The article argues that recent executive overreach and politicization have severely undermined established norms of U.S. civil-military relations. To restore professional standards, the incoming Congress must actively exercise its oversight powers, moving beyond mere criticism to demanding transparency in defense policy and personnel decisions. Key reforms include enforcing meritocratic promotion processes, requiring documented justification for senior officer removals, and preventing the partisan use of the military. These actions are crucial for bolstering public trust and ensuring the military remains a nonpartisan instrument of civilian control.
Mladic and the Genocide That Wasn’t
English Summary
The article argues that while Ratko Mladić was convicted for the Srebrenica genocide, a second alleged campaign targeting Bosnian Muslims in six municipalities during 1992 is crucial to understanding his full criminal scope. Although the main trial judges acquitted him on the 1992 charge due to legal difficulties proving 'specific intent,' two dissenting appeals judges strongly argued that Mladić's high level of command and knowledge implied genocidal intent. This case highlights both the immense challenge in establishing genocide under international law—particularly proving specific intent—and underscores the critical importance of reviewing dissenting judicial opinions for setting future precedents in war crimes accountability.
中文摘要
本文論述，儘管拉特科·姆拉迪奇（Ratko Mladić）已被定罪犯下斯雷布尼察種族滅絕行為，但一個針對波士尼亞穆斯林在1992年六個市鎮的第二起所謂行動，對於全面理解其犯罪範圍至關重要。雖然主要審判法官因難以證明「特定意圖」（specific intent）而對該1992年的指控作出無罪判決，但兩名不同意見的上訴法官強烈主張，姆拉迪奇的高層指揮權和知識水平暗示了種族滅絕的意圖。此案不僅凸顯了根據國際法確立種族滅絕罪面臨的巨大挑戰——特別是證明特定意圖的困難性——更強調了審閱不同意見司法判決對於樹立未來戰爭罪責問責先例所具有的關鍵重要性。
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