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Legal Adviser Harold Koh: Int'l Law and the Obama Admin

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The ASIL 104th Annual Meeting

American Society of International Law

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Defense Measures: Harold Koh Explains Foreign US Combat

00 min 53 sec

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Harold Koh, legal adviser for the U.S. Department of State, explains why the Obama administration has the authority and responsibility to use defensive measures against the Al-Qaeda threat in Afghanistan and Pakistan.
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01 hr 30 min 21 sec

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Previous FORAtv comments:

JTWilliams

Posted: 01.22.11, 09:53 PM

If you set up strongholds in a hostile nation- that makes you the occupier, and the militants the patriots. I know the lawyers and the PR specialists can team up to make drone bombings palatable to the sheeple, but the fact is: drones are a cowardly way to fight an enemy. Blowing up a wedding to kill a couple suspected militants is repugnant, no matter what the justifications. Do you think the militants hide out together in a single hideout? No, the Pentagon kills innocents with no more thought than a child blasting aliens in a video game! If this continues, We the American people, should expect armies of martyrs, who would give their lives to inflict the terror and sorrow that they suffered at the hands of US bombs. And this criminal government will respond by stealing all the freedom we have left. Any christian should apply the golden rule to the government that kills and maims in our names!

kikl

Posted: 08.05.10, 07:51 AM

This is plain obvious. Targeting an enemy combatant is lawful in war. It doesn't matter what military rank the enemy soldier has. The American drones are the perfect weapon for combating the Taliban. By continuously removing the military leadership, the Taliban forces are weakened considerably. But, the real problem is Pakistan. Pakistan is aiding the Taliban. They are providing a safe haven for the Taliban. The USA must stop providing any support to Pakistan. Pakistan is an enemy.

fredkharrison3

Posted: 04.07.10, 10:55 AM

These are the same folk who crashed drones into the WTC towers and a missle into the Pentagon, so it should be no surprise to anyone that what they do abroad is any different from what they do at home. Don't expect them to tell you the truth about anything. Expect instead covert operations and false flags whenever and wherever a third world country won't open its doors to the US, gets friendly with a competitive world power or moves to trade in a currency other than the dollar. It is all about world domination, the control of trade and resources--and not about terrorists. Remember that the CIA created al-Qaeda, so they will be around just as long as they are deemed useful to their mission.

GM2010

Posted: 04.07.10, 09:34 AM

Oh really? By Amir Mir LAHORE: Of the 60 cross-border predator strikes carried out by the Afghanistan-based American drones in Pakistan between January 14, 2006 and April 8, 2009, only 10 were able to hit their actual targets, killing 14 wanted al-Qaeda leaders, besides perishing 687 innocent Pakistani civilians. The success percentage of the US predator strikes thus comes to not more than six per cent. Figures compiled by the Pakistani authorities show that a total of 701 people, including 14 al-Qaeda leaders, have been killed since January 2006 in 60 American predator attacks targeting the tribal areas of Pakistan. Two strikes carried out in 2006 had killed 98 civilians while three attacks conducted in 2007 had slain 66 Pakistanis, yet none of the wanted al-Qaeda or Taliban leaders could be hit by the Americans right on target. However, of the 50 drone attacks carried out between January 29, 2008 and April 8, 2009, 10 hit their targets and killed 14 wanted al-Qaeda operatives. Most of these attacks were carried out on the basis of intelligence believed to have been provided by the Pakistani and Afghan tribesmen who had been spying for the US-led allied forces stationed in Afghanistan. The remaining 50 drone attacks went wrong due to faulty intelligence information, killing hundreds of innocent civilians, including women and children. The number of the Pakistani civilians killed in those 50 attacks stood at 537, in which 385 people lost their lives in 2008 and 152 people were slain in the first 99 days of 2009 (between January 1 and April 8).

AlOlmstead

Posted: 04.07.10, 08:05 AM

One measure of the moral destitution of a nation is that its leaders hire lawyers to argue that amorality is legal.

charlesfrith

Posted: 04.07.10, 04:45 AM

This is no more WWII then it is the neolithic era. See Vietnam for references on how much more life is considered valuable.

Dogma

Posted: 04.07.10, 04:25 AM

BS. Our drones don't belong there any more than our troops do. Come to think of it, he kind of reminds me of Bush's torture advisor, John Yoo, (and not just because his Korean American). Okay, so he's not John Yoo 2... nonetheless, this is a lame argument.

ITO

Posted: 03.31.10, 03:29 PM

For all NATO countries, Canada in particular, this is an important message! We have far too many who are critical despite the precision of attacks now possible, they were not there when WW2 bombings of England or Europe were area raids at best! Thank goodness we are not risking hundreds of aircrew as well as hundreds of innocent civilians in the tasks now being undertaken.

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