Blowing Like A Hurricane: Sandy Trash Talk
There are so many current, and extant, memes and winds with which to open up that which is the Emptywheel blog Trash Talk. Ima gonna get in such HUGE problems from Marcy for not featuring Meat Loaf right here on the cover of our own Rolling…
Administration Continues Apparent Policy of Harassing Pakistani Drone Critics
Yesterday, US officials detained and questioned former cricket star turned politician and drone critic Imran Khan in Canada before allowing him to travel on to New York.
Khan told his followers on Twitter on Friday that he was detained and…
Is Chinese Elite Looting More Newsworthy than Middle Eastern--or US--Looting?
NYT has a really good article today on how the family of Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao has gotten enormously wealthy while he's been in power. The Chinese government has already started censoring the story itself and discussions of it.
And…
Lethal Events in Afghanistan Become Even More Difficult to Decipher
Events on Wednesday, Thursday and early Friday in Afghanistan stand as a stark reminder that killings now take place for such a variety of reasons and by such a variety of groups that assigning blame and motivation becomes extremely difficult.
The…
Michael Hayden, Privacy and Counterterrorism Frugality Champion
Of 1,423 words in an article questioning whether deficit hawkery might cut the domestic spying budget, Scott Shane devotes over a sixth--roughly 260--describing what former NSA and CIA Director Michael Hayden thinks about the balances between…
The Moral Rectitude Assassination Czar
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Back in April and May, when John Brennan seized control of the drone targeting process purportedly in the interest of "showing the American public that al-Qaida targets are chosen only after painstaking and…
Only in Florida: Congressman David Rivera Funds Sham Candidate, Faces Ethics Charges, FBI Probe - Doesn't Resign
Proving that Florida is the fetid swamp where political rectitude goes to decay and die a foul death, Congressman David Rivera (R-FL) has raised the bar for misdeeds in office without resigning in disgrace.
In late September, Manny Garcia…
Would the Real Ansar al-Sharia Please Stand Up?
Back in September, when Republicans were hyperventilating over the former Gitmo detainee, Abu Sufyan bin Qumu, purportedly behind the Benghazi attack, Aaron Zelin patiently explained the difference between Ansar al-Sharia in Benghazi--which…
Maybe This Is Why Mitt Didn't Exercise His "Jimmy Carter Opportunity" on Libya on Monday?
Even while Liz BabyDick Cheney joins in the dance on Ambassador Chris Stevens' grave, Mitt Romney said nothing about it in Monday's debate.
Maybe this is why:
Ali Ani al-Harzi, who was arrested in Turkey with one other person, kept there…
Food Trucks: The Next Terrorist Threat
In a fit of fearmongering reminiscent of the Mobile Bioweapons Labs used to get us into the Iraq War, FDNY did a report last month warning about the use of food trucks by terrorists. (Via Government Security News, h/t G.W.Schulz) The chief worry…
BioWatch: Even Stupider Than Reagan's "Star Wars" System
On July 31 of this year, President Barack Obama signed a cover letter attached to the White House release of the National Strategy for Biosurveillance (pdf). The misguided premise on which this strategy (and the underlying boondoggle of the…
Nashiri Asks for the Targeting Package on the OTHER USS Cole Mastermind
Things just got interesting in the pre-trial hearing for Abd al Rahim al-Nashiri in Gitmo. According to Charlie Savage and Carol Rosenberg, he has asked for the targeting package used to kill Abu Ali al-Harithi in Yemen in November 2002.
While…
DiFi's Very Brown List of Terrorists
Presumably to boost Obama's election chances, Dianne Feinstein released a list of "95 individuals arrested inside the United States since January 2009 on terrorism-related charges." The list includes the real terrorists--Najibullah Zazi and…
Turning the Drone Program into a Weekly Lawn Maintenance Program
Greg Miller has the first of what will be three articles on Obama's efforts to institutionalize drone war in today's WaPo. After describing the Administration's efforts to systematize eliminating counterterrorist targets identified through a…
Lindsey Graham Must WANT the Terrorists to Have Kittens and Beard Dye
In the last week, we've had two stories about how terrorists at Gitmo have made themselves comfortable.
First there was Michelle Shephard's investigation into whether Majid Khan has a cat.
A week-long investigation into Guantanamo’s feline…
Yep, Jonathan Chait Was Wrong
A number of weeks ago, I disputed Jonathan Chait's claim that Obama would have a poorer chance in the last three debates.
The VP Debate: the Angry Old Man
Chait argues, first of all, that Joe Biden will try to refute Paul Ryan’s budget…
The Benghazi Suspect Was Headed to Syria
This Eli Lake story describing what has happened to one of two Benghazi suspects arrested in Turkey confirms something I long suspected: he was headed for Syria.
These people say Turkish officials held [Ali Ani] al-Harzi for less than…
Remember Larry Franklin...
I'm not a fan at all of what Larry Franklin did--leaking documents to help drum up a more hawkish policy on Iran.
But amid the news that John Kiriakou's lawyer, Plato Cacheris, has docketed a change of plea hearing today at 11, it's worth…
UK to Double Drone Fleet, Move Control From Nevada to England
While David Petraeus continues stewing over whether his request to expand the CIA's fleet of drones will be honored, The Guardian announced yesterday that the UK will double its drone fleet and move control of its drones from Nevada to England.
It…
Republicans Now Complaining Obama Relies on PDBs
Republicans are now accusing Obama of throwing the CIA under the bus because the White House released evidence that Obama and Susan Rice hewed to CIA talking points about Benghazi. For example, John McCain just said this on CNN:
First they…
