Why the Iraq AUMF Still Matters
The big headline that came out of yesterday's American Bar Association National Security panels is that DOD General Counsel Jeh Johnson and CIA General Counsel Stephen Preston warned that US citizens could be targeted as military targets if…
49% of Michigan's African Americans to Lose Their Right to Self-Governance
And now, as a break from all the shitty national news, I wanted to update you on shitty news from my home front.
Governor Snyder is about to start the process of appointing an Emergency Financial Manager for Detroit (though note, they're…
Senate Achieves Craven Punt on Indefinite Detention
Update: The vote on 1126--which would exempt Americans from indefinite detention--was defeated 45-55. Democrats voting for indefinite detention include Begich, Blumenthal, Inouye, Klobuchar, Landrieu, Lieberman, Levin, Manchin, Bad Nelson,…
Government Establishes Task Force to Combat HAMP Scams, But Not Foreclosure Scams
Treasury, SIGTARP, and the Consumer FInancial Protection Board just formed a task force to fight HAMP fraud.
Mind you, they're not aiming to fight the fraud servicers engage in--that is, using HAMP as a way to get force homeowners to stop…
Administration Has Means to Sustain Civilian Primacy without Veto
As we all wait to see whether Obama will follow through on his veto threat tied to the detainee provisions in the Defense Authorization, I want to make an observation.
The Obama Administration has the means--short of a veto--to sustain civilian…
Border Post Attack Fallout Continues: No Obama Apology; Pakistan Threatens WOT Role
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-BSoEeLgnm0[/youtube]
Pakistan and the US continue to provide widely differing accounts of the NATO attack on two border posts just inside the Pakistan border that killed 24 Pakistani troops early Saturday…
Ayotte's Pro-Torture Amendment Referred to Conference
Update: Adam Serwer informs me that I misunderstood what happened in the colloquy where this was discussed. Ayotte's pro-torture amendment was withdrawn.
I apologize for my error.
As Jeff Kaye laid out here, Kelly Ayotte submitted an amendment…
Efforts to Combat Levin-McCain Don't Do Anything to Prohibit Indefinite Detention of Americans
When he gets defensive, Carl Levin can be tremendously cantankerous (sometimes that's a good thing, but not when he's pushing terrible law like the detainee provisions in the Defense Authorization).
That cantankerous Carl Levin of late started…
Why Didn't DOJ Look More Closely at DTRA's Role in 2001 Anthrax Attacks?
[Note: This post has been updated to correct an error regarding the location of the Project BACUS facility. Erroneous material has not been deleted but has been put into strikethrough font.]
In following up on yesterday's announcement…
Ahmed Abdulkadir Warsame and the Paper Trail Preventing Floating Ghost Prisons
Given the defeat of the Udall Amendment, it looks likely the Defense Authorization will include provisions mandating military detention for most accused terrorists (though the Administration has already doubled down on their veto threat).
So…
Give Them a Damn Ticker Tape Parade Already
"Who will be the last senator to not want to end a mistake? Me." - John Kerry
That's the way MightyOCD interpreted John Kerry's vote--along with 66 of his colleagues--not to repeal the Iraq war that is ending whether they like it or not next…
Udall Amendment Fails 37-61
In the battle of two wrong sides, the Democrats lost, with the Udall Amendment failing 37-61. The vote is interesting, first of all, as a read of Obama's ability to sustain a veto. Right now, the militarists do not have a two-thirds majority…
British Embassy in Tehran Stormed by Protesting Students
While gathering materials for yesterday's post on the reports of an explosion near the uranium processing facility near Isfahan in Iran, I almost mentioned this story on the Mehr News website, where we got confirmation that Iran was reducing…
Bachmann Was Almost Right: The ACLU Is in Cahoots with the CIA
As I have puzzled over the civil liberties and human rights communities' stance on the NDAA Detainee Provisions, I've come to the unfortunate conclusion that Michelle Bachmann was not far off when she claimed, "Barack Obama ... has essentially…
Mark Udall's Unsatisfactory Solution to the Detainee Provisions
As I have repeatedly described, I have very mixed feelings about the debate over Detainee Provisions set to pass the Senate tonight or tomorrow. I view it as a fight between advocates of martial law and advocates of relatively unchecked Presidential…
Jed Rakoff to SEC: Do you think I'm a tool?
Judge Jed Rakoff has rejected the SEC's proposed wrist slap of Citibank for selling mortgage-backed securities it knew to be of poor qualify.
Effectively, what he did was join this complaint with SEC's complaint--filed at the same time as…
Explosion Reported Near Iranian Uranium Processing Facility
According to Haaertz, the Iranian Fars News Agency is reporting (although I don't see a story yet at their website or at Mehr News) an explosion in Isfahan, where an Iranian uranium processing facility is located:
A explosion rocked the…
Fallout From NATO Attack on Pakistani Border Posts Continues: Afghanistan At Center of Conflict
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fXKtehgB-Cw[/youtube]
While a great deal of the attention on the effects of Saturday's NATO attack on two (or three) Pakistani border posts that killed at least 24 Pakistani soldiers centers on US-Pakistan…
Geithner's Duplicitous Efforts to Reinforce the Oligarchy
Bloomberg's blockbuster story--showing that the Fed was dumping $7.77 trillion into the same banks that Treasury was claiming were solvent to qualify them for TARP--shows a number of different things. It focuses on the $13 billion in profits…
The Lessons of Iran-Contra 2.0
In "honor" of the 25th Anniversary of the press conference admitting to Iran-Contra on Friday, National Security Archive liberated memos an aide to Special Prosecutor Lawrence Walsh, Christian Mixter, wrote assessing the criminal liability of…