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Senators Press Holder to Declassify Key Facts about Patriot Act

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800

Salem-News.com - Nov. 19 (News Report) - We believe that the information we referenced in those paragraphs – specifically about the use of section 215 – is essential to understanding the full scope of the PATRIOT Act, which is about to be debated in Congress. As we said in June, if you have concerns about declassifying the specific language contained in our letter, we ask that you work with us to find language that conveys enough information to allow for an informed public debate on the PATRIOT Act’s reauthorization

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For Holder, much wrestling over decision

Fri, 13 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800

Washington Post - By Carrie Johnson - Nov. 13 (News Analysis) - what the nation's chief law enforcement officer did not lay bare for public consumption was the four months of deliberation, lobbying and tug of war inside his own Justice Department that preceded an announcement that will follow him into history.

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Obama administration seeks to block wiretap suit

Sat, 31 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Associated Press - By Devlin Barrett - Oct. 31 (News Report) - The Justice Department invoked the state secrets privilege Friday to try to stop a lawsuit over Bush-era wiretapping -- the first time the Obama administration has done so under its new policy on such cases. Attorney General Eric Holder announced the decision in a California lawsuit challenging the warrantless wiretapping program begun after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

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Official resigns over Afghan war

Tue, 27 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Washington Post - By Karen DeYoung - Oct. 27 (Special Report) - A former Marine Corps captain with combat experience in Iraq, Hoh had also served in uniform at the Pentagon, and as a civilian in Iraq and at the State Department. By July, he was the senior U.S. civilian in Zabul province, a Taliban hotbed. But last

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No Afghanistan ‘Checkposts’ Abandoned While Pak Military Offensive Proceeds ?

Mon, 19 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Washington Independent - By Spencer Ackerman - Oct. 19 (News Analysis) - "A piece in the Pakistan paper the News accused the U.S. military of taking the inexplicable step of abandoning “checkposts” on the Afghanistan-Pakistan border while the Pakistani military offensive in nearby Waziristan intensifies. According to Gen. Stanley McChrystal’s staff, it’s just not true".

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Clinton: Not ‘Either/Or’ Between Negotiating With Iran and Supporting Dissidents «

Mon, 05 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Washington Independent - By Spencer Ackerman - Oct. 05 (News Report) - Asked at the George Washington University forum about whether the Obama administration was effectively undermining the Iranian opposition by negotiating with the Iranian regime over its nuclear program, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said the choice was not “either/or.” Citing the U.S. experience throughout the Cold War of “always press[ing]” the Soviet Union on [...]

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Experts Weigh in on Obama’s Explanation of Iran’s Nuclear Facility

Mon, 28 Sep 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Washington Independent - By Spencer Ackerman - Sep. 28 (News Report) - Flanked by the French president and the British premier, President Obama on Friday dramatically stated that the “size and configuration” of a previously undisclosed Iranian nuclear facility near the clerical city of Qom make it “inconsistent with a peaceful program.” Several independent experts believe the facility is most likely being constructed to support a nuclear weapons program, especially as Iran’s concealment of it comes after years of nondisclosure and obstruction of inspections. But even those experts believe that the “size and configuration” of the facility does not necessarily mean it could only be used to build an atomic bomb.

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Officials: Iran has second enrichment plant

Fri, 25 Sep 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Washington Post - By Michael D. Shear, Karen DeYoung - Sep. 25 (News Report) - President Obama and the leaders of France and Britain blasted Iran's construction of a previously unacknowledged uranium enrichment facility and demanded Friday that Tehran immediately fulfill its obligations under international law or risk the imposition of harsh new sanctions.

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Meet The New State Secrets Policy, Not So Different From The Old State Secrets Policy

Wed, 23 Sep 2009 00:00:00 -0700

American Prospect - By Adam Serwer - Sep. 23 (News Analysis) - The Obama administration's abuse of the state secrets privilege mirrors the Bush administration's, and that's despite months of promises to reform its use.

