Breaking from vacation because this is huge/👀. FAA 702 already allows warrantless surveillance of Americans' comms. It'll be key to know when this classified interpretation was written (under which administration) but, can't think how this would extend. Collection of wholly domestic communications?
what's more, in this war of aggression, there's real doubt that the argument for military advantage is legit.
quote above from here:
Sean Parnell, the chief spokesman for the Pentagon, said Tehran was growing “increasingly desperate, deliberately positioning missile and drone launchers in densely populated civilian neighborhoods, near distribution centers, and inside residential areas.” “This is a blatant and intentional tactic: using innocent Iranian civilians as human shields,” Mr. Parnell wrote on social media. “We’ve seen this cowardly strategy before — it’s no accident.”
sounds familiar, right? legitimating attacks on civilian populations because 'the other side' co-locates military objectives there?
even if true, the attacker (US/Israel) is *obligated* to assess whether the military advantage outweighs the civilian harm. sounds like that's not happening.
keep in mind that, for years, orban has been waging war on 'foreign influence', shutting down NGOs & universities & taking over state & private media.
this is hypocrisy on steroids & highly telling abt orban's version of 'sovereignty' (which is simply code for personal power)
NEW: A recently developed Defense Department program was meant to reduce civilian harm during military operations.
But months before the Iran war, the mission was dissolved as Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth made “lethality” a top priority.
By @hannahallam.bsky.social
illuminating & perceptive 🧵
UCLA Law’s Safeguarding Democracy Project is Hiring a Staff Attorney electionlawblog.org?p=154734
not particularly news to anyone, but it's still amazing & scandalous how people (or esp the supreme court, privileging donors over the public interest) think a democracy can survive with this level of oligarchic distortion (assuming against evidence that they want it to survive)
i think about this a lot
key questions for journalists to ask: did the military consider any of the risks to human life or the environment when bombing an oil facility in/near a city of close to 10 million? if US did it, was it a result of hegseth's rejection of the law of war?
this has the look of a vastly disproportionate attack
ha ha, i just saw it, too, thanks!
chatham house is on the case, too
violation = war crime
Article 57(2) of Additional Protocol I of the Geneva Conventions With respect to attacks, the following precautions shall be taken: (a) those who plan or decide upon an attack shall: (i) do everything feasible to verify that the objectives to be attacked are neither civilians nor civilian objects and are not subject to special protection but are military objectives within the meaning of paragraph 2 of Article 52 and that it is not prohibited by the provisions of this Protocol to attack them; (ii) take all feasible precautions in the choice of means and methods of attack with a view to avoiding, and in any event to minimizing, incidental loss of civilian life, injury to civilians and damage to civilian objects; (iii) refrain from deciding to launch any attack which may be expected to cause incidental loss of civilian life, injury to civilians, damage to civilian objects, or a combination thereof, which would be excessive in relation to the concrete and direct military advantage anticipated;
even if an oil facility is a military objective, the US/Israel *must* avoid "any attack which may be expected to cause incidental loss of civilian life, injury to civilians, damage to civilian objects...which would be excessive in relation to the concrete and direct military advantage anticipated"
pretty much everyone i meet in europe asks about the midterms. i think it's a big mistake to wait and think they/we can manage til then.
in this, @djrothkopf.bsky.social describes the madness of the moment well
i have zero doubt that every european leader (and certainly beyond) believes that trump is a dangerous, erratic, likely psychotic individual. together, in solidarity, they could exert serious power of resistance. yet they tiptoe around him, knowing full well he risks their security & well-being.
actually int'l law/institutions are in crisis, no question, & there is vast hypocrisy & abuse against those with less power. but the description is glib b/c it's vibrant & effective in a wide array of areas & regions.
with hegseth talking war crimes, there needs to be a massive counter-messaging operation by service, OSD and academic lawyers to ensure military personnel understand that the law of armed conflict applies whatever trump/hegseth say.
International law is a funny thing. With no real means of enforcement, it’s essentially a set of reciprocal expectations. It only works if states believe others will follow the rules, too. Anything that departs from those expectations weakens that system.
this piece feels gullible, like it was written for the wrong war, as there's no humanitarian impulse to trump's aggression. but also i dislike the glibness here, since int'l law - sets of *obligations* - is often enforced, even if use of force is a serious outlier. www.nytimes.com/2026/03/07/w...
My latest in @foreignaffairs.com on day after challenges and the unrealistic expectations in Washington about what will follow this reckless war
Reupping.
Not only did Trump minimize possibility of terrorist attacks on US. But White House nixed a law enforcement bulletin ABOUT those threats.
End-of-mission statement by the UN Commission of Inquiry on Syria.
UN Commission of Inquiry completes Syria mission in midst of regional clashes, encouraging respect for human rights.
x.com/uninvhrc/sta...
the one gloss i might add to this is that "Silicon Valley" itself does not capture how the world largely reads this as "American"
an iphone app with a map showing current air raids/alerts in ukraine
a colleague from ukraine has what looks like a weather app but it's for russian air attacks. obvious such a thing would exist, and horrible that such a thing should exist.
team trump plays into every stereotype of cowboy americans, a kind of george w bush style on steroids. cheney's 'gloves are off' quips seem quaint in comparison, even though that hid a major turn to brutality & inhumanity.
very/very good - and incidentally, as i hear from europeans, this is a very common reaction to the chest-thumping aggression they hear from trump/USG officials, not just re iran but across the board.
More spyware fallout in Italy 🇮🇹 following WhatsApp & Apple notifications & @citizenlab.ca investigations
Prosecutors' team confirms journalist @fcancellato.bsky.social's phone hacked with Paragon spyware
@lorenzofb.bsky.social with details; stay tuned for more
techcrunch.com/2026/03/05/i...
We thank @aoc.bsky.social for speaking the truth about age verification in the House E&C hearing today! As she stated plainly, and we agree, age verification is a smoke-screen for censorship. It is NOT about kids safety!
