John Galt Kills Texans in Massive Fertilizer Plant Explosion
Who needs pesky safety regulations or zoning laws when there is money to made running a fertilizer plant? Sadly, the small Texas town of West, which is just north of Waco, is suffering the consequences of unregulated free enterprise today,…
Is the Government Going to Claim Bradley Manning "Harmed" the US by Exposing Drone Details?
Last week's Bradley Manning hearing significantly focused on how much the government could hide about its witnesses. A big part of the discussion pertained to how a Seal Team 6 member would testify to finding WikiLeaks material at Osama bin…
House Judiciary Makes (Partial) Progress on Drones, But Not the Senate
Just as the House Judiciary Committee was about to vote to subpoena OLC's targeted killing memos, DOJ finally agreed to share them with the committee tasked with overseeing OLC.
Just before the hearing, however, DOJ agreed to provide the documents.…
The Downside of Losing Blabby Brennan as Homeland Security Czar
As I've noted in passing, the Boston Marathon will be the first major homeland security episode that John Brennan's replacement, Lisa Monaco, will coordinate at the White House. As NJ describes in this profile, Monaco has worked for years at…
Claire McCaskill: Why Aren't We Calling Sandy Hook Terror?
Janet Napolitano is testifying before the Senate Homeland Security Committee, purportedly on the budget. Not surprisingly, she's getting a ton of questions about the Boston Marathon attack and immigration.
But in a smart series of questions…
Senate Armed Services Committee Enters Fantasyland in Hearing on Afghanistan Withdrawal
Yesterday, while much of the world's attention was focused on emerging details relating to the Boston Marathon bombings on Monday (along with a tiny bit of attention on the Constitution Center's report on torture that Marcy was banned from improving),…
At Gitmo, Captain John Makes Sure Detainees Don't Get "An Overabundance of Things"
Carol Rosenberg, Ryan Reilly, and Charlie Savage have all posted their stories on the government's attempt to make the raid on detainees sound better. (Except as noted, the quotes below come from Rosenberg.)
But the accounts only seem to…
Even Bipartisan Conventional Wisdom Report Says It Was Torture
The Constitution Project has released a major report on the government's torture program. You can download the report here.
The report is important and comprehensive, but not without flaws. It took me a matter of minutes to find a number…
After Over 23 Requests, Congress Draws Closer to Issuing Subpoenas
As I've been tracking, members of Congress have made over 23 requests for the OLC memos authorizing drone and/or targeted killing. Thus far, only the Intelligence Committees and the Senate -- but not the House -- Judiciary Committees have been…
Massive Earthquake Strikes Troubled Balochistan Region
A massive earthquake has struck near the Iran-Pakistan border in the region known in both countries as Balochistan. With Iran subject to massive US sanctions that are already crippling its economy and affecting health care, responding to…
Over 54,000 More Americans Added to Security Clearance Rolls in Last Year
I've long argued that our security clearance employment system is "an arbitrary system of control that does more to foster cowed national security employees than to foster actual national security."
So I'm none too happy to know more than…
If It Was Wrong to Force-Feed Terri Schiavo, Why Is It Right to Force-Feed Gitmo Detainees?
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Back when he was running for President, Barack Obama said his biggest mistake in the Senate was in not voting against the March 2005 unanimous consent motion to intervene in the Terri Schiavo dispute.
And…
The White House Decides Maybe They're Not "Targeted Killings" After All
In the 15 paragraphs that make up the core of John Brennan's so-called transparency on drone killings, he used the word "target" in one or another form 24 times.
... the United States Government conducts targeted strikes against specific al-Qaida…
New York Times Runs Powerful Op-Ed By Gitmo Prisoner
With the simple title "Gitmo Is Killing Me", today's New York Times carries a chilling first-hand account from a hunger-striking prisoner at Guantanamo. Samir Naji al Hasan Moqbel is one of 25 Yemeni prisoners held at Guantanamo who have…
Andy Card LOL: Bush Can't Pardon Himself for Torture (But Obama Has)
As part of the discussion in his book explaining how the CIA shifted from torture to killing, Mark Mazzetti tells the story of how the CIA balked at engaging in further torture after the Detainee Treatment Act.
After President Bush signed…
John Bogdan: The Face of the Guantanamo Crackdown
In yesterday's pre-dawn hours, the guard force at Guantanamo entered the Camp 6 communal area and removed the prisoners to individual cells. Here is Carol Rosenberg's description of the operation (emphasis added):
U.S. forces raided Guantánamo’s…
America's Human Rights Abusers: John Yoo, David Addington, and Bout's Prosecution Team
In retaliation for the Magnitsky sanctions -- in which the US placed sanctions on those deemed to have had a role in retaliating against Sergei Magnitsky's whistleblowing -- Russia just issued a list of 18 Americans who will be prohibited from…
Ten Human Rights Groups Unified in Opposition to Drone and/or Targeted Killing Court
A group of 10 human rights groups have written President Obama a letter calling for him to fulfill his State of the Union promise of more openness about drone and/or targeted killing.
The letter calls for obvious sorts of transparency (including…
Scott Shane Defends the Commander-in-Chief's Language
NYT's excellent new ombud, Margaret Sullivan, returns to a perennial ombud issue, how the Grey Lady refers to Executive Branch actions and abuses. She includes a long quote from Scott Shane that reveals a great deal about his reporting, and…
ICRC President Visits Obama, Brennan, Hagel Regarding "International Humanitarian Law"
Peter Maurer, President of the International Committee of the Red Cross, yesterday completed four days of meetings with US officials in Washington. According to the blog site for the ICRC, Maurer met with President Barack Obama, senior members…
