CIA's Careful Terrorism
Both WaPo and Newsweek have stories out on CIA's role in assassinating Imad Mugniyah in 2008. As described, Michael Hayden loved the idea, but then got a bit squeamish about ordering a hit. Luckily, President Bush was all too happy to approve…
What is the Definition of a Market?
The US economic system is based on what we’ve all agreed to call free markets. The entire system is often called the free market system instead of the capitalist system. I’ve been looking for a definition of the term market.
1. Textbook…
Where IS Abdul Rauf Khadim and Whose Side IS He On?
All of the ladies attending the ball
Are requested to gaze in the faces
Found on the dance cards
Please then remember
And don't get too close to one special one
He will take your defenses and run
So we change partners
Time to change partners
You…
What Did David Shedd Know and When Did He Know It?
As I've said, I'm working on a larger post about what a shitshow the evidence entered into the Jeffrey Sterling trial showed the Merlin operation to be.
But before I do that, I want to look closely at how David Shedd's sworn testimony (which…
Walter Pincus' Great Intelligence Work
Walter Pincus had a piece yesterday purporting to lay out the inaccuracies in the chapter of James Risen's State of War. In it, he includes this passage.
In Vienna in late February 2000 to deliver the materials to an Iranian mission to the…
Levitation: Inspire-Ing Work from CSE
The Intercept and CBC have a joint story on a Canadian Security Establishment project called Levitation that seems to confirm suspicions I've had since before the Snowden leaks. It targets people based on their web behavior (the story focuses…
Remember, the President's Review Group Consulted with ATF
In a follow-up to its release on the DEA's use of a license plate reader database the other day, ACLU reveals an email that shows ATF in Phoenix considered using the database to track people leaving gun shows in April 2009.
The April 2009 email states…
Did Obama Order Total Information Shutdown on Afghanistan?
In a stunning and blatantly obvious move to try to hide its failed efforts in Afghanistan, the military suddenly decided back in October that they would classify any and all information on the capabilities of Afghan National Security Forces…
Marissa Alexander, Jeff Toobin and Blackledge
By now, you probably know the story of Marissa Alexander, a charming young woman who tried to defend herself and her children from a criminally abusive ex in Florida. Another soul outrageously and scandalously prosecuted by the, by all appearances,…
How the Sterling Prosecution Threatens Even Unclassified Tips
In a piece for Salon, I describe how the government managed to get Jeffrey Sterling convicted of 7 charges under the Espionage Act for one leak. More importantly, I show how the jury's conviction of him for 2 of those charges -- related to…
DOJ Believes Outcry over Subpoenas Equates an Adverse Response
Yesterday, WikiLeaks revealed it had just been notified by Google that DOJ subpoenaed all the records of 3 staffers 2 years ago. Today, WaPo provides some details on Google's efforts to fight the gag orders that have prevented them from informing…
Shell Announces $11 Billion Petrochemical Plant for Iraq: What Could Go Wrong?
Today's entry in the "What Could Go Wrong?" sweepstakes is quite a beauty, courtesy of Reuters:
Royal Dutch Shell (RDSa.L) has signed a deal with Iraq worth $11 billion (7 billion pounds) to build a petrochemicals plant in the southern oil…
Double Duty Dragnets
A few weeks back, I emphasized that the dragnet the government admitted to using in the Shantia Hassanshahi case (and issued a narrow claim to have shut down) was a drug database. That is, a dragnet purportedly created to track drug trafficking…
Iran Claims Arrest of 20 Jeish Al-Adl Members
Iran announced today that twenty members of Jeish Al-Adl have been arrested. The announcement, however, did not say when or where the arrests were made. Further, although the Fars News article announcing the arrests mentions the IRGC several…
Jury Convicts Sterling on All Nine Counts
After having deliberated for slightly over 2 days, the jury today found Jeffrey Sterling guilty of all nine counts today. (See a summary of the charges here.)
I'm not surprised the jury found Sterling guilty of some of the charges: of…
Saudi Royal Succession and Petrodollar Laundering
I was mostly offline when King Abdullah died, so while I got to read the fawning tributes to the regressive monarch, and have caught up in time to read about the contest General Dempsey is staging in tribute (h/t @tweetsintheME), I missed the…
Four minutes and 11 seconds
As a number of outlets have reported, shortly before lunch, the jurors in the Jeffrey Sterling case asked for guidance because they could not come to agreement on several counts. While discussing instructions to give in response, Judge Leonie…
World Leaders on Twitter
When the National Security Council tweeted out on Narenda Modi's meeting with President Obama, I realized that Modi has 9.7 million twitter followers (which makes sense, given India's population), which got me interested in whether there was…
To Avenge Mr. Merlin, CIA Exposed Mrs. Merlin
The government engaged in a great deal of security theater during the Jeffrey Sterling trial, most notably by having some CIA witnesses -- including ones whose identities weren't, technically, secret -- testify behind a big office divider…
As Disneyland Measles Outbreak Rages in California, Pakistani Father Arrested After Unvaccinated Son Contracts Polio
There is very interesting news out of Pakistan today that the father of a child who has developed polio has been arrested because he refused to allow his son to be vaccinated:
After a polio case was detected here on Thursday, the Kohat…