, who represent two Guantanamo detainees seeking writs of habeas corpus, criticize the Supreme Court's refusal to hear the appeals of their clients and many other Guantanamo detainees in the National Law Journal.


Reports

"The Civilian Impact of Drones: Unexamined Costs, Unanswered Questions"
A joint report from the Center for Civilians in Conflict and Columbia Law School's Human Rights Clinic, claiming to be the "first systematic study" of the United States' drone targeted killings program, criticizes the drones' propensity for harming civilians and the policymakers behind the program for "failing to ask the hard questions" about the program's appropriateness.
 

Conferences

"Human Rights Research: Students' Conference"; 20 November 2012; School of Advanced Study, University of London; Respond to Call for Papers/Register here.

On Jadaliyya

"The US on Trial in NY: The Russell Tribunal on Palestine", Noura Erakat

"Israel's Hypocrisy on a Nuclear Middle East," Thalif Deen

"Text of Abbas' Speech to the UN General Assembly, 2012", Jadaliyya Reports

"Text of Netanyahu's Speech to the UN General Assembly, 2012", Jadaliyya Reports

"Palestine Conditions "More Brutal" Than in U.S. South of 50 Years Ago, Says Author Alice Walker (Interview Transcript)" Jadaliyya Reports

"The Deeply Disturbing Israel Court Ruling on Rachel Corrie" Cindy Corrie

"The Wine Festival at the Big Mosque in Bir el-Sabe" Salah Mohsen

"Bomb, Bomb, Bomb Iran" Vijay Prashad

"Anti-Apartheid: An Interview with Ronnie Kasrils" Frank Barat

"UNHCR Releases New Guidelines for Detention of Asylum-Seekers" Jadaliyya Reports

" إدوارد سعيد: الثقافة وطن ومقاومة", Abdullah AlBayyari