HONR 278D: National Security Dilemmas
Meeting Times and Location:
- Mondays (beginning September 8) from 7:00 PM to 9:45 PM in ANA 120.
Course Summary
The police detain a man thought to be plotting a terrorist attack the next day in a U.S. city. The attack would likely kill thousands, and injure many more. The police do not believe that the man is acting alone, and do not believe that his arrest will disrupt the plot. The police also do not believe that the man will provide useful information without being subject to extreme measures; the police want to torture him. [Assume for the present purposes that they are correct in their assessment that the only way to gain the information necessary to thwart the attack is to torture the man.]
Question: Should the police be permitted to torture? If so, what should be the general rules that govern the torture; who should decide whether he should be tortured?; what rights should the man have to challenge the decision to subject him to torture?; in this scenario, is torture the only way for the U.S. to beat the terrorists, or have we already lost as a free and open country if we proceed down this path?
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These and other questions reflect the types of issues and dilemmas faced by our national security officials. And, following the events of September 11, 2001, these questions again are at the forefront of our national discourse.
This course will sample some key questions raised during the efforts of our national security apparatus to protect the nation. These questions reflect the enduring tension between the powers of the government to protect the nation and its citizens with the limits on our government imposed by the Constitution and by the moral, religious, and social norms that define our country.
This course will focus on the basic arguments and considerations that form these debates, and will provide an introduction to the fundamental principles that govern our efforts to protect the nation while preserving our values. Special focus will be given to the delicate balance of these principles in certain difficult national security dilemmas.
Note on Course Topics and Assigned Materials: Course topics and assigned materials are subject to change. Over the past several months we have seen extraordinary developments in matters relevant to this course. Though we should endeavor to cover all of the assigned topics – as did last year in the wake of leaks by Edward Snowden – I will adjust our focus as necessary to incorporate discussion of unfolding world events.
Course Materials:
1. Joseph Margulies, Guantanamo and the Abuse of Presidential Power, Simon & Schuster (July 3, 2007) - students must purchase
2. James Olsen, Fair Play: The Moral Dilemmas of Spying (Potomac Books Inc.) (December 30, 2007) – students must purchase
-Remainder of course materials will be posted to course page.
Grade Determinations:
· Class Participation – 40%
·Class participation includes attendance, preparation for class discussions by reading assigned materials, active participation in class discussions, contribution of ideas (informed by assigned reading, and individual perspectives), and special presentations (details to follow)).
·Written Assignments (preparation of written assignments, quality of written assignment, and presentation of assignment to class on due date) – 60%
- Rough guidelines for writing an editorial style assignment word counts, formatting, and style: roughly 500-1000 words; advocates a position; does so with clear arguments for why the position makes sense and why other positions or alternatives make less sense; demonstrates that you have read the assigned readings. A good sample from the assigned readings is Thomas Friedman, Just Shut it Down, The New York Times, May 27, 2005.
For a sample of an A+ paper, I have posted a sample note on Free Speech from a student from last semester.
· TOTAL 100%
Course Schedule and Assignments
TOPIC 1: Securing the Homeland and Preserving Civil Liberties
Class 1 / Approaches to National Security Dilemmas / How best can we evaluate national security dilemmas? / None
Class 2 / Profiling / Targeting individuals in airports and elsewhere based on their race, ethnicity, etc. / Paul Butler, Walking While Black: Encounters with the Police on My Street, Legal Times, Nov. 10, 1997
Sam Harris, In Defense of Profiling, SamHarris.org, April 28, 2012
Concerned Fan, Dear Sam
Michelle Malkin, Racial Profiling: A Matter of Survival, USA Today, Aug. 16, 2004
Asra Nomani, Let’s Profile Muslims, The Daily Beast, Nov. 28, 2010
Racial Profiling, ACLU, ACLU.org
Assignment: Should the government use racial profiling (among other techniques) to protect and defend the country from terrorist attacks?
Class 3 / Free Speech, Free Press, Secrecy, Transparency / Leaks of Classified Information; Freedom of the Press; “Prior Restraint” / - New York Times v. United States, 403 US 713 (1971).
- President John F. Kennedy, Address Before the American Newspaper Publishers Association (The President and the Press) April 27, 1961.
