We Have Always Been at War with Eastasia Adherents
Back on September 18, 2001, here's who we declared war against.
the President is authorized to use all necessary and appropriate force against those nations, organizations, or persons he determines planned, authorized, committed, or aided the terrorist attacks…
Did Solitary Confinement Make UndieBomber 1.0 Incompetent to Represent Himself?
But, in fact, the FBI do a great job as far as eliciting information after they’re Mirandizing them, and so they can get information as part of that type of negotiation with them, let them know they can in fact languish forever, or we can…
A Not-A-Drone-Strike Near Disney World
The FBI has been tracking a Chechen martial arts practitioner in FL, Ibragim Todashev, since the Boston Marathon attack. The guy knew Tamerlan Tsarnaev from Boston and reportedly had a phone conversation with him "more than a month ago" (which…
Petraeus' Coffee
Remember Jim's question whether David Petraeus was withholding intelligence last year? And remember my observation that Dick Cheney's propagandist had resuscitated Petraeus' gripes about talking points? And remember my focus on the way the Intelligence…
Why Would the US Shield Fahd al-Quso in February 2012 But Drone Kill Him in May 2012?
On February 10, 2012, the government went out of its way to hide Fahd al-Quso's ongoing involvement in terrorist attacks against the US. Three months later, on May 6, 2012 -- the day before the AP published its story about CIA thwarting an UndieBomb…
The Laughable Currently Operative AP Pushback Story
It has taken several days for the government -- apparently, almost exclusively DOJ -- to try to spin its secret seizure of AP call records. The new version of the government's ever-evolving story is that the reason the AP story was so damaging…
Body of Zakaria Kandahari's Videotaped Torture Victim Surfaces, 200 Yards from US Nerkh Base
When last we left the saga of the US role relating to the "rogue" Afghan death squad in the Nerkh District of Maidan Wardak province of Afghanistan, the New York Times was studiously transcribing denials from various US government officials…
The James Rosen Affidavit Was the 20th Document in the Docket
The is sort of a weedy point.
But if you look at the docket associated with DOJ's attempt to get James Rosen's communications, you'll see it is listed as document 20 in the docket.
Yet no other documents -- aside from the order approving…
First They Came for James Risen ...
I don't mean to suggest the journalism world did not object to the three subpoenas James Risen got in the Jeffrey Sterling case. They did.
But today's news that Fox's James Rosen was accused of being an "Aider or Abettor" to Stephen Jin-Woo…
State Department, US Press Hide Important Karzai Statement on Bilateral Security Agreement
Although there really is only one controlling issue in the quest to sign a new SOFA (Status of Forces Agreement) BSA (Bilateral Security Agreement) governing US troops in Afghanistan after official NATO actions conclude at the end of next…
Obama's Headlong Rush to Counterterrorism Transparency
By my count, Thursday will be the 100th day since Obama promised, in his State of the Union Adress delivered February 12, "to engage Congress to ensure not only that our targeting, detention and prosecution of terrorists remains consistent…
AP President Focuses on White House Claims about OBL Anniversary Threats
A lot of people are pointing to this Bob Schieffer interview of AP President Gary Pruitt because, later in the interview, Pruitt claims seizing the AP's records without narrowing the scope or notifying the AP is "unconstitutional." While…
Hillary Said Appoint a Gitmo Champion; The Opposite Happened
There's a weird detail in this Daniel Klaidman piece on Obama's claimed newfound commitment to closing Gitmo.
One of the new details in it describes a memo Hillary Clinton wrote just before she left the State Department.
One recent plea,…
Group Behind Deadly Kabul Blast Upset by Negotiations on US Troops Remaining in Afghanistan
There was a deadly blast in Kabul yesterday, shattering what had been several months of relative peace in the capitol. The suicide blast targeted a convoy of US vehicles. From the New York Times:
Hezb-i-Islami, a relatively small insurgent…
Did AP Learn about Fake UndieBomb 2.0 because Real Marshals Deployed to Prevent It?
In my next post, I'm going to revisit this post, where I showed 372 days ago that at least one or two of the major early sources for the most damning information on UndieBomb 2.0 came from non-US based sources.
But before that, check out…
Dzhokhar's Sharpie Manifesto
CBS had a fascinating scoop this morning, reporting that (presumably in the hours when he was holed up and authorities searched just blocks away), Dzhokhar Tsarnaev wrote a part-confess part-manifesto on the wall of the boat.
The note -- scrawled…
DOD Won't Be Taking Over Drone Strikes Anytime Soon
In today's Senate Armed Services Committee Hearing on the AUMF, Carl Levin asked Assistant Secretary of Defense for Special Operations/Low-Intensity Conflict Michael Sheehan whether CIA should get to use drone strikes, in addition to DOD. (at…
Did Tommy Vietor Hang Out CIA on UndieBomb 2.0?
The same day that the White House released 94 pages of Benghazi emails, which not only show that most at CIA supported the talking points used by the Administration but also include annotations of the CIA roles involved that reveal far more…
What Is the Attrition Rate for Afghan Special Operations Forces?
Yesterday, Major General Tony Thomas, who heads US Special Operations Forces in Afghanistan, fielded questions via satellite from a number of reporters gathered in Washington. The transcript of the session can be found here. One claim by Thomas…
The Internet Didn't Kill the Middle Class; Laxity and Apathy Did
In tandem with the release of his book, Who Owns the Future?, Jaron Lanier’s interview with Salon generated a lot of hand-wringing across social media. It seems Lanier, one of our so-called intellectual visionaries, believes that the collapse…