jeh johnson's thought on warfare are of particular interest today. we know something about what he thinks, but not a lot. here is what we do know. and i am quoting from the speech he gave at the oxford union several months ago. he told a group assembled there, war must be recorded as a finite, extraordinary and i natural state of affairs. war violates the natural order of things. children vary their parents. in more, parents vary their children. he went on to say, we must not accept the current conflict and all that it entails as the new normal. peace must be regarded as the norm toward which the human race continually strives. today we have gathered not to think just about the perpetuation of the current war against al qaeda but about war. is it desirable? is it important? is it impossible to keep it from spreading what is the role of the law when thinking about warfare, and what is the role of the law in mitigating the run to war in conflict. is there. in the war without -- when law can replace the military, or at least mitigate it? several of the

former defense department general counsel jeh johnson said he's skeptical about the idea of creatingcial court to oversee the targeted killings of american terrorist suspects abroad. but the idea is worth considering. the obama administration has come under pressure in recent months to reveal more about the legal rationale behind such legal operations. the remarks of the university in new york city mr. johnson expressed confidence in the white house and the new cia director john brennan whose agency plays an active role in the lethal drawn strike program. from earlier this month, this is just under an hour. >> good morning. it is a pleasure to welcome you here today in the never ending winter. i am very excited about today's conference. but first i want to give a few thanks. i want to thank the assistant director of the center on the national security for the painstaking work putting this conference together with me. you can imagine this which i know many of you are here for is god's work so we've done that as well as everything else. today we are looking at the 21st century law and

there is really nobody better to speak than jeh johnson. that, we had prosecutors here, in the southern district of new york, and he was also the general counsel for the air force. from what i have seen and read and heard, here are the things that i think are important to say. this is a man who understands the flow of history. this is a man who accepts the challenge of the fact that one individual, with one person, one woman can make a difference. as a person who believes that politicians and policymakers can leave a mark. this is why we invited him here today. he reminds me of something that attorney general robert kennedy talked about. he dedicated this and we can center. he said the greatest attribute of a lawyer is courage. they have a particular interest today. we know something about what he thinks, but not a lot. but here's what we do now. war must be divided with a finite extraordinary and unnatural state of affairs. it will violate the natural order of things. in war, parents bury their children. he went on to say that we must not

. >> coming up on c-span tonight, the defense department general counsel jeh johnson.