Near Daily Drone Attacks Continue in Pakistan
John Brennan must feel that Pakistan's morale has only improved marginally, because what was an average of almost one drone strike a day has now fallen to about a half drone strike a day. Three successive days of strikes (with a total death…
UndieBomb 2.0's Handler
In honor of the Queen's Jubliee, the Times of London's paywall is down today (with free registration). So now's a good time to read the paper's good coverage on Yemen from Iona Craig and others (see her description of one of the civilians injured…
At What Point Will the Administration Admit "American interests" Equal "What the Saudis Want"?
There are a couple of stories this weekend on our undeclared war in Yemen that deserve some close focus.
As I pointed out in the wake of the NYT and Daily Beast stories on drone targeting, the Administration had been successfully distracting…
What You Learn at Yale
For the record, I have far less problem with Stan McChrystal teaching a course on leadership at Yale than John Yoo teaching law at Berkeley or Doug Feith teaching anything anywhere.
But I am rather amused by the effort on the part of the…
Your Obligatory Fran Fragos Townsend Leak
Remember how the detail that UndieBomb 2.0 involved a Saudi infiltrator got out? John Brennan had a private teleconference with Richard Clarke and Fran Fragos Townsend and implied as much, which led to Clarke reporting it (and not long after,…
Zombie Trash
Because it has been confirmed that the Zombie Apocalypse is upon us, the task of taking out this weekend's trash has been pushed onto me as the least senior (and most expendable) of the Emptywheel blogging team. Well, maybe it's not just the…
Robert Bales Allegedly Started Doing Steroids January 1, Accused of Assault on Afghan in February
As I reported here, DOD released a new charge sheet for Robert Bales. I'm going to start by laying out the chronology it portrays, then talk about the identities of the victims at the end. Here's his original charge sheet for comparison.
The…
16+1=17; 17-1=16
One of Robert Bales' lawyers, Emma Scanlan, seemed to expect the government to drop one of the murder chargers against her client, and the press seems to assume that DOD simply overcounted bodies when they first charged Bales.
Bales attorney…
Remember When WE Accused IRAN of Hacking?
I meant to mention this in my earlier post about David Sanger's StuxNet story, and this passage by Matthew Waxman reminded me.
As I’ve argued elsewhere, it’s likely that in many cyber-attack scenarios, both sides – the attacker and the…
Obama's "Zoo Animal" Broke Free and "Crossed the Rubicon"
At the bottom of it all has been the Bomb. For the first time in our history, the President was given sole and unconstrained authority over all possible uses of the Bomb.
[snip]
Every executive encroachment or abuse was liable to justification…
Transcribing Obama Administration Iran Spin, Sanger Advances False "Breakout" Capability
Marcy will be along later to discuss the shiny thong thing aspect of David Sanger's New York Times article where he was awarded today's transcription prize by the Obama administration and allowed to "break" the story in which the US for the…
Did Treasury Fire Jim Freis for Showing that Banksters Are a Bigger Problem than Terrorists?
As I noted earlier, a few weeks ago Treasury fired the head of FinCEN, Jim Freis. (FinCEN makes sure that financial institutions report whatever evidence of potential crimes they're seeing.)
American Banker reported that Treasury wanted "additional…
Will Treasury Hire the Guy Who Allowed JP Morgan Help Iran Launder Money?
Two weeks ago, Treasury fired the guy in charge of FinCEN (the part of Treasury that enforces and tracks Suspicious Activities Reports), Jim Freis, reportedly (pay wall) because he wanted to focus on law enforcement and financial crimes, rather…
The "Kill List" Is a Shiny Object
I recognize the term "Kill List" has some political advantages. It's a concise way to convey the cold brutality of our use of drones. Launching a petition for a Do Not Kill list--on the White House's own website!--is a clever use of social media.
But…
Jack Goldsmith to John Brennan: Not Good Enough
When he gave a speech to make misleading claims about the drone program, John Brennan claimed his speech fulfilled Jack Goldsmith's demand for more transparency.
Jack Goldsmith, a former assistant attorney general in the administration of George…
Parchin Game of Cat and Mouse Escalates: Razed Buildings, Earthmoving Probably Don't Affect Controversial Chamber
For a brief period yesterday afternoon, initial news reports had me thinking that perhaps proof had finally emerged that Iran has indeed carried out work on a nuclear weapon and was taking actions in an attempt to hide the after-effects of that…
What Happened to Mehsud's Dirty Bomb?
As I alluded the other day, the story the NYT told about the targeting of Baitullah Mehsud differs in key respects from the story Joby Warrick told in his book, The Triple Agent. And since the discrepancy involves yet another unsubstantiated…
The Commercial for John Brennan's Signature Strike Drone Shop TADS
Between them, the NYT and the Daily Beast published over 10,000 words on Obama's drone assassination program yesterday. Both stories rolled out the new acronym the Administration wants us to use: terrorist-attack-disruption strikes, or TADS.…
Day of Surprises in Afridi Case: Conviction Not Related to CIA Help; Ignatius Chastises CIA
There are many developments today surrounding Pakistan's sentencing of Dr. Shakeel Afridi to 33 years in prison, including two that are quite unexpected. According to documents released today to multiple news agencies, it turns out that Afridi's…
Hesham Abu Zubaydah Dates FBI Investigation of Mohammed Osman Mohamud a Year Earlier
The most recent hearing in the Mohammed Osman Mohamud case provided the following details, which the FBI claimed described the beginning of their investigation into Mohamud.
February 2009: Samir Khan and Mohamud start emailing
August 31,…