The Machinery of Impunity: How Washington’s Elite Stays above the Law—and How to End It

Analysis by Jasmine El-Gamal examining the structural mechanisms that have allowed senior US officials to avoid accountability for human rights violations across successive administrations, arguing that it is insitutionally embedded in US foreign policy. The piece covers the Bush administration's torture program post-9/11 and the 2001 Authorization for Use of Military Force (AUMF), Obama's drone warfare expansion, Biden's unconditional military support for Israeli war crimes in Gaza, to Trump's mass deportations and extrajudicial killings. El Gamal argues that Obama's decision to not prosecute Bush officials made emergency wartime practices permanent features of US' overseas action. The piece includes various recommendations for domestic and international accountability. Meaningful perspective for research on US foreign policy, US military aid to Israel, and international accountability gaps.