Federal Judge Blasts Joe Arpaio's Racial Profiling and Detention Policy
In a scathing decision just entered by Judge Murray Snow in the District Court for the District of Arizona, the court has hammered the racial profiling and detention policies of Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio. The case is Melendres v. Arpaio,…
Tamerlan Tsarnaev: Not a Step by Step Investigation
In a piece summarizing investigators' understanding of Tamerlan Tsarnaev based largely on their investigations in Russia, ABC unironically quotes Dana Rohrabacher -- who used to play dress-up mujahadeen when they were fighting Russia in Afghanistan…
What "Not Specifically Targeted" Means for Abdulrahman al-Awlaki
A number of people are discussing the killing of Abdulraham al-Awlaki as if the government has claimed he was accidentally targeted.
That's not what the government has officially said. In his letter declassifying American drone deaths the…
Someone Hacked Our Memory: "Retaliation," "Deterrence," "Escalation"
The WSJ has a story developing on earlier WSJ and NYT reporting that someone -- believed to be Iran -- was using cyberattacks on energy companies in preparation to sabotage operations.
And while the WSJ responsibly includes a short paragraph…
The Reason Holder Recused in UndieBomb 2.0 Probably Relates to Reasons He Thinks It's So Bad
A lot of people are responding furiously with what should not be news: that Eric Holder approved the warrants in the investigation into Fox report James Rosen's story.
Attorney General Eric Holder signed off on a controversial search warrant…
Obama's Finger Is On the Trigger Except Where It Matters
Update: In his speech, Obama took clear responsibility for killing Awlaki.
And as President, I would have been derelict in my duty had I not authorized the strike that took out Awlaki.
Daniel Klaidman remains the Administration's go-to guy…
Obama (Almost) Capitulates to ACLU on Drone Killing Standards
Actually, that headline overstates things. Obama will never capitulate to ACLU, the organization. As I've shown, his Administration has gone to absurd lengths to defeat ACLU in Court, even holding up legitimate congressional oversight to do…
Program US Heralds as Key to Afghan Stability Continues to Rely on Gang Rapes to Intimidate Locals
On Tuesday, I wrote about the disappearances, torture and murder for which the Afghan Local Police are known, comparing them to other death squad programs that the US has backed over the years in various military engagements. Sadly, there is…
In Guilty Plea, Abdulmutallab Named Awlaki as Inspiration, Not as Co-Conspirator
In Eric Holder's letter on drone killing today, he used Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab's UndieBomb attack as the most extensive evidence justifying the assassination of Anwar al-Awlaki.
For example, when Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab -- the individual…
"At the Highest Levels of the U.S. Government" ... Like the President?
Update: Obama did, in fact, take responsibility for ordering the killing.
And as President, I would have been derelict in my duty had I not authorized the strike that took out Awlaki.
There's something missing from Eric Holder's 8 paragraphs…
600 Days after Assassinating Anwar al-Awlaki, Administration Admits Doing So
In this letter boasting of "unprecedented transparency," Eric Holder officially tells Congress that since 2009 the government has killed 4 Americans: Anwar al-Awlaki was specifically targeted and killed, and Samir Khan, Abdulrahman al-Awlaki,…
We Have Always Been at War with Eastasia Adherents
Back on September 18, 2001, here's who we declared war against.
the President is authorized to use all necessary and appropriate force against those nations, organizations, or persons he determines planned, authorized, committed, or aided the terrorist attacks…
Did Solitary Confinement Make UndieBomber 1.0 Incompetent to Represent Himself?
But, in fact, the FBI do a great job as far as eliciting information after they’re Mirandizing them, and so they can get information as part of that type of negotiation with them, let them know they can in fact languish forever, or we can…
A Not-A-Drone-Strike Near Disney World
The FBI has been tracking a Chechen martial arts practitioner in FL, Ibragim Todashev, since the Boston Marathon attack. The guy knew Tamerlan Tsarnaev from Boston and reportedly had a phone conversation with him "more than a month ago" (which…
Petraeus' Coffee
Remember Jim's question whether David Petraeus was withholding intelligence last year? And remember my observation that Dick Cheney's propagandist had resuscitated Petraeus' gripes about talking points? And remember my focus on the way the Intelligence…
Why Would the US Shield Fahd al-Quso in February 2012 But Drone Kill Him in May 2012?
On February 10, 2012, the government went out of its way to hide Fahd al-Quso's ongoing involvement in terrorist attacks against the US. Three months later, on May 6, 2012 -- the day before the AP published its story about CIA thwarting an UndieBomb…
The Laughable Currently Operative AP Pushback Story
It has taken several days for the government -- apparently, almost exclusively DOJ -- to try to spin its secret seizure of AP call records. The new version of the government's ever-evolving story is that the reason the AP story was so damaging…
Body of Zakaria Kandahari's Videotaped Torture Victim Surfaces, 200 Yards from US Nerkh Base
When last we left the saga of the US role relating to the "rogue" Afghan death squad in the Nerkh District of Maidan Wardak province of Afghanistan, the New York Times was studiously transcribing denials from various US government officials…
The James Rosen Affidavit Was the 20th Document in the Docket
The is sort of a weedy point.
But if you look at the docket associated with DOJ's attempt to get James Rosen's communications, you'll see it is listed as document 20 in the docket.
Yet no other documents -- aside from the order approving…
First They Came for James Risen ...
I don't mean to suggest the journalism world did not object to the three subpoenas James Risen got in the Jeffrey Sterling case. They did.
But today's news that Fox's James Rosen was accused of being an "Aider or Abettor" to Stephen Jin-Woo…