There is near-total agreement among experts in military law that the recent attack against the boat in international waters suspected of carrying drugs was a violation of domestic and international law. Yet military lawyers who bear an obligation to these laws presumably reviewed the order as it moved through the chain of command. In an opinion for The Cipher Brief, CERL Advisory Council Member Geoffrey Corn asks what happened, sounding the alarm over the seeming “abandonment of the rule of law” at the highest levels of government.  

He is also quoted in a New York Times article on the topic here.

Geoffrey S. Corn is the George R. Killam, Jr. Chair of Criminal Law and Director of the Center for Military Law and Policy at Texas Tech University School of Law. A retired U.S. Army Judge Advocate Officer, he served as the Army’s senior law of war advisor. He is also a member of the CERL Advisory Council. Read his bio here.    

The views expressed here are the author’s own and do not necessarily represent those of any organization or university.