Maxwell School News and Commentary

"This government will be a mere postponement of conflict if it gives a blind eye to the corruption and grand theft that has created a ghastly and deadly form of inequality in South Sudan since 2005," writes Jok Madut Jok, professor of anthropology.

"Iraq has become a battleground for American and Iranian influence," says Osamah Khalil, associate professor of history.

"This is an escalation for sure but retaliation, revenge or reprisals are unlawful at international law, not that Iran abides by international law," says William C. Banks, professor emeritus of public administration and international affairs. "The risks are that the U.S. will play along and some escalatory act will be disproportionate to the circumstances, leading to something far worse," he adds.

"We would hope now is that cooler heads will prevail within the Trump administration that can reason with the President that the time is now for negotiations rather than further escalation," says Osamah Khalil, associate professor of history.

The killings of Iranian Major General Qassem Soleimani and Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, Deputy Chairman of Iraq's Popular Mobilization Units, "were a dangerous and ill-advised escalation by the United States," Osamah Khalil, associate professor of history and Middle East expert, told USA Today. " Khalil also talked to other outlets about this development, stating that "Their deaths will make it more difficult to resolve the ongoing tensions between Washington and Tehran and will only destabilize Iraq further."

Professor Emeritus William C. Banks said congressional action regarding FISA could further insert politics into a process that should be free of it. "All the politics that surrounded the headlines of this story would rear their ugly head again," he says. "It could end up with more amendments to FISA that do more harm than good."

"Contamination from the president’s approach is amplified when his judgment is largely shaped by television commentators and his decision announced by tweet," write University Professor Sean O'Keefe and his co-author. "No one is as well positioned to balance the exigencies of combat and the demands of law and ethics as a panel of fellow sailors, Marines, airmen or soldiers," they add.

"Even among his customary allies and supporters, there has been pretty blunt criticism, not only of the policy choice but of the way it was done and the way it is continuing to be done," says Grant Reeher, professor of political science, of the troop withdrawal in Syria.