The War on Terror and the Laws of War

Many years after the United States initiated a military response to the terrorist attacks of September 11th, 2001, the nation continues to prosecute what it considers an armed conflict against transnational terrorist groups. Understanding how the law of armed conflict applies to and regulates military operations executed within the scope of this armed conflict against transnational non-state terrorist groups is as important today as it was in September 2001.

In The War on Terror and the Laws of War seven legal scholars, each with experience as military officers, focus on how to strike an effective balance between the necessity of using armed violence to subdue a threat to the nation with the humanitarian interest of mitigating the suffering inevitably associated with that use. Each chapter addresses a specific operational issue, including the national right of self-defense, military targeting and the use of drones, detention, interrogation, trial by military commission of captured terrorist operatives, and the impact of battlefield perspectives on counter-terror military operations, while illustrating how the law of armed conflict influences resolution of that issue. This Second Edition carries on the critical mission of continuing the ongoing dialogue about the law from an unabashedly military perspective, bringing practical wisdom to the contentious topic of applying international law to the battlefield.

Geoffrey S. Corn is The Presidential Research Professor of Law at South Texas College of Law in Houston Texas, who retired in 2004 from the U.S. Army as Lieutenant Colonel (Retired). Professor Corn's teaching and scholarship focuses on the law of armed conflict, national security law, criminal law and procedure, and prosecutorial ethics.

James A. Schoettler, Jr. is an Adjunct Professor of Law at the Georgetown University Law Center. He is a retired U.S. Army Colonel, with 30 years of service as a Judge Advocate on active duty and in the Army Reserve.

Dru Brenner-Beck is an attorney in private practice in Littleton, Colorado, and consults on international law matters. She served in the U.S. Army initially as a Military Intelligence officer, and then as a member of the Judge Advocate General's Corps. She is also the current President of the National Institute of Military Justice.

Victor M. Hansen is Associate Dean and Professor of Law at New England Law Boston. Professor Hansen holds a J.D., magna cum laude, from Lewis and Clark Law School. He is a co-author of the first edition of The War on Terror and the Laws of War. He previously served as a Lieutenant Colonel in the U.S. Army Judge Advocate General's Corps.

Richard B. "Dick" Jackson is the Special Assistant to the U.S. Army Judge Advocate General for Law of War Matters. He is a retired U.S. Army Colonel, with over 30 years of experience as an Infantryman and Judge Advocate. Mr. Jackson has written extensively and frequently lectured on law of war matters.

Eric Talbot Jensen is an Associate Professor at Brigham Young Law School in Provo, Utah, where he teaches Public International Law, US National Security Law, Criminal Law, and the Law of Armed Conflict. He has written a number of law review articles appearing in such journals as the Michigan Journal of International Law, International Law Studies, and the Minnesota Journal of International Law.

Michael W. Lewis is a professor of law at Ohio Northern University School of Law. He has written extensively on various aspects of the laws of war and the conflict between the US and al Qaeda. He served in the U.S. Navy from 1987-95 where he flew F-14's from the aircraft carrier USS Independence.