A U.S.-led team of allies was able to intercept 99% of the armaments Iran used in its direct attack on Israel on April 13, which in total included over 300 drones, ballistic missiles and cruise missiles. In an analysis penned by Kate Scanlon for OSV News, CERL Advisory Council member Mary Ellen O’Connell offers that the retaliatory cycle needs to be replaced by the true and moral self-defense approach demonstrated by this U.S. response. “President Biden needs to ensure that is the standard the U.S. follows itself and holds its allies, too,” said O’Connell about the response. “Then he needs to win ceasefires in Gaza and Sudan.” 

Mary Ellen O’Connell is the Robert and Marion Short Professor of Law and Research Professor of International Dispute Resolution—Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies, University of Notre Dame. Read her bio here. 

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