Testimony before the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence. Thank you, Chairman Feinstein, Vice Chairman Chambliss, and members of the committee for inviting me to present my views on reform of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA). I am a Senior Fellow in Governance Studies at the Brookings Institution. I co-founded and am Editor in Chief of Lawfare, a website […]
Archive | 2013
Ode on a Video Game
I wrote this poem as part of the “Ode Off,” a friendly ode-writing competition with my friend Hannah Neprash. Each of us assigned the other a news story on which we had to write an ode within 48 hours. Hannah assigned me this New York Times story about the potentially salutary effects of video games […]
Tools and Tradeoffs: Confronting U.S. Citizen Terrorist Suspects Abroad
Coauthored with Daniel Byman By its very name, the Hellfire missile promises to visit Biblical wrath upon those on its receiving end. On September 30, 2011, it delivered just that to Anwar Awlaki, the U.S.-born preacher and an operational leader of Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), who had plotted repeated attacks from his […]
The Future of Law of War Detention for Persons Captured in the United States
Coauthored with Robert Chesney Testimony before the House Committee on the Judiciary, “Protecting U.S. Citizens’ Constitutional Rights During the War on Terror.” Thank you, Chairman Goodlatte, Ranking Member Conyers, and members of the committee for this opportunity to give our views on the subject of military detention under the laws of war of terrorist suspects arrested within the […]
A Recursive Sonnet
I don’t normally write poetry, but many years ago, in reading Keats, I noticed a quirk in the title of one of his sonnets. For 20 years or so, I have meant to write a sonnet about it. I finally got around to it recently.
On Wikipedia, Lawfare, Blogs, and Sources
Coauthored with Stephanie Leutert A large, powerful organization with enormous influence over public debate is stifling discussion of an important national security issue. It has censored emerging ideas by prominent intellectuals and practitioners in the field. It makes irrational, outdated choices about what sources constitute acceptable reading for the public’s delicate eyes. Its conservatism about […]
Oxford Union Debate: Drone Warfare is Ethical and Effective
Speech before the Oxford Union in support of the resolution: “This House Believes Drone Warfare is Ethical and Effective.”
Speaking the Law: The Obama Administration’s Speeches on National Security Law
Coauthored with Kenneth Anderson OVERVIEW Over the course of President Obama’s first term in office, the president and senior officials of his administration have given a series of major speeches on the legal framework for confronting terrorists overseas. The speeches collectively represent the fullest statement the administration has given of the law of drones, targeted […]
Drones and the War on Terror: When Can the U.S. Target Alleged American Terrorists Overseas?
Testimony before the House Committee on the Judiciary, “Drones and the War on Terror: When Can the U.S. Target Alleged American Terrorists Overseas?” Thank you, Mr. Chairman and members of the committee, for inviting me to testify on the question of when the United States may lawfully target alleged American terrorists overseas. I am a Senior Fellow in Governance Studies at the […]
A Statutory Framework for Next Generation Threats
Coauthored with Robert Chesney, Jack Goldsmith, and Matthew Waxman Since September 18, 2001, a joint resolution of Congress known as the Authorization for Use of Military Force (AUMF) has served as the primary legal foundation for the “war on terror.” In this essay we explain why the AUMF is increasingly obsolete, why the nation will […]
Separating Face from Fiction in Zero Dark Thirty
Brookings Institution, January 25, 2013 Summary: After nearly ten years of diligent CIA intelligence work, U.S. Navy SEALs tracked 9-11 mastermind, Osama bin Laden to his compound in Pakistan and killed him. It was an attack that resonated around the world and is now portrayed in the movie, Zero-Dark-Thirty. Senior Fellow Benjamin Wittes discusses the facts and […]
How Obama Decides Your Fate If He Thinks You’re a Terrorist
Coauthored with Daniel Byman, The Atlantic, January 3, 2013 Over the past two years, the Obama administration has begun to formalize a so-called “disposition matrix” for suspected terrorists abroad: a continuously evolving database that spells out the intelligence on targets and various strategies, including contingencies, for handling them. Although the government has not spelled out […]
Benjamin Wittes 