@lukemoffett
Prof of Human Rights and #IHL researching on redress, civilian harm, OSINT and AI, working on rewilding the north coast. Author of Algorithms of War (2026), Reparations and War (OUP 2023), and Justice for Victims at the ICC (2014).
“Without urgent international action, we risk sleepwalking into an era where wars begin, escalate & kill at machine speed, all while humans watch events they no longer fully control – & possibly comes at the risk of their own extinction.” @bmomani.bsky.social www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/arti...
Cyber operations against water infrastructure are not legally low-impact just because they are digital or, for now, short-lived, argue Szymon Skalski and Natosha Hoduski. lieber.westpoint.edu/when-red-lin...
Russia is providing Iran with targeting information to attack American forces in the Middle East, according to three officials familiar with the intelligence.
This includes the locations of warships and aircraft
www.washingtonpost.com/national-sec...
Yet killed over 170 children and potentially hundreds of other civilians
Reuters Exclusive
"U.S. military investigators believe it is likely that U.S. forces were responsible for an apparent strike on an Iranian girls' school."
"The strike would rank among the worst cases of civilian casualties in decades of U.S. conflicts in the Middle East."
"Verified videos and satellite imagery show extensive damage around the Shajareh Tayebeh primary school in Minab and the adjacent Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps compound. It also suggests the area was 'struck by multiple simultaneous or near-simultaneous strikes'"
www.bbc.com/news/article...
Fomenting a revolution when you have little ability to control how events play out on the ground can lead to unfavourable outcomes.
Current top read:
@ntabrizy.bsky.socialexplains how an open-source investigation debunked viral claims that Iran’s Revolutionary Guard accidentally bombed a girls’ school in Minab, showing the evidence circulating online was misidentified or fabricated.
U.S. Military Joins Drug War in Ecuador: “It Wasn’t Going to Be Just Boat Strikes Forever”
Two government officials told The Intercept that the joint U.S.–Ecuador military action won’t just be a one-off raid.
theintercept.com/2026/03/04/u...
(1) After each engagement, Parties to the conflict shall, without delay, take all possible measures to search for and collect the shipwrecked, wounded and sick, to protect them against pillage and ill-treatment, to ensure their adequate care, and to search for the dead and prevent their being despoiled. (2) Whenever circumstances permit, the Parties to the conflict shall conclude local arrangements for the removal of the wounded and sick by sea from a besieged or encircled area and for the passage of medical and religious personnel and equipment on their way to that area.
As I've addressed this issue in a few interviews today, here's Article 18 of the Second Geneva Convention which bears on the duties to search for and collect the shipwrecked following engagements at sea—such as the sinking of the Iranian warship in the Indian Ocean.
Globally, mycorrhizal fungal communities move roughly a billion tons of carbon per year into Earth's soils, above all in old-growth forests.
Wild, natural ecosystems are the bedrock of a healthy planet. It's time we started recognising and acting on that.
share.google/afcBcyPH7lVc...
British PM Starmer says that U.K. bases will only be used for ’defensive’ operations and not ‘offensive’ ops. But how can that be so when they are being used by the aggressor?
Great discussion here with Milanovic, @adhaque.bsky.social @janinadill.bsky.social
www.middleeasteye.net/explainers/u...
Excellent explainer with analysis from @janinadill.bsky.social, @oonahathaway.bsky.social, @adhaque.bsky.social, Ben Saul, and Marko Milanovic:
www.middleeasteye.net/explainers/u...
"The most effective consumer boycotts in history share two qualities: they are narrow and they are easy," writes @rutgerbregman.com
Anthropic co-founder Daniela Amodei argues that as AI takes over more technical tasks, uniquely human qualities (communication, empathy, critical thinking, and a humanities-based understanding of people) will become more important than ever in the workplace.
fortune.com/2026/02/07/a...
Iranian warship sank by US sub in Indian Ocean, Hegseth said it was "the first sinking of an enemy ship by a torpedo since WW2"
Is anyone checking basic facts? Not the first submarine sunk, at least the third after ARA General Belgrano in 1982 & INS Khukri in 1971
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
“Was Targeting Ayatollah Khamenei and Other Iranian Leaders Lawful? What Precedents Does It Set?”
By Marko Milanovic and Michael Schmitt
www.justsecurity.org/133171/ayato...
A satellite imagery analysis conducted by Bellingcat shows that at least 15 police stations or police-related buildings were targeted in strikes conducted in Tehran between March 1 and March 3. www.bellingcat.com/news/middle-...
🇮🇷🛳️ Iranian Navy Mowj-class frigate Dena was reportedly sunk by a U.S. submarine near Sri Lanka.
32 severely injured sailors were rescued, while 148 remain missing.
The ship was returning from the International Fleet Review / MILAN 2026 naval exercise in India when it sank on March 4.
"Bellingcat has been monitoring strikes across the region, including those that caused civilian harm, and identified a wide variety of weapons have been used so far, including missiles and drones."
“Bombs will fall Everywhere”: 👇 www.bellingcat.com/news/2026/03...
HRANA update:
"The total number of reported civilian deaths stands at 1097, including 181 children under 18, with 880 reported deaths currently and under review"
www.en-hrana.org/the-fourth-d...
“The United States, Israel, and Iran, have each violated international law. The United Kingdom appears poised to join them.”
www.justsecurity.org/132894/us-is...
IDF attack on the Assembly of Experts made up of clerical leaders - This is a blatant war crime of attacking members of the civilian population who are not directly taking part in hostilities
OpenAI going back to Anthropic's red lines with US military - no mass surveillance of Americans (other nations OK?), no NSA and no autonomous weapons use- after backlash from public and employees
OpenAI amends Pentagon deal as Sam Altman admits it looks ‘sloppy’ www.theguardian.com/technology/2...
Anthropic’s AI model Claude gets popularity boost after US military feud - like it has still be used in illegal wars that have killed civilians www.theguardian.com/technology/2...
Iran human rights group HRANA:
"The total number of reported civilian deaths stands at 742, including 176 children under 18, with 624 reported deaths currently . under review"
"Reported civilian injuries since 28 February 2026 stand at 971, including 115 children"
www.en-hrana.org/the-third-da...
Seems like the Trump administration’s staggering idiocy just got six U.S. service members killed - who never got advance warning from their own leaders to take cover.
www.cnn.com/2026/03/02/p...
Day 3 of Operation Epstein Clusterfuck:
6 US troops dead, 3 F-15 jets downed, multiple allies bombed, multiple bases hit, several embassies attacked, and 500 -/+ civilians murdered (including over 100 little girls).
#BBCNews - At least 169 people killed in South Sudan 'surprise' attack
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
The U.S.-Israeli attacks on Iran are illegal.
Iran's attacks in Gulf States are illegal.
The U.K. defending Gulf States is legal, but allowing the U.S. to use its bases is illegal.
In short, everyone is violating international law and should stop.
My latest @justsecurity.org