The decision to impose a no-fly zone on Libya is scrutinized from various perspectives in a new report (pdf) from the Congressional Research Service.
The report distinguishes “authorization” to establish a no-fly zone from the “legality” of the move, and also from its “legitimacy.” “The three concepts overlap but are all distinct,” the report says.
The report, which may help to inform congressional deliberations, also treats operational and cost issues. A copy was obtained by Secrecy News. See “No-Fly Zones: Strategic, Operational, and Legal Considerations for Congress,” March 18, 2011.
“From the Washington Administration to the present, Congress and the President have enacted 11 separate formal declarations of war against foreign nations in five different wars,” according to another newly updated CRS report. Yet there have been hundreds of U.S. military engagements over the past two centuries.
The significance of a declaration of war as compared to an “authorization” for the use of force was explored in detail in “Declarations of War and Authorizations for the Use of Military Force: Historical Background and Legal Implications,” March 17, 2011.
For a brief overview of Japan’s nuclear disaster, see “Fukushima Nuclear Crisis,” March 15, 2011.
Denice Ross, former U.S. Chief Data Scientist and Data Policy Institute lead at the Federation of American Scientists, will be honored for her stewardship of public data by the National Academy of Public Administration, where she has been named a Fellow.
Confirmation that the construction of the security perimeter and associated security infrastructure at RAF Lakenheath are still ongoing once again raises questions about whether U.S. nuclear weapons have already been deployed to the base.
Alaskans are sensibly pulling back from the vogue for bans and returning to a western tradition that has worked for more than half a century – one that welcomes innovation but also oversees it closely.
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