re: "NBC: Israel and MEK Responsible for Murdering Iranian Scientists"

Kevin Jon Heller at Opinio Juris ("a forum for informed discussion and lively debate about international law and international relations") explored the legal and political ramifications.

Money quote(s):

"(P)recisely because it is a blockbuster that makes Israel and the MEK’s vast number of Democratic and Republican supporters in the U.S. look bad, (it) has been basically ignored in the “liberal” media"

A surprising number of very prominent politicians and former high government officials have come out in favor of "de-listing" the PMOI. It's something of a puzzlement to me.

"(I)n a rational world it should complicate efforts by the MEK’s U.S. friends to have the MEK de-listed as a terror organization"

So one would imagine.

As I've mentiond, I think, before, one of my major objections to de-listing the PMOI is that it's never come clean about the terrorism that it's known to have committed; in particular the assassinations of U.S. personnel in Iran.

"(B)ombings conducted by a civilian intelligence service such as the Mossad are not excluded from the Convention’s definition of terrorism. So yes, the Mossad’s actions in using MEK to kill the Iranian nuclear scientists qualify as terrorism."

Prof. Heller is referring to something called the "Terrorist Bombing Convention," of which CAA is completely (if momentarily) ignorant. To which the U.S. is a state party.

2/11

re: "Yes, Pamela, Some People Do Care — Including the U.S. Military"

Kevin Jon Heller at Opinio Juris ("a forum for informed discussion and lively debate about international law and international relations") conflates the public urination video with the taking of body parts as trophies.

The part I agree with:

"The military’s response to the blossoming controversy has been admirable."

If, that is, you equate "admirable" with "swift" or even "hasty."

1/12

re: "Should the Media Be Prosecuted for Espionage, Too?"

Kevin Jon Heller at Opinio Juris is a sharp cookie. I like the way he thinks.

Money quote(s):

"The New York Times, Der Spiegel, The Guardian, Le Monde, and El Pais — all are just as guilty of violating the Espionage Act as WikiLeaks. There is no “we redacted some of the documents” defense in the Act, and prosecuting a news organization after it has published documents does not create prior restraint problems. Moreover, given that those newspapers have a vastly wider readership than the WikiLeaks website, they have arguably harmed America’s national-security interests far more than WikiLeaks itself. (And let’s not forget, WikiLeaks did not steal the documents; it obtained them from the person who did. So there is no relevant difference between the newspapers and WikiLeaks in that regard; the “espionage” is simply one level removed with the newspapers.)"