- Sagar, Who Decides What’s Secret: Obama, or Snowden?, CNN, June 14, 2013
- Marc Thiessen, The Danger of What Edward Snowden Has Not Revealed, The Washington Post, July 9, 2013
- Daniel Ellsberg, Snowden made the right call when he fled the U.S., The Washington Post, July 7, 2013
- Representative Mike Rogers, Editorial, USA Today, July 25, 2013
Assignment: Was Edward Snowden justified in leaking classified information? What is the standard by which you judge whether his actions were justified?
Regardless of the position you take, please make sure focus on the appropriate balance – as you see it – between an informed public and the necessity for government to conduct certain activities in secret.
Class 4 / Right to privacy / Government efforts to protect citizens from terrorist attacks (and the fear of terrorist attacks); effectiveness of these efforts; reduction in personal privacy. / Remarks of Robert Litt, General Counsel of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, Brookings Institution, July 19, 2013
Remarks of Senator Ron Wyden, Center for American Progress, July 23, 2013
Michael Hayden, Snowden – Facts, Fictions and Fears, CNN, July 24, 2013
Thomas Friedman, Blowing A Whistle, The New York Times, June 11, 2013.
Louis Nayman, In Defense of PRISM, In These Times, July 2, 2013
Jennifer Granick and Christopher Sprigman, The Criminal NSA, The New York Times, June 27, 2013
Assignment: Do you support the government’s collection of telephone metadata as discussed in the assigned readings? If you were the President, would you continue the program?
For purposes of your editorial, you must accept the view of national security officials that the efforts are helpful in combating terrorism.
If you oppose the program, your opposition must be notwithstanding the value of the surveillance. In other words, it will be insufficient simply to state your view that the program is not helpful in combating terrorism.
If you support the program, your editorial must explain the limitations you believe should exist on government surveillance.
Class 5 / Cyber / Offensive Cyber; Defensive Cyber; Cyber Espionage; Public/Private Partnerships / President Barack Obama, Taking the Cyberattack Threat Seriously (July 19, 2012)
Remainder TBD
TOPIC 2: War and the Warfighter
Class 6 / Humanitarian Intervention / Do we have duty to intervene? / Never Again Should People Starve in a World of Plenty, 121 Harv. L. Rev. 1886 (2008).
Michael Walzer, Arguing About War (Chapter: The Politics of Rescue), Yale University Press, Jan 12, 2006.
The Impact of Casualty Aversion, thepicaproject.org
Assignment: How should the US Government decide whether to intervene militarily, for humanitarian reasons? In other words, what are the relevant standards/considerations that policy-makers should consider when deciding whether to intervene.
Your editorial should address both the moral obligation to intervene (if you believe that there is one), and the duty to protect our troops for unnecessary risk.
Class 7 / Targeted Killing / Duty of Proportionality; Drones / The Myth of Proportionality, mitchellbard.com
Rabbi Shmuley Boteach, Overwhelming Force is the Only Way to Fight Terrorists, The Huffington Post, Aug. 14, 2012.
Letter from AG Eric Holder to Sen. Patrick Leahy, May 22, 2013
Nasser al-Awlaki, The Drone that Killed My Grandson, The New York Times, July 17, 2013
President Truman, Selected Presidential Papers re Decision to Drop the Atom Bomb.
Assignment: Write an editorial that addresses the following questions:
1. Should the US government use armed drones to kill suspected terrorists?
2. Should the citizenship of the individual matter?
3. What are the circumstances in which use of armed drones would be justified?
4. What limits should be in place to protect against abuse?
TOPIC 3: The Global War on Terrorism
Class 8 / Enhanced Interrogation (in theory) / Torture by an open democracy; Protection of human life or respect for humanity? / Joseph Margulies, Guantanamo and the Abuse of Presidential Power (Intro through Chapter 2), Simon & Schuster (July 3, 2007).
Christopher Hitchens, Believe Me, its Torture, Vanity Fair (Aug. 2008).
Fritz Allhoff, Terrorism and Torture, International Journal of Applied Philosophy, (2003).
Michael Skerker, Interrogation Ethics in the Context of Intelligence Collection (Ethics of Spying by Jan Goldman), Scarecrow Press (December 14, 2005).
No written assignment
Class 9 / Enhanced Interrogation (in practice) / Donald Rumsfeld, Known and Unknown: A Memoir (Excerpts), Sentinel Trade (May 19, 2012).
Alan Dershowitz, The Case for Torture Warrants (2002).
