Why Spend $887 Million on Armored Vehicles for Afghan Army When Thousands Sit Idle?
A single line item in the latest quarterly report from SIGAR (pdf) has my blood boiling. The report states that among the up to $7.73 billion that the Defense Department has requested for fiscal 2014 in Afghanistan, a single item of $886.9…
Michael Hayden, after Escaping Justice, Calls for Other Criminals to Be Made Examples
In an article on the Bradley Manning and Edward Snowden leaks, Washington Times quotes former NSA and CIA Director Michael Hayden this way: (h/t Matthew Aid)
It is “really important that the government respond well to this particular abuse,”…
James Cole: "Of Course We'd Like Records of People Buying" Pressure Cookers
Now that the Suffolk cops have revealed they investigated Michele Catalano's family because of a tip from her husband's former employer about his Google searches and not FBI or NSA analysis of Google data themselves, a lot of people are suggesting…
If By "Plots on the Homeland" You Mean "Defense against US-Backed Invaders"
Yesterday's declassified documents on the Section 215 (and Internet Trap and Trace) dragnets repeat something I observed about a James Clapper declaration submitted in several FOIA cases related to the program: they all redact parts of the description…
Have 1,485 Innocent Americans Been Investigated for Researching Pressure Cookers?
Update: One of Catalano's family members' former employers tipped off the local cops to searches for backpack and pressure cooker on their computer.
I have been warning about the criminalization of common items since it became clear in…
Keith Alexander: We Report Violations to "Everyone"
At 32:14 in his speech to BlackHat yesterday, Keith Alexander said of the Section 215 dragnet,
We comply with the court orders and do this exactly right. And if we make a mistake, we hold ourselves accountable and report it to everyone.
Here's…
"Progress" Report: ANSF Abandoning Over One Third of ISAF Facilities
As I have noted previously, Congress requires the Defense Department to provide status reports on the situation in Afghanistan twice a year. The scheduling of these reports appears to be entirely random. The first report in 2012 was in April,…
On Same Day Alexander Tells BlackHat, "Their Intent Is to Find the Terrorist That Walks Among Us," We See NSA Considers Encryption Evidence of Terrorism
Thirty minutes into his speech at BlackHat yesterday, Keith Alexander said,
Remember: their intent is not to go after our communications. Their intent is to find the terrorist walks among us.
He said that to a room full of computer security…
Wyden: We Proved that "Unique" and "Vital" Information Wasn't in 2011
I should have some analysis on the documents James Clapper released yesterday.
But it's worth pointing to Ron Wyden's analysis. He notes that the two documents on bulk collection programs -- one from 2009 and one from 2011, both of which…
Is THIS What Wyden Meant by "Allowing the NSA to Deliberately Search for Records of Particular Americans"?
A month ago, I noted that after Ron Wyden and Mark Udall criticized Keith Alexander for suggesting the NSA could not deliberately search the records of specific Americans, the NSA Director withdrew the white sheet implying such a claim.
The…
DOJ Responds to Non-Intell Committee Member of Opposition Party, But Not Intell Committee Member of President's Party
On June 20, Rand Paul started seeking more information about how the FBI used drones. On July 9, he sent a second letter to find out about the FBI's use of drones. After placing a hold on Jim Comey's nomination to be FBI Director, Paul got results,…
Manning Faces Up to 136 Years in Prison for Alerting You to What Your Government Does in Your Name
Bradley Manning is innocent, according to Judge Colonel Denise Lind, of aiding the enemy.
With this verdict, truly horrible consequences for freedom of speech are averted.
Nevertheless, according to the invaluable Alexa O'Brien, Manning…
MIT Releases Its Own Swartz Investigation After Stalling Release of Secret Service's
MIT has just released its report on the university's role in the investigation into Aaron Swartz.
Part of it explains how the Secret Service came to be involved in the investigation.
The MIT Police decided that the situation required expertise…
Big-Footing Superpower Status Also about Legally Immune Commander in Chief(s)
In a piece making the obvious comparison between fugitive spy Robert Seldon Lady and accused Espionage fugitive Edward Snowden, Tom Englehardt writes off the press silence about presumed American assistance to Lady in fleeing an international…
The Stenography Dance between Israel and the US
I've been meaning to comment on this story from Bill Gertz from last week. After reporting that the Israelis bitched about US reports of the Israeli strike on Russian made missiles shipped to Syria,
Israeli government officials voiced anger…
Well, at Least DOJ Promised Not to Mine Journalists' Metadata Going Forward
When I read this passage from DOJ's new News Media Policy, it caused me as much concern as relief.
The Department's policies will be revised to provide formal safeguards regarding the proper use and handling of communications records of members…
Espionage: Now, with No Damage Envisioned
A recently unsealed decision from Colleen Kollar-Kotelly just changed the interpretation of the Espionage Act for Washington DC to cover leaks that wouldn't even harm the US.
Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly ruled that the prosecution in the…
70% of Pew's Respondents More Attentive than Pew?
You may have seen that a Pew poll shows, for the first time, more people think the government has gone too far in restricting civil liberties than think it has not gone far enough to protect the country. (Another poll had a similar finding just…
The James Clapper Stall Declaration
On Thursday July 25, the ACLU met the government for a hearing in their suit to stop the Section 215 dragnet (which I'll call ACLU Injunction for this post). While there, the government handed the judge a filing for ACLU's Section 215 FOIA,…
Ignatius Has Become a "Choice between Security and Privacy" Stenographer
David Ignatius should be ashamed about this column. Even by his standards, it serves simply as stenography for the buzzwords top security officials have fed him, such that he repeats lines like this without any critical thinking.
Gen. Keith…