James "Too Cute By Half" Clapper's Denial
James Clapper made a somewhat unprecedented denial of Le Monde's report (French, English) about the NSA's dragnet, denying the eye-popping numbers on the volume of French spying (70.3 million in a month) we do.
October 22, 2013
Recent articles…
On that Acknowledged Covert Op in Syria
The NYT has a tick-tock of Obama's Syria policy. I find it fascinating for two reasons.
Obama uses "covert" status as a legal fiction, nothing more
First, consider the coverage of the covert op -- one acknowledged explicitly by Chuck Hagel…
Shot By Government Forces or Victim of His Own Bomb: How Did Bahrain Teen Die?
The situation in Bahrain continues to spiral out of control. As Human Rights Watch noted, Barack Obama even included a reference to sectarian tensions there threatening democracy and regional stability in his September address to the UN General…
Carmen Ortiz Blows Off Dzhokhar Tsarneav's Request on His Own Involvement in Waltham
As AP reported, the government reported in motion opposing his discovery requests that Ibragim Todashev told them his brother participated in the 2011 Waltham triple murder.
In any event, the government has already disclosed to Tsarnaev that,…
The Common Commercial Services OLC Memo and Zombie CISPA
Some time last summer, Ron Wyden wrote Attorney General Holder, asking him (for the second time) to declassify and revoke an OLC opinion pertaining to common commercial service agreements. He said at the time the opinion "ha[d] direct relevance…
Intelligence Committees: Not Informed about Torture, Not Informed about Drone Casualties, Not Informed about US Person Spying
Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch released reports on US drone killings today. For the moment, I'm going to outsource reading the reports to Sarah Knuckey's excellent post.
Both reports (per Knuckey) point to individual drone strikes…
False Prophet of Adequate Congressional Oversight Finds Congressional Ignorance Unnewsworthy
I was going to leave this post, in which Ben Wittes complains that WaPo published details of NSA's collection of millions of contact lists, which he didn't find at all newsworthy, well enough alone.
Here the public interest in disclosure seems,…
The USAID vs SIGAR Pissing Contest
Reuters has a riveting exclusive today in which they have been given a treasure trove of documents from which they have reported on documentation that a contractor involved in USAID highway construction in Afghanistan is employing a subcontractor…
Obama Throws Top Spying Partner, Verizon, at ObamaCare
For the record, I hope the Administration finds a way to fix the ObamaCare website. While ObamaCare is a mix of good (Medicaid expansion, Medicare tweaks, MLR, some weakly enforceable limits on insurers) and bad (cost, corporate incentives,…
Did Chuck Hagel Cut Off Poor Bandar?
I'm working on a longer post on how Saudi King Abdullah took all his toys and went home because we wouldn't start an illegal war at his behest.
But for the moment, I want to look at a passage from this article reporting a Bandar bin Sultan…
Why Does France Get Publicly-Reported Phone Calls?
The White House just released a readout of a call between President Obama and French President François Hollande pertaining to the spying revealed yesterday by Le Monde.
Readout of the President’s Call with President Hollande of France
The…
On the 12th Day of Christmas, the NSA Gave to Me ... 12 "Terrorism Supporters"
Dianne Feinstein is writing op-eds again. Of course, I'm not actually recommending you read her defense of the phone dragnet program -- though I do recommend this rebuttal of her claims from ACLU's Mike German.
In other words, the problem was…
FBI Says the FBI Wasn't Surveilling the Tsarnaevs
After years of questions about certain oddities in the Federal government's treatment of Anwar al-Awlaki, Robert Mueller said this in one of his last public comments as Directof the FBI.
"I am not personally familiar with any effort to recruit…
NSA's Section 702 Success: 150 Gigs of Defense Contractor Data Protected
Over four months ago, I noted that the most impressive success touted in James Clapper's fact sheet on Section 702 pertained to cybersecurity, not terrorism.
Communications collected under Section 702 have provided significant and unique intelligence…
Daily Mail Wins Partial Declassification of British Court Decision Documenting Torture in Afghan Prison
Today marks the third time that I have used this photo that remarkably still resides on ISAFMedia's Flickr photostream. The caption, in full, as it has always been carried by ISAFMedia:
CAMP DARULAMAN, Afghanistan – Brig. Gen. Saffiullah,…
Does This Provide Insight into Obama's Relative Silence?
The US Ambassador to Britain, Matthew Barzun, went on the Beeb and declined to criticize Edward Snowden.
Asked if he shared the UK security services' concerns about the threat to national security from the leaks, he said he wanted to focus…
DishFire and the Drug War
I imagine that NSA's success at spying on Felipe Calderón's inner circle made it a lot easier for the US to convince him to allow "near-complete entree to Mexico’s territory and the secrets of its citizens" in the name of the war on drugs.
A…
My name is US Bandwith, king of kings:
"My name is US Bandwith, king of kings:
Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!"
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare
The lone and level sands stretch far away
I'm thinking of planting a…
Gronks and Donks Trash Talk Bonanza!
Been a huge week of activity, from the shutdown/default can down the road kicking, to new FISC apologia, to the stunning announcement of a new media venture. So, a lot of stuff, so to speak. Also, my retained palm tree trimmers think my palm…
CIA and the President: The Warm Embrace of Mutual Incrimination
Andrew Sullivan is newly convinced -- but surprised and confused -- that President Obama is permitting John Brennan to hold up the release of the Senate Torture Report.
It is becoming clearer and clearer that one major power-broker in Washington…