Joseph Margulies, Guantanamo and the Abuse of Presidential Power (Ch. 5, Pts. I & II; Ch. 6, Pts. I, II, and IV), Simon & Schuster (July 3, 2007).
Memorandum for John Rizzo, Acting General Counsel of the Central Intelligence Agency, Aug. 1, 20002, Office of Legal Counsel, U.S. Department of Justice
Letter from Jack Goldsmith, Office of Legal Counsel, U.S. Department of Justice, to Scott Muller, Central Intelligence Agency, May 27, 2004
Letter from Daniel Levin, Office of Legal Counsel, U.S. Department of Justice, to John Rizzo, Central Intelligence Agency, Sept. 6, 2004
Assignment: When, if ever, should the government use enhanced interrogation techniques? What types of checks/limits should exist to protect against abuse? Are there limits to the types of techniques that can be used? Should it depend on the gravity of the particular facts and circumstances?
[This effectively is a double assignment, meaning that (1) it counts as two assignments, (2) accordingly it should be “enhanced” (excuse the pun), and (3) it should demonstrate that you have read and engaged with the assigned readings for both classes 8 and 9]
Class 10 / Military Obedience and “Superior Orders” / My Lai Massacre; Abu Ghraib / Seymour M. Hersh, Torture at Abu Ghraib, The New Yorker (May 10, 2004)
Partly Cloudy, Chapter 4 and pgs. 76-77
Assignment: How can the US government adequately ensure obedience to military orders, while at the same time enabling sufficient discretion to minimize the risk of atrocities carried out as a result of blind obedience?
Class / Topic / Summary / Reading / Assignment /
Class 11 / Detention / Japanese internment; detention in the global war on terrorism / Korematsu v. United States, 323 U.S. 214 (1944) (Selected Excerpts)
Abu Ali v. Ashcroft, 350 F. Supp. 2d 28 (D.D.C. 2004)(Excerpts)
John Yoo, The KSM Trial Will be an Intelligence Bonanza for al Qaeda, The Wall Street Journal, Nov. 15, 2009.
Michael Isakoff, Heads I Win, Tails You Lose': In 9/11 Case, KSM Won't Walk Free Even If Found Not Guilty, Newsweek, Nov. 18, 2009.
Assignment: Should the President have the power to detain individuals when he deems doing so necessary for national security? What should the limits and checks be on that power? Please address the points made by John Yoo, and by the Court in Korematsu.
Class 12 / Guantanamo / The value of Guantanamo; valuable solution or unacceptable national symbol? / Donald Rumsfeld, Known and Unknown: A Memoir (Excerpts), Sentinel Trade (May 19, 2012).
Issues for Debate in American Public Policy, Chapter 15: Closing Guantanamo
Morris David, The Guantanamo I Know, The New York Times, June 26, 2007
Obama and Guantanamo, The Wall Street Journal, Jan. 22, 2009
Beyond Guantanamo, Chicago Tribune, Jan. 22, 2009
Robert Worth, Freed by the U.S., Saudi Becomes a Qaeda Chief, The New York Times, Jan. 22, 2009
Thomas Friedman, Just Shut it Down, The New York Times, May 27, 2005
Joseph Margulies, Guantanamo and the Abuse of Presidential Power (Pgs. 140-144; Pgs. 205-209), Simon & Schuster (July 3, 2007).
Assignment: Should the President shut down Guantanamo? If yes, please explain why, and explain what you propose we do with the remaining inmates. If no, please explain why you believe that the prisoners should not be entitled to their day in US federal court.
Regardless of the position you take, please address how your proposal adequately balances national security against the constitutional rights of the incarcerated individuals (e.g., to a trial, to due process, etc.).
Class / Topic / Summary / Reading / Assignment /
TOPIC 4: Moral Considerations in National Security Matters
Classes 13 & 14 / Moral Philosophy and the Justification for Spying
Case studies; Do the Ends Justify the Means? / Partly Cloudy (Chapter 7)
Fair Play, The Moral Dilemmas of Spying, Olsen, James (pages 1-29)
Assignment: Please read the assigned case study, and prepare an in-class presentation (roughly 10 minutes) that accomplishes the following:
· Introduces and explains the case study.
· Presents the varying perspectives and the bases for those perspectives.
· Provides your personal perspective, including the reasons why your perspective strikes the appropriate balances between morality and national security need.
Be prepared to field and respond to follow up questions from the class.
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