The Oversight Black Hole of the Merkel Tap
In one of the better pieces on White House and anonymous NSA official claims about whether President Obama knew of the wiretaps on Angela Merkel, the NSA spokesperson gets to the crux of the issue.
"NSA is not a free agent," said NSA spokesperson…
The Institutional Subjectivity of the White Affluent US Nation
In a really worthy read, Bill Keller and Glenn Greenwald debate the future of journalism.
Sadly, however, in his first response to Keller's self-delusion of belonging to the journalistic tradition of "newspapers that put a premium on aggressive…
Who Is Behind Latest Iran-Pakistan Border Incident? Who Benefits?
Before diving into Friday night's border incident where fourteen Iranian border guards were killed and Iran retaliated the next morning by hanging sixteen prisoners already in detention, we need to look back at the important events surrounding…
"An internal and an external review"
I'll have more to say about WSJ's report that Obama was unaware that the NSA was wiretapping 35 world leaders tomorrow.
But in my opinion, the most important detail in it reveals in addition to Obama's James Clapper Committee to Make You…
Did Lying Keith Just Accuse Obama of Lying?
I noted the other day the reason the non-denial confirmation that NSA wiretapped Angela Merkel raised the stakes for what President obama told the Chancellor in June about the spying. Did he give assurances she hadn't been tapped?
If he did,…
The Dog Ate Charles McCullough's Homework
Let's take the narrative the Federal Government wants to tell us about the Boston Marathon attack.
Both FBI and CIA got tips from Russia in early- and mid-2011 implicating Tamerlan Tsarnaev in extremism which FBI, which appropriately has…
The Spooks Will Never Have Their Software Self-Spying Working
Mark Hosenball seems to have gotten as obsessed with the Intelligence Community's inability or unwillingness to implement the automated Insider Threat tracking software mandated by Congress (see here and here). After reporting last week that…
Better Late Than Never Trash Talk
Okay, I admit it. I have let down the collective with terminally late Trash Talk. Was probing to see if Disco Bieber Brady showed up. Actually, I just had a hellish week, and when I finally had time to relax and have a beer last night, I just…
James Clapper versus DOJ (and NSA) on Upstream Collection Transparency
Last week, David Ignatius wrote a column declaring the Director of National Intelligence position under James Clapper "Mission Accomplished!" It's mostly a beat sweetener, but I'm intrigued by his claim that James Clapper forced the NSA…
DOJ's New "Transparency" on the Dragnet: Admitting Their "Physical Search" Was the "Dragnet"
DOJ has been boasting to the press for weeks that it will give Jamshid Muhtorov (though they didn't name him) notice that they used NSA spook authorities to catch him in his alleged support for Uzbekistan's Islamic Jihad Union. Now that they…
The "Voluntary" Cooperation that Comes from Coercion of Licensing Agreements?
The Guardian today describes how hard GCHQ worked to prevent its intercepts from being discoverable in trials. It did so for two reasons: to prevent a political firestorm about the extent of the collection.
A briefing memo prepared for the…
Keith Alexander: Armageddon for Thee But Not for Me
The other day, I noted how in an essay touting his cybersecurity approach, Keith Alexander claimed that approach had permitted the US to be plundered like a colony.
Hardly a selling point.
I want to return to Alexander's essay, but first,…
US Priorities at Parwan: $60 Million Prison Built Quickly, $2.7 Million Courthouse Languished
In a report issued today (pdf), SIGAR provides details on how a project to build a courthouse at the Parwan complex languished with incompetent construction and poor oversight. It was only after SIGAR provided a draft version of their report…
"Too much transparency defeats the very purpose of democracy"
In truly bizarre testimony he will deliver to the House Intelligence Committee next week, Paul Rosenzweig argues that "too much transparency defeats the very purpose of democracy." He does so, however, in a piece arguing that the government…
Haqqani's Revenge?
As Jim laid out this morning, yesterday Nawaz Sharif visited the White House, where he scolded the President for the use of drones.
Pakistan and the United States have a strong ongoing counterterrorism cooperation. We have agreed to further…
If the Saudis Take Their Toys and Go Home, Have They Still Won the Arab Spring?
David Ignatius adds something to the reporting on the Saudis' snit that has been missing: situating it in America's decision in 2011 to let Hosni Mubarak fall.
The bad feeling that developed after Mubarak’s ouster deepened month by month:…
Did Obama Lie to Merkel in Berlin?
As I noted here and the NYT lays out in more detail, Obama spoke with Angela Merkel about US spying in Germany in June when he was in Berlin.
The first disclosures from Der Spiegel in June almost soured the long-planned meeting between Mr.…
Why Would Woodward Leak Confirmation of US-Pak Collaboration on Drone Strikes While Sharif Was in DC?
On the same day that Pakistan's newly elected Prime Minister, Nawaz Sharif, spoke to the press alongside US President Barack Obama in Washington, Bob Woodward teamed with Greg Miller to release confirmation that Pakistan's government has…
Under Keith Alexander's Guard, America Can Be Plundered Like a Colony
Admittedly, Keith Alexander made things very easy on himself in this article on "Defending America in Cyberspace" by not mentioning the way DOD (or our ally, Israel) let StuxNet go free, not only exposing the attack on Iran, but also providing…
NSA Has Conquered Canada and Mexico Now
To accompany its excellent piece on the NSA's Zombie Lie about having prevented 54 terrorist attacks, ProPublica republished the map NSA released to seed the Zombie Lie (visual aids help with propaganda, I understand).
I noticed for the first…