Daily Mail Wins Partial Declassification of British Court Decision Documenting Torture in Afghan Prison
Today marks the third time that I have used this photo that remarkably still resides on ISAFMedia's Flickr photostream. The caption, in full, as it has always been carried by ISAFMedia:
CAMP DARULAMAN, Afghanistan – Brig. Gen. Saffiullah,…
Does This Provide Insight into Obama's Relative Silence?
The US Ambassador to Britain, Matthew Barzun, went on the Beeb and declined to criticize Edward Snowden.
Asked if he shared the UK security services' concerns about the threat to national security from the leaks, he said he wanted to focus…
DishFire and the Drug War
I imagine that NSA's success at spying on Felipe Calderón's inner circle made it a lot easier for the US to convince him to allow "near-complete entree to Mexico’s territory and the secrets of its citizens" in the name of the war on drugs.
A…
My name is US Bandwith, king of kings:
"My name is US Bandwith, king of kings:
Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!"
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare
The lone and level sands stretch far away
I'm thinking of planting a…
Gronks and Donks Trash Talk Bonanza!
Been a huge week of activity, from the shutdown/default can down the road kicking, to new FISC apologia, to the stunning announcement of a new media venture. So, a lot of stuff, so to speak. Also, my retained palm tree trimmers think my palm…
CIA and the President: The Warm Embrace of Mutual Incrimination
Andrew Sullivan is newly convinced -- but surprised and confused -- that President Obama is permitting John Brennan to hold up the release of the Senate Torture Report.
It is becoming clearer and clearer that one major power-broker in Washington…
Docket Inflation at the FISA Court?
As I noted in my last post, I'm a bit alarmed by the docket numbers we're seeing out of the FISC court. The order released today appears to be the 158th docket for the year.
Compare that to the docket numbers from 2009, as revealed in the…
Mary McLaughlin Repeats Claire Eagan's Error
FISC just released the opinion accompanying the most recent Section 215 phone dragnet order.
(Note: does it concern anyone besides me that FISC is now up to 158 dockets for Business Records production this year??)
In it, Judge Mary McLaughlin…
Barb Mikulski and Stephen Preston Seem to Disagree Over Whether David Petraeus "Jerked Around" Congress
A big part of Stephen Preston's response to Mark Udall's questions about whether he supports adequate disclosure to Congress consists of insisting the CIA Directors he worked with -- Leon Panetta, David Petraeus, presumably Mike Morell as Acting…
US Isn't Collecting Only Electronic Data On You -- Huge Biometric Database Under Construction, Too
Edward Snowden's revelations have shed much light on how secret government programs are collecting huge amounts of telephone, email and other electronic data generated by every US citizen even though, as Marcy has shown repeatedly, claims that…
Stephen Preston: Covert Operations Don't Need OLC Approval
Jane Mayer has obtained a set of questions Mark Udall made CIA General Counsel Stephen Preston answer before he would release a hold on the latter's confirmation as DOD General Counsel. They address CIA's response to the Senate Intelligence…
NSA's Dissenters
I tweeted a bunch of details from this James Risen interview with Edward Snowden. That comparing the NSA to China's People's Liberation Army is not perceived as funny by NSA brass. How Snowden's professed commitment to whistleblowing came from…
12 Years Later, DOJ Is Still Struggling Through Dragnet Discovery Issues
As I noted earlier, Charlie Savage describes how, after Don Verrilli made false representations to the Supreme Court about whether defendants get an opportunity to challenge FISA Amendments Act derived evidence, it set off a discussion in DOJ…
Why Did NSA Raise Traffickers for a Story about Drone Killing Terrorists?
There was an odd statement from NSA in the middle of yesterday's WaPo story describing how NSA facilitates CIA's drone mission (click to embiggen).
The NSA is “focused on discovering and developing intelligence about valid foreign intelligence…
P5+1 Meeting: Remarkable Change in Tone From Diplomats and Press
Laura Rozen chose a particularly appropriate title for her post yesterday on the P5+1 meeting just concluded in Geneva: "US and Iran Speak ‘Same Language’ in Nuclear Talks". Not only were the negotiations carried out in English for the first…
Dianne Feinstein Didn't Mean to Mislead the Senate into Extending FAA, Promise!
Charlie Savage has a story describing how, after Solicitor General Don Verrilli got caught lying to SCOTUS about whether defendants busted using FISA Amendments Act would have the opportunity to challenge it in court, DOJ has now decided to…
NSA Silenced Our Rendition Secret
In a story pre-empting one Glenn Greenwald and Jeremy Scahill are reportedly working, the WaPo details how NSA helps CIA target drone strikes. A key part of the story reflects NSA documents that bragged about finding Hassan Ghul through an email…
Not Breaking: Keith Alexander to Be Allowed to Retire Unscathed; Breaking: NSA
We've actually known for some time that Keith Alexander was retiring shortly. So Reuters' headline reporting it (and the departure of Alexander's Deputy John Inglis) is not news.
But mega kudos to the person who dubbed Alexander the…
Why We Can't Save Mohamed Osman Mohamud
Remember how Mohamed Osman Mohamud's father, Osman Barre, called the FBI in hopes they might help him turn his son away from extremism? Instead of helping, they sent informant after informant after him, to catch him in a terrorist sting.
FBI…
How to Evaluate the HIG? Exploitation? Dead Bodies?
Carrie Johnson uses the arraignment of Abu Anas al-Libi as an opportunity to consider the success of the High Value Interrogation Group. She weighs the following details:
There haven't been that many cases
Some governments refuse access…