Thread by @rgoodlaw

<Thread>

This essay—by leading experts who are former U.S. Army and U.S. Air Force JAGs—frames the questions that Congress and the public should be asking to determine whether #Soleimani strike was lawful.

Authors: Geoffrey Corn and @rachelv12

justsecurity.org/67970/lawful-s…

2. The authors analyze U.S. (and Iran) strikes under international law.

Note to the wise: Super strong arguments that int'l law is also part of domestic legal test--whether under the 2002 AUMF or Article II Commander-in-Chief

Read this by Brian Finucane:
justsecurity.org/63527/the-limi…

3. In agreement with Finucane that compliance with the U.N. Charter imposes constitutional limits on the President’s powers under Article II...

Read @marty_lederman's analysis (written in 2017 in the context of the Syria strikes):

justsecurity.org/39674/syrian-s…

@marty_lederman 4. A key point by Professors Corn and @rachelv12 is the issue of the “timeliness” aspect of self-defense.

Take for example the State Dept briefing that Soleimani was responsible for deaths of 608 Americans in Iraq.

There's a valid and completely invalid way to apply that info.

@marty_lederman @rachelv12 5. Corn & @rachelv12 on use of rhetoric:

"Assertions by current (and former) US officials that Soleimani has the blood of hundreds of American troops on his hands may be understandable…but contributes to the perception that the attack was more about revenge than self-defense."

@marty_lederman @rachelv12 6/6. I strongly concur in Corn & @rachelv12's call for U.S. administration to provide to the American and int'l public a compelling case #Soleimani strike met standards of self-defense:

1. Reasonable assessment
2. Necessary (and proportional)
3. To Prevent
4. Imminent
5. Attack