DC Appeals Court Throws Out Hamdan Conviction
Back in 2009, then Assistant Attorney General David Kris predicted that appellate courts might throw out material support military commission convictions because material support is not a law of war crime.
There are two additional issues I…
Prediction: Mitt Will Condemn Capitalist Consolidation Tonight
If I had my way, President Obama would defend his investments in alternative energy by saying something like this:
In 1945, a great Democratic President sealed an alliance with our Saudi allies that cemented our energy security for the next…
How NATO Will Game the Numbers on Afghan National Security Force Size
Last month, when the combination of rising green on blue killings and anger over the anti-Islam film finally shut down most joint operations between NATO and Afghan forces, I predicted that this would lead quickly to Afghan National Security…
Will Paul Ryan's Photo Op Hurt a Catholic Charity's Efforts to Feed the Poor?
The Nuns on the Bus have been saying for months that Paul Ryan's miserly budgetary approach betrays his Catholic values. The Bishops agree. Joe Biden even called Ryan out for "taking issue" with the Church's social teachings.
Just days after…
Which Came First: The Radicalization, the Armed Jihadists, or the Monarchs Supporting "Democracy"?
There have been a series of reports on Syria that culminate in today's report that most of the arms being shipped to Syria have gone to jihadists.
Most of the arms shipped at the behest of Saudi Arabia and Qatar to supply Syrian rebel groups…
Malala Moved to UK for Treatment as Anger Aimed at Taliban Builds
Yesterday, Pakistan's MQM political party held a huge rally in Karachi in support of fourteen year old Malala Yousafzai, who was shot by the Taliban on Tuesday because of her outspoken views on the education of girls in Pakistan's Swat…
R.I.P. Senator Specter, You Will Be Missed
The Snarlin has ceased; via CBS News:
US Senator Arlen Specter, whose political career took him from Philadelphia City Hall to the US Congress, died Sunday morning at his home in Philadelphia at the age of 82 from complications of non-Hodgkins…
Breaking: Panetta Equating Crude Iranian Cyberattacks with Pearl Harbor, Iran Infiltrated Aramco
Today, the NYT--serving its role as spokesperson for the Cold War against Iran--confirms what blabby Joe Lieberman told CSPAN last month: the government suspects Iran was behind a series of crude cyberattacks on US banks.
Or to put it differently,…
Trash With No Name
Sorry about the late hour of the Trash, I got a bit preoccupied with qualifying at the Korean Grand Prix and, well, fell asleep apparently. Mark Webber took pole with Red Bull teammate Sebastian Vettel close behind. Alonso's Ferrari took P4…
Panetta Misses Underlying Problem with Cyberwhines
We can play a game we often play here at emptywheel with Leon Panetta's address on cybersecurity last night. For each major attack he discusses or potential threat he envisions, there is an equivalent one that has or could easily happen without…
Corporations Are People, and Beans Are People, But Healthy Women Are Not People
[youtube]E2h8ujX6T0A[/youtube]
Contrary to just about everyone, I liked the way Martha Raddatz asked the abortion question in last night's debate, because it gave Joe Biden an opportunity to point out how Paul Ryan ignores the entire social…
Fourteen Dead and 170 Infected: Poor Regulation Built That
The latest figures indicate that fourteen people have died and at least 170 have been sickened by fungal meningitis arising from an injectable form of the steroid drug methylprednisolone. The bulk of the cases have occurred from patients receiving…
Putting the Torture Back in the Torture Whistleblowing Case
Kevin Gosztola has suggested and Josh Gerstein has confirmed that, along with Matthew Cole and Scott Shane, John Kiriakou has subpoenaed the Washington Post's Julie Tate to give a deposition in his leak case.
The Shane subpoena is unsurprising.…
The War on Terror-and-Drugs Turns Inward
The Treasury Department named the US-Central American gang Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13) a Transnational Criminal Organization, meaning it can apply terrorist-type financial sanctions against the group and its members.
This strikes me as a worrying…
Obama Provides Paper Protection for Whistleblowers ... Why Now?
Yesterday, Obama issued an Executive Order setting up nominal protection for national security whistleblowers who go to their chain of command (though not, apparently, the Special Counsel or Congress).
While they caution this doesn't amount…
Someone Doesn't Want the Sanaa Embassy Storming Investigated
I have hesitated to comment on this Thomas Joscelyn piece, which basically plays a game of Six Degrees of Osama bin Laden to suggest al Qaeda "was responsible" for all the attacks on US diplomatic locations last month. Partly, Joscelyn pulled…
Instead of Arab-Specific SARS, Iran Should Be on Alert for Anthrax
On Tuesday, I wrote about the suggestion published by Iran's PressTV that Israeli and British scientists are seeking to develop a version of the SARS virus that would attack only people of Arab descent. Such an approach is not genetically feasible.…
Even Dana Milbank Wonders Why Darrell Issa Is Doing Mike Rogers' Job
After it became clear that the Republicans hoped to use the Benghazi attack to turn Obama into Jimmy Carter, I predicted what would happen as Darrell Issa and Romney surrogate Jason Chaffetz investigated: there would be trouble with classified…
Nation-Building, 12 Years Later
[youtube]GGDwvAbx_fg[/youtube]
Remember how central to the 2000 Presidential campaign nation-building was?
It was all in the context of the Kosovo effort, of course, an intervention that elicited horrified cries about Executive overreach…
A New Security Reality Challenges Our Ability to Practice Diplomacy in Dangerous Places
The second witness at the Oversight Hearing on Benghazi, the former Regional Security Officer for Libya, Eric Nordstrom, addressed a topic that has gotten lost in discussions of the attack: the Benghazi attack may well be something new.
Let…
