Crimes against Secrecy, Crimes against the Constitution
I'm not all that interested in the debate about offering Edward Snowden some kind of amnesty, as I think he could never accept the terms being offered, it arises in part out of NSA's PR effort, and distracts from the ongoing revelations.
But…
Out of Control? NATO to Khan: We Have Nothing to Do With Brennan's CIA Drone Strikes
One tidbit in the long Washington Post profile of Pakistan's Imran Khan stands out from the standard language describing the former cricket star who has developed a strong enough political movement to control one province. Just over halfway…
John Rizzo Buries the Mock Burial
The DC elite media continues to help John Rizzo promote his misleading memoir, this time with a Politico excerpt of his claim of how the torture techniques got chosen.
Here and elsewhere, Rizzo alludes to the one torture technique John Yoo…
Parallel Constructing Daoud's Emails
Judge Sharon Johnson Coleman held a hearing Friday in the Adel Daoud case on whether the government needs to reveal how it collected certain communications from Daoud. That would be notable in any case, given that Daoud is one of the defendants Dianne…
Obviously Bogus Clapper Exoneration Attempt 4.0
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Wyden: Does the NSA collect any type of data, at all, on millions, or hundreds of millions of Americans?
Clapper: No sir.
Wyden: It does not?
Clapper: There are cases where they could inadvertently, perhaps,…
Divisional Playoffs 2014 Trash Talk
Before we get to the news and notes for the Divisional Playoffs round in the NFL, lets take a quick look at two great NCAA games last night. Unfortunately, I missed both as I was at a wedding at the Desert Botanical Garden where they had the…
"Righteous:" Noah's Ark's Funding Woes
The Noah's Ark Amusement Park plan may collapse by February because of funding woes.
A Kentucky theme park to be built around a full-scale replica of Noah’s Ark may sink unless investors purchase about $29 million in unrated municipal bonds…
Lindsey Graham and John McCain: Hypocrisy Tourists in Kabul
Today's New York Times dutifully bleats to us that Afghan President Hamid Karzai has been "warned" over his plan to release 88 prisoners from the Detention Facility in Parwan over the objections of the US. The warning:
“If these releases…
2 Agents 3 Hours a Day Weren't REALLY Reading Anwar al-Awlaki's Email
Former CIA Deputy Director John McLaughlin wants you to believe the NSA wasn't really reading Anwar al-Awlaki's communications content, on whose emails (including the web-based ones) the NSA had a full-time tap at least as early as March 16,…
After Petraeus Paid Them For Peace, Are Sunnis of Anbar Now Paid by Bandar For Killing?
Iraq has been seeping back into the headlines lately, as civilian deaths there have now reached a level last seen in 2008. What is striking about this increase is that it did not occur until almost 18 months after the last US troops left Iraq.
Here…
John Rizzo Declares Entire Torture Program Illegal
As I have noted in the past, John Rizzo has gone on the record to admit that the torture program was authorized by a Presidential Memorandum of Notification.
A few days after the attacks, President Bush signed a top-secret directive to CIA…
The Source of the Section 702 Limitations: Special Needs?
Way back in 2013, in Marty Lederman's review of the NSA Review Group's Report, he pointed to the Report's suggestion that Section 702 collection was limited to use with counterterrorism, counterproliferation, and cybersecurity.
The Report…
The Obama as Civil Libertarian Propaganda Rolls Out
Remember back in May 2012, when Daniel Klaidman (and the NYT), rolled out stories about the White House imposing new order on the drone program. The initial roll-out stories adopted the new White House euphemism -- Terrorist Attack Disruption…
New Year's Trash
The dawn of a new year always brings with it hope and change. Unlike the hollow rhetoric at 1600 Pennsylvania NW, there is a whole lot of real change going on in the football world. And some actual football too!
Let's start with the hope…
Happy New Year!
Tap tap.
Is this thing on?
I understand the blog (or rather our host) went down for several hours today. The outage lasted from Youngstown to Toledo in my world. Sorry about that!
But now Mr. EW and McCaffrey the MilleniaLab and I are…
Note to John Brennan: Do Not Extrajudicially Execute Samiul Haq
The United States, mostly with John Brennan raining down drones, has been determined to see that neither Afghanistan nor Pakistan enters into peace talks with the Taliban. Recall that in early October, the US snatched Latif Mehsud from Afghan…
How NSA Hunts Metadata "Content" in Search of Your Digital Tracks
Der Speigel has posted a set of slides associated with their story on how NSA's TAO hacks targets.
The slides explain how analysts can find identifiers (IPs, email addresses, or cookies) they can most easily use to run a Quantum attack.
Because…
Wait. Where Are These "Gains" NIE Says We Might Lose in Afghanistan?
The latest effort by War, Inc. to prolong the war in Afghanistan consists of a "leak" of the latest National Intelligence Estimate on Afghanistan. The Washington Post dutifully stepped up to transcribe the official line, bleating breathlessly…
Just on Time ... Bandar's Promised Terror Attacks?
Back in July, Bandar bin Sultan met with Vladimir Putin. As part of an effort to buy off Putin's support of Bashar al-Assad, Bandar allegedly promised to be able to prevent terrorist attacks tied to the Sochi Olympics.
As an example, I can…
Crunch Time Trash Talk
Sorry about the late start here, but I have been otherwise indisposed for the last day and a half or so. An old friend was around and we went walkabout downtown. Among the festivities taken in was the Phoenix Suns game against the 76ers. The…