The National Security Advisor Exception Under the Espionage Act
When the FBI found sensitive -- though it turned out, unclassified -- documents in Thomas Drake's basement, he was charged under the Espionage Act. When the Army found hundreds of thousands of classified -- but not Top Secret -- cables on Bradley…
Disposition Matrix: $5 Million Rewards in Lieu of Kill Lists?
Mike Rogers, perhaps bolstered by the Administration's insistence that he can say all he wants about drone targeting without it amounting to "admission" of the program for FOIA purposes, ran his mouth the other day about whether any Americans…
Vote For A Winner - Vote Emptywheel!!
Okay denizens of The Wheelhouse, there is such a thing as "Twitter Fight Club". And the first rule of Twitter Fight Club is talk about Twitter Fight Club and vote for Marcy "Emptywheel" Wheeler. The second rule is don't forget the first rule.
It…
Fresh Allegations of Torture in Bahrain
On a day when President Obama is at least making the admirable move of visiting the West Bank and speaking favorably for Palestinian statehood after his visit to Israel (to lend legitimacy to Netanyahu's continued desire to attack Iran?), it…
Yemeni Government Intensifies Harassment of Journalist Who Presented Counter-Evidence to US Case against Awlaki
Ever since I wrote this post, I've been thinking about the fate of Yemeni journalist Abdulelah Haider Shaye. As Jeremy Scahill reported last year, President Obama personally intervened in February 2011 to make sure that Shaye would remain in…
Pivot, Damnit!
Remember how during Chuck Hagel's confirmation I kept insisting that Hagel actually had an intelligence oversight role at the President's Intelligence Advisory Board that might be pertinent to the confirmation battle?
Turns out PIAB wasn't…
Fifth Terrorist Detainee Brought into Civilian Courts
This is getting to be a trend.
A six-count indictment was unsealed today in United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York charging Ibrahim Suleiman Adnan Adam Harun, also known as “Spin Ghul,” with conspiracy to murder…
Breaking! Brennan Extends No Rule Drones for 2 Years
It's hard to take this story -- reporting, Exclusive: No More Drones for CIA -- all that seriously given this assertion:
Brennan has publicly stated that he would like to see the CIA move away from the kinds of paramilitary operations it began…
Agreement Announced on Special Operations Forces in Wardak Province, Explanations Vary Widely
NATO is claiming that there now is an agreement with Afghan President Hamid Karzai regarding the withdrawal of US Special Operations Forces from Maidan Wardak province in the wake of Karzai's insistence last month that the troops leave immediately.…
Dick Cheney's Biggest Strategic Failure
Dick Cheney's biggest failures are surely moral. The hundreds of thousands of Iraqis killed, senselessly. The thousands of Americans killed, senselessly. The hundreds of thousands, perhaps over a million, on both sides, maimed and poisoned and…
Emergency Manager Kevyn Orr's Nanny Factory
When I wrote this post, describing Detroit Emergency Manager Kevyn Orr's significant (and serial) tax lien in Maryland, I noted that the lien was very very high for just one nanny (which is the excuse Orr offered for the lien).
Using the numbers…
Iran Reports Talks on Resuming Consular Relations With UK
On Sunday, PressTV quoted Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister for Consular, Parliamentary and Iranian Expatriates Affairs Hassan Qashqavi as saying that Iran and the UK are in talks to resume consular relations. Yesterday, Mehr News further reported…
An Angry Mother on Steubenville and Parenting
The Steubenville rape case is so offensive in so many ways I can’t even begin to tackle them all.
• CNN and a number of other news outlets cast the rapists as victims;
• Idiots who “don’t believe in rape” come out of the…
The Last Iraqi WMD Prisoner: The Scientist Who Tried to Reveal on March 2, 2003 He Destroyed the CW/BW
The 10th anniversary of the Iraq War has refocused attention on the Iraqis who warned America before the war that Iraq had no WMD.
Naji Sabri, Saddam's foreign minister, told the CIA's station chief in Paris at the time, Bill Murray, through…
Why Would Jeh Johnson Suggest the Drone and/or Targeted Killing Court Would Be Bipartisan?
I'll have more to say about Jeh Johnson's skeptical speech on a drone and/or targeted killing court later.
But I wanted to point to this detail:
Our government finds itself in a lose-lose proposition: it fails to officially confirm many…
Ben Emmerson: Dupe on Two Continents, or Politically Savvy Diplomat?
If I'm not mistaken, the people accusing UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights and Counterterrorism, Ben Emmerson, of condoning lies in his recent report on drone strikes in Pakistan had no such reaction when Emmerson endorsed John Brennan…
Were Commercial Flights to Guantanamo Ended to Cut Off Coverage of Hunger Strike?
Carol Rosenberg reported yesterday that the Navy has ruled that commercial flights to Guantanamo can no longer be provided on a regular basis. The timing of this move strikes me as particularly suspect, since these flights are…
According to James Clapper, John Brennan Is a Leaker
To celebrate Sunshine Week last week, the Office of Director of National Intelligence released to Jason Leopold that office's memo on ramped up use of polygraphs to crack down on leaks.
The memo requires that polygraphs incorporate the…
CIA Continues to Cover Up Dick Cheney's War-Mongering
10 years ago today, George Bush gave his final warning to Saddam Hussein to leave Iraq or face war. While the first half of Bush's speech cited Saddam's purported refusal to give up his WMD program, the second half of the speech was littered…
Congratulations to Pakistan for Peaceful Transfer of Civilian Power the Military Ignores
McClatchy has an article hailing the Pakistani Parliament's ability to serve out its entire five year term without being overthrown.
Pakistan’s Parliament completed its term Saturday and the coalition government was dissolved, the first time…