Chuck Grassley Questions Why DOD Inspector General Cannot Report on Senior Official Leaks
Chuck Grassley just released a scathing criticism of the DOD Inspector General Report one the Pentagon’s cooperation with the makers of Zero Dark Thirty.
A draft of the report, which got leaked to Project on Government Oversight in June…
US Persons on Military Intelligence Sharing Databases
Steven Aftergood catches Charles McCullough, the Intelligence Community Inspector General who has resisted exercising oversight over spying, doing his job.
“A civilian employee with the Army Intelligence and Security Command made an IC…
The FBI PRTT Documents: The Paragraph 31 PCTDD Technique
I've been working my way through a series of documents in EPIC's FOIA for FISA PRTT documents. This is the last of a series of posts where I unpack the Internet dragnet documents. This post tracks what the reports to Congress reveal (largely…
Kerry Convenes Meeting to Line Up Global Victims to Die for US Mistakes
On April 23, 1971, John Kerry, speaking as a member of Vietnam Veterans Against the War, appeared before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and famously posed the question "How do you ask a man to be the last man to die for a mistake?".…
Obama Uninterested in Lame Duck AUMF
Bob Menendez seems surprised that the President is not rushing witnesses to his Committee so it can get to work on revising and cleaning up AUMFs.
Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said the White…
The Government's Unexplained Iran Dragnet
Just the other day, I observed that the government likely has a problem with the authorities it has used to police its sanction regime against Iran. First, the government appears to have had a counterproliferation certification under Protect…
If Videos of Feeding Can Be Used as Propaganda, You're Doing It Wrong
Unsurprisingly, the government has just appealed Gladys Kessler's order that it release the videos of Abu Wa'el Dhiab. h/t Josh Gerstein
DOJ cited a number of reasons why releasing videos of US service members feeding a indefinitely detained…
No One Benefits from a One (Wo)Man FISC Court
Over at Just Security, Steve Vladeck takes issue with yet another proposal for a Drone Court.
A new chapter by Professors Amos Guiora and Jeffrey Brand–“Establishment of a Drone Court: A Necessary Restraint on Executive Power“–has…
Federal Prosecutors Encouraging Localities to "Cast a Bigger .Net"
Last month, Ars Tecnica reported on the Federal role in encouraging a data sharing agreement among a number of Virginia localities called the Hampton Roads Telephone Analysis Sharing Network.
The idea behind the program was to help localities…
Moral Depravity of US Syria Policy: Unlimited Funds for Fighting, UN Suspends Refugee Food Aid
There is no way that the United States and its allies can say that they didn't see this coming. They had a very clearly stated warning in September. Nevertheless, while the US continues throwing virtually unlimited funds at training "moderate"…
Shorter the Neocons: Let Our General Go!
Neocon scribes Eli Lake and Josh Rogin published a piece asserting that the man whose COIN theories failed in 3 different war theaters is making a comeback undermined only by his extramarital affair.
By all outward appearances, David Petraeus…
DOJ Changed Its FISA Disclosure Policy on January 10, 2008
While wandering through FBI's Domestic Investigations and Operations Guide today, I realized that on January 10, 2008, DOJ changed its FISA use policy (at PDF 104) . In a memo announcing the new policy, Ken Wainstein explained that "this…
NYPD Admits Its Counterterrorism Cops Are Incompetent
I'm used to fearmongering out of NYC and especially out of the NY Post. But this article is remarkable.
Having read it, I'm convinced the headline should be,
NYPD admits its Counterterrorism squad can't even track peaceful protestors…
Unions Even Conservatives Can Love
You know how conservatives (and education reform Democrats like Rahm and Obama and Cuomo) claim that they need to break up teacher's unions because they hurt children of color because they impede efforts to give them a better education?
You…
Over $80 Billion Wasted in "Training" Iraqi, Afghan Forces: No Lessons Learned
There simply is no level of duplicity that Iraqi or Afghan military leaders can engage in that will lead to the US re-examining the failed assumption that "training" armed forces in those countries will stabilize them. Between the two efforts,…
The FBI PRTT Documents: Combined Orders
As I noted the other day, I'm working through documents submitted in EPIC's FOIA for PRTT documents (see all of EPIC's documents on this case here).
In addition to the documents released (the reports to Congress, the extensive reporting…
Reclaim the Substance Trash
Two weeks ago I was in a big box store, watching an old guy in an MSU cap buy the same computer as a younger guy in a Michigan cap. The old Spartans fan sincerely offered his opinion, as if he couldn't stand the sight of the Wolverines playing…
The Congressional PRTT Reports
In addition to liberating the document dump pertaining to the Internet dragnet program. (See my working threads: one, two, three, four, five.), EPIC has been fighting several other parts of the FOIA for the PRTT documentation to Congress.…
UN Lists Four Ways US Has Impeded Justice for Victims of Torture
The UN just released its report on US compliance with the Convention Against Torture. It is scathing, in may respects (including with respect to cops shooting black men).
In addition, it includes four different criticisms about our failure…
Seven Month Extension of P5+1 Negotiations? We'd Be Lucky With Seven Weeks
I must confess that I repeatedly put off writing this post. Similarly, the P5+1 countries and Iran now have repeatedly put off finalizing a deal that assures the West that Iran's nuclear program has no chance to quickly move to a nuclear weapon.…