The War on Terror

The Legal Dimension

By (author) Col. James P. Terry

Publication date:

30 May 2013

Length of book:

192 pages

Publisher

Rowman & Littlefield Publishers

Dimensions:

236x157mm
6x9"

ISBN-13: 9781442222427

A former Marine judge advocate and legal counsel to General Colin Powell, James Terry explores the genesis of the United States approach to terror violence and the legal foundation for the nation’s response to the conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq. Terry first reviews the entire spectrum of legal issues that arise before offering creative and practical legal and political solutions to counter terrorist activities. The author examines the development of rules of engagement and their application in the terrorist environment while differentiating the law of self-defense in this environment from more traditional conflicts. He also addresses the role of interrogation, and the line between harsh interrogation and torture, and the jurisdictional claims that arise.
This volume examines a large number of topics related to the struggle and in a remarkably concise exploration, makes them understandable to experts in international law as well as those who do not have a strong background in the field. This text provides a serious but concise review of the legal issues in 20 interrelated chapters. All constitutional law scholars and political scientists will greatly benefit from reading this book. No other text offers such a comprehensive or detailed review of the issues arising from the War on Terror.

Preface
Foreword
I. The Threat of Terrorism in Perspective
II. Legal Requirements for Unconventional Warfare: The Operational
Context
III. State-Sponsored Terrorism: The International Political Context
IV. The Law of Self-Defense as Applied to the Terrorist Threat in Iraq
and Southwest Asia
V. The Development of Rules of Engagement and Their Application in
the Terrorist Environment
VI. Use of Force by the President: Defensive Uses Short of War
VII. Covert Action and the War on Terror
VIII. Access to Federal Courts for Enemy Combatants
IX. Torture and the Interrogation of Detainees
X. Federal Court or Military Commission: The Dilemma
XI. The International Criminal Court and the Trial of Terror-Related
Crimes
XII. High Seas Terror and the Elimination of Piracy
XIII. Outsourcing Defense Support Operations in the War on Terror
XIV. Stabilization Operations: Addressing Post-Conflict Unrest in Iraq
and Afghanistan
XV. Environmental Terrorism: From Oil Fires to Fouling Gulf Waters
XVI. Defense of Critical Computer Infrastructure from Terrorists:
Computer Network Defense (CND)
XVII. The Legality of Attack on Foreign Infrastructure Posing a Threat
to the U.S.: Computer Network Attack (CNA)
XVIII. War Powers in the Age on Terror: The 2011 Libya Operation
XIX. The War on Terror and Media Access
XX. Future Perspectives in Addressing Terror Violence
Appendix: Selected Bibliography and Sources
About the author

An authoritative, comprehensive and well-written examination of the legal dimension in countering terrorism by the United States government, focusing on the cases of responding to terrorist insurgencies in Afghanistan and Iraq. The author is a leading expert on these topics, having served as a former Marine Corps judge advocate and legal counsel to the U.S. Defense Department. The book’s chapters cover topics such as the legal dimension required in the operational context of counterterrorism, including the use of covert action; the international legal and political context for countering state-sponsored terrorism; the law of self-defense as applied to the terrorist threat; developing rules of engagement in countering terrorism; the application of Habeas Corpus in the detention of enemy combatants; torture and the interrogation of detainees; the dilemma of turning to federal courts or military commissions in trying suspected terrorists; international law and maritime terrorism and piracy; outsourcing military support operations in counterterrorism; the legal dimension in countering cyberterrorism, and the relationship between counterterrorism and media access to information. The concluding chapter presents the author’s views on future perspectives in countering the terrorist threat.