Abstract

Undoubtedly the frontier region of Pakistan and Afghanistan is fraught with complexities and is affected by both regional and international politics, religion, culture, and tradition, among other things. Furthermore, there is no question that international terrorism, whether in the form of state action or non-state action, poses a threat to international peace and security. Global terrorism presents a highly convoluted situation and its resolution, however possible, is even more so. The scope of this work, however, is limited to outlining the international law governing the use of force in self defense before determining the legality of the U.S. attacks on Afghanistan and the continued occupation by the United States of the nation under Operation Enduring Freedom. It then moves on to answer the important question of whether U.S. drone attacks on Pakistani soil to eliminate terrorism under the guise of Operation Enduring Freedom are legal under the international law of self defense.

Keywords: Self-defense, War on Terrorism, 2001-2009, War -- Afghanistan, Aggression (International law), Human rights