The Political Uses of Lawlessness: Kruger, Warren and the Bechuanaland Field Force 1885
Jun 2005, Vol. 150, No. 3
By Damian O'Connor
A fundamental question that has overshadowed many recent events is whether a legal solution can ever be found to the problems of rogue states and international terrorism. The truth is that evading international law for a state or organization that does not subscribe to it is an awful lot easier than keeping to it is for a democratic state. This appears to be an unsolvable problem, but only so if one accepts the basis on which the argument is grounded, i.e., that law is applicable in all circumstances. That this is self-evidently untrue appears to have been missed. This, however, is not a new problem. It has arisen before; and yes, it has been solved before, without any massive erosion of civil liberty or the establishment of extra-judicial death squads and the horrors of secret police dungeons. The story of Sir Charles Warren, against Paul Kruger and his Transvaal Boers, is a case in point.
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By Damian O'Connor
A fundamental question that has overshadowed many recent events is whether a legal solution can ever be found to the problems of rogue states and international terrorism. The truth is that evading international law for a state or organization that does not subscribe to it is an awful lot easier than keeping to it is for a democratic state. This appears to be an unsolvable problem, but only so if one accepts the basis on which the argument is grounded, i.e., that law is applicable in all circumstances. That this is self-evidently untrue appears to have been missed. This, however, is not a new problem. It has arisen before; and yes, it has been solved before, without any massive erosion of civil liberty or the establishment of extra-judicial death squads and the horrors of secret police dungeons. The story of Sir Charles Warren, against Paul Kruger and his Transvaal Boers, is a case in point.
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