What Happened to that OTHER OPR Report?
Remember the OPR Report? No, not the OPR Report on John Yoo's laughably bad torture memos. I'm talking about the OPR Report on John Yoo's even worse memo(s) authorizing domestic surveillance. The Torture OPR Report notes that it was the domestic…
Meet Deputy Attorney General Robert Gibbs
I guess, in addition to President Rahm Emanuel and Attorney General Lindsey Graham, Deputy Attorney General Robert Gibbs sees the wisdom in putting aside rule of law for political expediency.
Some policy advisers have wondered why the administration's…
Did CIA Misrepresent Interrogation Policy to Court in Passaro Case?
I wrote in my last post on David Passaro that he knew precisely how to defend himself (go here for general background on Passaro and his case). Even before he was indicted, Passaro asked for discovery on CIA's rules of engagement for detainee…
Al-Awlaki Family: Let's Make a Deal
Glenn Greenwald just tweeted this fairly unsurprising article reporting that Anwar al-Awlaki's family would like the US to take him off their kill lists.
His father, Nasser al-Awlaki, a former minister of agriculture and rector at the University…
Has Aafia Siddiqui's Daughter Surfaced?
Aafia Siddiqui has been at the center of one of the many mysteries flowing from the Bush and Obama administrations' conduct of intelligence operations. A Pakistani native and former MIT scientist, background on Siddiqui can be found several…
Daniel Levin Tells Jim Haynes, Again, Not to Torture
We've long known that in February 2005, then-acting head of OLC Daniel Levin contacted DOD General Counsel to remind him that the March 14, 2003 Yoo memo on torture had been withdrawn. But I, for one, had never seen a copy of that letter. It…
Obama Killed The Johnsen Nomination, Not Ben Nelson Nor The GOP
It was not Ben Nelson who killed the nomination of Dawn Johnsen, nor was it Arlen Specter or Senate Republicans. No, the sole reason Dawn Johnsen is not leading the OLC is that Barack Obama and his coterie of advisors did not want Dawn Johnsen leading the OLC.
David Passaro Threatened to Expose the SERE-Torture Tie
As I said in my last post on David Passaro, the only CIA guy to be prosecuted for detainee abuse, Passaro knew (or learned, in anticipation of his indictment) how to defend himself against charges stemming from torture. As I'll show here, he…
The Inevitable Sacking Of The Dawn Johnsen Nomination
There was never any question but that the nomination of Dawn Johnsen to be head of the Department of Justice Office of Legal Counsel would be withdrawn. Now we have confirmation of that fact.
Court Releases Slahi Decision
Last month, we talked about Judge James Robertson's decision that Mohamedou Slahi should be released. Robertson's order has now been released. I'll have comments as I read it. But the short version is that the Government abandoned its attempt…
Wilkerson: Cheney and Rummy Knew Gitmo Detainees Were Innocent
About a hundred of you have pointed to this story, which reports that Lawrence Wilkerson signed a declaration to support the lawsuit of a former Gitmo detainee, Adel Hassan Hamad, stating that Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld knew there were…
Meet David Passaro, the Only CIA Guy Prosecuted for Detainee Abuse
As I said in my last post, bmaz and I are about to let loose a slew of posts on David Passaro, the only CIA guy prosecuted for detainee abuse. I first decided to look into Passaro's case given that he was prosecuted in relation to the death…
"High Side" Cables and FOIA Responses
As you'll no doubt understand over the next week or so, bmaz and I have been comparing the case of David Passaro, the only CIA-related person to be prosecuted for detainee abuse, with what happened in Gul Rahman's death at the Salt Pit. Passaro,…
"Countering Violent Extremism"
Sorry to let the threads grow so long of late--I've been out weeding again, if you know what I mean.
So partly to open up another thread to discuss the many ways in which our government kills Americans and/or journalists, and partly because…
Is DOD "Losing" Videos of Its Special Ops Missions?
I want to look at two data points about the Wikileaks video.
First, note what General Barry McCaffrey has to say about the mission depicted in the Wikileaks video (around 1:25):
Well, it's not clear to me it was a mistake, Contessa, I mean…
Now Both JSOC AND CIA Have Green Light to Target American Citizen
Let the competition begin. The WaPo clarifies an earlier Reuters report (which was unclear that this pertained to CIA) that Anwar al-Awlaki has been added to the CIA's kill list, after having been on JSOC's kill list for some months.
Anwar al-Aulaqi,…
2005 Story: Chertoff Opposed Technique Threatening Imminent Death
I've been poking DOJ's version of the events leading up to the Bybee Memo and hope to elaborate on that at a further time. But for now, I want to point to this 2005 article, apparently attempting to scuttle Michael Chertoff's nomination to be…
Salt Pit Victim, Gul Rahman, Once Rescued Hamid Karzai
In a follow-up on its story on Gul Rahman's death in the Salt Pit in November 2002, AP reports that Rahman may have rescued Hamid Karzai from imprisonment by Afghan intelligence in 1994.
After Soviet forces withdrew in 1989, Afghanistan descended…
DOJ PIN Head Steps Into More Malfeasance Poo
Bush DOJ hacks Brenda Morris and Leura Canary are still alive and stirring up more political prosecutorial mischief, even in the Obama/Holder DOJ.
No Habeas If They've Moved Your Body
Fatster linked to this Carol Rosenberg story, describing how Judge Thomas Hogan dismissed the habeas petitions of over a hundred former Gitmo detainees because they were no longer held at Gitmo--though they may be held by US proxies elsewhere.
A…
