Elizabeth Beavers

The roots of Trump's wars on terror trace back to 9/11 After the attacks on New York and Washington, the US built a legal framework for permanent conflict that all presidents since have systematically abused

More on how every president since 9/11 has made the current lawless war on cartels easier both politically and legally:

responsiblestatecraft.org/trump-911/

How a post-9/11 law could enable a crackdown on speech If Trump Justice Department lawyers want to avoid First Amendment arguments, this is likely where they'll go

My pre-Khalil et al prediction:

responsiblestatecraft.org/trump-protes...

Are you a terrorist? New episode of 'Always at War' with Elizabeth Beavers explores how U.S. laws have been used to quash dissent

A podcast episode discussing the problems inherent in "terrorism" frameworks:

responsiblestatecraft.org/us-terrorism...

It’s Time for the US to Ditch 'Terrorism' Designations Altogether Ultimately, the United States' terrorist designations are political tools that serve Washington's geopolitical goals.

A condensed op-ed-size argument for why terrorism designations should be ditched:

inkstickmedia.com/its-time-for...

My law journal article on the terrorism "designation" regime and its many dangers (focused on its application to the Gaza genocide but broadly applicable outside the context):

digitalcommons.wcl.american.edu/nslb/vol15/i...

As we watch counterterrorism infrastructure be used to silence dissent and terrorize marginalized people, I want to re-up some of my analysis on how the law makes this possible and must be changed 👇

Essential reading from @jakeromm.bsky.social 👇

President Trump has decided that the United States is engaged in a formal “armed conflict” with drug cartels his team has labeled terrorist organizations and that suspected smugglers for such groups are “unlawful combatants,” the administration said in a confidential notice to Congress this week.

This is an EXTRAORDINARILY dangerous development. Immediately, we need all forces of government and civil society to shut this down.

From there, it is IMPERATIVE to fully excavate the precedent and infrastructure of the War on Terror that will keep haunting us until it's gone.

Israel has just arrested Greta Thunberg and many others.

Statement from the Global Sumud Flotilla:

“People of conscience have been abducted. The flotilla broke no laws. What is illegal is Israel’s genocide, Israel’s illegal blockade of Gaza, and Israel’s use of starvation as a weapon.”
1/3

Judge Rules Trump Unlawfully Targeted Noncitizens Over Pro-Palestinian Speech In a blistering opinion, a federal judge in Boston said the Trump administration used the threat of deportations to systematically intimidate certain campus demonstrators into silence.

way bigger news than Jimmy Kimmel 👇

www.nytimes.com/2025/09/30/u...

Democratic leadership will do actual gymnastics to avoid talking about what they see as "wedge issues" - immigration, militarism, etc. They push the caucus not to get "distracted" from "kitchen table issues." They call it message discipline. It's cowardice.

The intentional conflation of civilian law enforcement, counterterrorism, mass deportation, and warfare continues, complete with a made-up enemy. Many possible ways this can get ugly fast.

Though nice to see Jon Finer and Philip Gordon catch up to bare minimum of where activists and the public have been for nearly two years on restricting US arms to the Israeli government, their article erases their own role in abetting the Netanyahu government’s genocide.

Countering Domestic Terrorism and Organized Political Violence NATIONAL SECURITY PRESIDENTIAL MEMORANDUM/NSPM-7 MEMORANDUM FOR THE SECRETARY OF STATE                THE SECRETARY OF THE TREASURY THE ATTORNEY GENERAL

the war on terror comes home to haunt the imperial core

www.whitehouse.gov/presidential...

we do not under any circumstances have to hand it to John Yoo

🙏 Many thanks to Brett Heinz of @afsc-org.bsky.social for featuring my commentary in his analysis of new proposed war authority:

something I'm keeping an eye on: for them to start by citing this to invoke an obscure provision in 501(p) of the IRS code to revoke tax exempt status of dissenting nonprofits

There continues to be no such thing as domestic terrorism designations legally.

That said, this is still chilling, as it's an announcement of the next targets for their expansive claims of "counterterrorism" authority, as a hapless Congress and deferential judiciary stand by.

does he just DM his cabinet lol

To be clear: the fact that this is not a real legal mechanism doesn't matter and isn't the point. It's a signal of where they're about to re-direct every remotely discretionary authority that exists in the name of "counterterrorism" (and there are a lot of them).

Sens Schiff/Kaine have a privileged war powers resolution they're using to force a vote, Members should get on board. Also - we're up against a government funding deadline, there's leverage to make demands!

It is true but not particularly helpful to point out the many ways this is illegal. The only worthwhile responses from anyone in power right now are the ones announcing what they are going to do about it.

A new draft War on Cartels authorization, modeled after the War on Terror's (still active) authorization.

People keep asking me what they can do about all this. One clear task before us: make sure this doesn't pass.

PSA: "major terrorist organization" designation continues to not be A Thing

Going to be sharing a lot of what @elizabethrb.bsky.social has written because she has been warning us for years about what we’re seeing now.

How a post-9/11 law could enable a crackdown on speech If Trump Justice Department lawyers want to avoid First Amendment arguments, this is likely where they'll go

How a post-9/11 law could enable a crackdown on speech | Responsible Statecraft share.google/rDqwNPt2zbZO...

re-upping this for no reason

personally I care way more about this than jimmy kimmel but hopefully people who care about kimmel realize how it’s connected to mahmoud

Every now and then, like after Charlottesville or January 6, there's been a push to create a domestic terrorism list or a domestic terrorism criminal statute.

Think about what those tools might be used to do in Trump's hands right now if those proposals had materialized.