Attempted Coup in Qatar? Updated: Probably Not
Both the Iranian Fars News Agency and Pakistan's The News Tribe are reporting that a coup attempt in Qatar has failed. The post by The News Tribe cites Al Arabiya TV, but nothing appears on Al Arabiya's English website as of this writing, nor…
Like NYPD, FBI Also Investigating How Many Times a Day Muslims Pray
Yesterday, the AP won a well-deserved Pulitzer for, among other things, revealing that the NYPD had sent an officer on a junket whitewater trip so he could count how many times a day the Muslim students on the trip prayed.
But the NYPD is…
DEA Busts TOR-Operated "Farmer's Market" Drug Market Place
The DEA arrested 8 named and 7 unnamed people today in what it says is the first TOR-operated drug bust.
“The drug trafficking organization targeted in Operation Adam Bomb was distributing dangerous and addictive drugs to every corner of…
Scientist Who Destroyed Iraq's Chemical Weapons the Last To Be Freed
In a little noticed piece (best as I can tell, only NYPost picked it up in the US), AFP reports that the last Iraqi WMD scientist still held in prison, Mahmud Faraj Bilal Al Samarrai, is set to be released.
"The judicial authorities have decided…
NATO Response to Taliban Attacks: Pump Up Image of Afghan Forces
Because it is clear that the Obama administration steadfastly refuses to address its rapidly failing Afghanistan strategy prior to November's elections, NATO is forced to labor under the increasingly difficult prospect of handing over security…
William Welch Leaving DOJ; Main Justice Circles The Ethical Wagons
Apparently the thrill is finally gone, or at least soon to be gone. Carrie Johnson at NPR has just reported:
A federal prosecutor who led the elite public integrity unit when the case against the late Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens collapsed has…
The War-Mongers Find Their Great White Whale
Der Speigel reports that a German ship that allegedly picked up Iranian weapons in (US-dominated) Djibouti and headed from there towards Syria has been stopped to check whether the allegation it contains arms is correct.
A German-owned freighter…
The US Attempts to Retain Control Over the Financialized Playground
I'm a big fan of Kevin Phillips' arguments about how increased financialization of their economies lead to the decline of the Spanish, Dutch, and British empires in succession; his latest book warned that Wall Street crash might represent our…
Zimmerman: Anatomy Of A Deficient Probable Cause Affidavit
Now that the dust has settled from the decision in the Zimmerman/Martin case not to proceed by grand jury by the Florida Special Prosecutor Angela Corey, and the decision to file a single count of second degree murder, I want to address a couple…
The Damage Abdulrahman Al-Awlaki Was Collateral To? Not Dead.
I'm not sure which details from Michelle Shephard's story on 16-year old Adbulrahman Al-Awlaki's death in a US drone strike are most compelling. I find the description of the carnival rides Abdulrahman snuck past as he ran away from home to…
The FBI Wanted a Propagandist to Become an "Informant"
In a post focusing on the First Amendment problems with Tarek Mehanna's conviction for serving as an al Qaeda propagandist, Glenn Greenwald posted the speech Mehanna made at sentencing. Most of the attention paid to the speech has focused on…
Why Does Mitt Cheat His Country But Not His Church?
As tax day approaches, the presidential campaign has looked like this: 1) Buffet rule. 2) Mitt's taxes 3) Who gives to charity.
In an attempt to shift focus away from Mitt's efforts to make sure other rich people like him don't have to pay…
The Democrats Had Already Conceded the War on Women
Curiously, in his chronology of the talking point, "the War on Women," Dave Weigel doesn't mention the actual terrorist attack on a Planned Parenthood clinic a few weeks back. Nor does Marc Ambinder in his thoughtful piece on the outrage mobilized…
Pakistan's Parliament Calls For End to Drones, Covert Agents in New Guidelines for US Relationship
In a key step toward the re-opening of NATO supply lines, the Parliamentary Committee on National Security presented a new set of guidelines for the relationship between the United States and Pakistan that was passed unanimously by Pakistan's…
The CIA's Four-Box of Death
Just to finish up with my continuing obsession with CIA General Counsel Stephen Preston's speech at Harvard (don't miss Josh Gerstein getting into the act with his fact check on the shooting of Osama bin Laden's wife), I wanted to look at Preston's…
Episode Three of Who Rules Your World? Begins: The Leak Retribution Event
Episode one of Who Rules Your World?, pitting Barack Obama against Rupert Murdoch, passed mostly under the radar. The "privatize education" event ended in an early draw when the darling of both contestants, Michelle Rhee, resigned in disgrace…
Chief Justice Chaudhry: Balochistan Burns While Police Watch
Showing extreme frustration over senior police officials not appearing before his hearing today on Balochistan, Pakistan's Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry lashed out at them:
Chaudhry had summoned Inspector General (IG) Balochistan…
The Libyan Gift That Keeps Giving: Sarkozy's Turn
In the last few days, Tony Blair has developed Alberto Gonzales-like levels of forgetfulness with regards his flip-flops on Libya as he tries to answer questions about the Abdel Hakim Belhaj rendition.
But it looks like Blair won't be the…
What Zimmerman's Charge Means (Or Doesn't)
Well, okay, the press conference by Angela Corey is over. Let us be clear, it was the performance of a politician and, not necessarily that of a grounded and by the book prosecutor. Seriously.
First off, Ms. Corey talked in repeated and continued…
Why Florida Is Charging Zimmerman Directly Instead Of By Grand Jury
As you may have heard by now, the Washington Post has broken the news that Florida officials, to wit Special Prosecutor Angela Corey, will charge George Zimmerman in the Trayvon Martin killing. The charging is expected late this afternoon, but…