Release date: Jan. 6, 2003
Contact: Elaine Justice, Associate Director, University Media Relations,
at 404-727-0643 or ejustic@emory.edu

Experts Comment on War With Iraq, Terrorism, Middle East

Terrorism expert Larry Taulbee observes that "what is happening now is not traditional terrorism." While President Bush has moved vigorously to combat terrorism, recent attacks are unsettling in that they demonstrate the random, widespread scope of the threat and how extremely difficult it will be to deter such attacks, according to Taulbee.

"These are people that can't be deterred through normal means," he says. "They show again and again that they are willing to sacrifice themselves -- how do you deter people from committing acts of terrorism when they are willing to die for it?

"Historically, terrorists work toward clearly defined political goals, but this is not the case here," Taulbee says. "More intelligence gathering and prevention needs to be emphasized since traditional militaryand law enforcement action alone will not work."

Civil Liberties
The U. S. has gone 14 months without a major incident, and for many people, the terror of 9-11 has faded. "The next act of terrorism in the United States -- no matter what it is, spectacular or not -- will truly define how we act to combat terrorism and will sharpen the debate on how we will strike a balance between civil liberties and security," Taulbee says.

Department of Homeland Security
The nation should not expect great strides in the war on terrorism any time soon from the newly created the Department of Homeland Security, says Taulbee, since for now the formation of the organization "has just reshuffled the deck." The department will have to work hard to break down and blend the cultures of the existing intelligence agencies to create a truly comprehensive network of intelligence gathering -- and sharing -- that can be used to prevent and deter terrorist attacks. Within the next five years, the United States should see results, he says. Contact Taulbee at 404-727-6571 (w), or psjt@emory.edu.

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Gordon Newby, professor of Middle Eastern studies and director of Emory’s Institute for Comparative and International Studies, says he still doesn't think it's in the country's best interests to go to war. "I don't think we'll get the kind of gains that the American people will want from a war," he says.

"We have some more complicated and interesting problems to address, problems that are more subtle, like our relationship to Saudia Arabia," says Newby. "Saudia Arabia right now is engaged in this p.r. campaign and we call them our wonderful friendly allies, but this is a country that does not have any kind of multiple perspective in its society. It's totalitarian and fundamentalist and we're calling them our friends whereas we're calling people like Iran our enemies. Iran is struggling with a democratic revolution and we're doing nothing to support that. We're positioning ourselves in strange confrontational ways that will come back to bite us." Contact Newby at 404-727-2717 (w), or gdnewby@emory.edu.

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International law expert David Bederman can talk about Iraqi compliance with the U.N. resolution during the period of weapons inspections. In the event of war, he can discuss the legality of either unilateral action by the United States or concerted multilateral action against Iraq. He also can outline possible scenarios during a period of pacification and nation-building in post-war Iraq.

Bederman also can discuss the legal ramifications that might result should the inspection process yield unsatisfactory results. Specifically, he says the international community could declare victory and expound the advantages of multilateralism, even while no real progress is being made on Iraqi demilitarization.

Bederman has served as a litigation consultant to the U.S. departments of Justice, State, Treasury and other federal agencies. He also has served as a legal advisor at the Iran-U.S. Claims Tribunal in The Hague. He also has successfully argued two recent cases before the U.S. Supreme Court. Contact Bederman at 404-727-6822 (w), or lawdjb@law.emory.edu.

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International law and human rights expert Johan van der Vyver can talk about the current status of international humanitarian law (also called the law of war or law of armed conflict; he is teaching a course on the subject this fall). He also can discuss and why current events, from Sept. 11 to the war on terror, do not fit neatly into established textbook definitions of armed conflict.

International law lags behind in specifically addressing terroristic armed attacks, although international law agencies are working toward regulating terrorism more closely, and van der Vyver can speak to the status and progress of these efforts. He also has been very involved with the formation and ratification process for the International Criminal Court. Contact van der Vyver at: 404-727-6991(w), or jvyver@law.emory.edu.

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Constitutional law expert Charles Shanor will be teaching a seminar beginning this month on law and terrorism. The topics covered will include: the extent to which terrorism ought to be attacked by criminal law strategy versus military strategy with domestic and international law consequences; national security surveillance of terror suspects versus criminal investigations; trials in federal court v. military tribunals; changes in immigration law; the use of profiling; and comparative analysis of U.S. law versus laws of Great Britain, Israel and South Africa.

Shanor has spoken at several public forums on the war on terrorism and on how new legal developments in domestic security are affecting civil liberties at home. He has commented on the imprisonment of more than 1,000 detainees without public charges or trial, the U.S. Patriot Act and the creation of the Office of Homeland Security, now the Department of Homeland Security.

Shanor is the co-author of a 1996 book on military law, formerly titled "Military Law in a Nutshell," now under the title "National Security and Military Law."

Shanor’s other expertise is labor law and employment discrimination. He is the author of "EEOC Litigation and Charge Resolution," published this year, and is former general counsel of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in Washington. He has agreed to comment on the U.S. Supreme Court’s hearing of the University of Michigan affirmative action case. Contact Shanor at 404-727-6811 (w), or cshanor@law.emory.edu.

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