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Grayson, POGO Use ACORN Defunding Push to Go After Military Contractors

Tue, 22 Sep 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Washington Independent - By Spencer Ackerman - Sep. 22 (Breaking News) - Ryan Grim has the story, I have stifled guffaws. Rep. Alan Grayson (D-Fla.) picked up on the legislative overreach and asked the Project on Government Oversight (POGO) to sift through its database to find which contractors might be caught in the ACORN net. Lockheed Martin and Northrop Gumman both popped up quickly, with 20 fraud cases between [...]

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Battle Looms Over the Patriot Act

Sun, 20 Sep 2009 00:00:00 -0700

New York Times - By Charlie Savage - Sep. 20 (News Report) - As Congress prepares to consider extending provisions of the USA Patriot Act, civil liberties groups and Democratic lawmakers are gearing up to press for sweeping changes to surveillance laws.

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Sept. 11 Attacks Helped Shape Obama's Worldview

Sat, 12 Sep 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Washington Post - By Scott Wilson - Sep. 12 (News Report) - It was not hollow rhetoric. The attacks and the steps that the Bush administration took to prevent another one have defined the way Obama views the world and have influenced, more than any other event, his understanding of national security. That

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Are Post-Sept. 11 Airport Screens Just 'Security Theater’?

Fri, 11 Sep 2009 00:00:00 -0700

All Things Considered - By Brian Naylor - Sep. 11 (Special Report) - While the technology to screen passengers has become more advanced and the check-in lines a little shorter, the question of whether flying is terrorism-proof remains. The Transportation Security Administration touts its latest machinery, but critics call the screening process "security theater."

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N.C. native wrongly deported to Mexico

Tue, 01 Sep 2009 00:00:00 -0700

charlotteobserver.com - By Kristin Collins - Sep. 01 (News) - Lyttle is one of a growing number of people who have been swept up in the federal immigration detention system since 2001, when terrorist attacks prompted an unprecedented effort to find and deport illegal immigrants. The U.S. government deported 350,000 people in the fiscal year that ended in October 2008.

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How a Detainee Became An Asset

Sun, 30 Aug 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Washington Post - Aug. 30 (Special Report) - After enduring agency's harshest interrogation methods, self-described mastermind of 2001 terror plot becomes "preeminent source" on al-Qaeda.

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Abuse Issue Puts the C.I.A. and Justice Dept. at Odds

Fri, 28 Aug 2009 00:00:00 -0700

New York Times - By Peter Baker, David Johnston, Mark Mazzetti - Aug. 28 (News Report) - With the appointment of a prosecutor to investigate detainee abuses, conflicts between the two agencies burst into view, threatening relations between two players on President Obama’s national security team.

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Holder's Decision To Probe CIA Hints At a New Dynamic

Fri, 28 Aug 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Washington Post - By Carrie Johnson, Anne E. Kornblut - Aug. 28 (News Analysis) - The back story to Monday's appointment of a career prosecutor to review CIA interrogation methods illustrates Holder's influence in the new administration and sheds light on the emerging and delicate relationship between the White House and the Justice Department. In this and other big battles, including the decision to release memos this year by Bush administration officials giving the green light to harsh interrogation tactics, Holder and his Justice Department have prevailed over strong objections from the CIA and the intelligence community. Holder hasn't won every one of those battles, but he has won many.

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Memos Suggest Legal Cherry-Picking in Justifying Torture

Thu, 27 Aug 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Washington Independent - By Daphne Eviatar - Aug. 27 (Special Report) - On the same day that the government produced the 2004 CIA Inspector General’s report on interrogations, it also turned over seven more memos and letters from the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel.

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CIA Documents Provide Little Cover for Cheney Claims

Tue, 25 Aug 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Associated Press - Aug. 25 (News Report) - For months, former Vice President Dick Cheney has said that two documents prepared by the CIA, one from 2004 and the other from 2005, would refute critics of the Bush administration’s torture program. He told Fox’s Sean Hannity in April: “I haven’t

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C.I.A. Sought Blackwater’s Help in Plan to Kill Jihadists

Thu, 20 Aug 2009 00:00:00 -0700

New York Times - By Mark Mazzetti - Aug. 20 (Investigative Report) - The Central Intelligence Agency hired contractors from Blackwater USA as part of a secret program to locate and assassinate top operatives of Al Qaeda, according to officials.

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Threat Assessment: When Protesters Bring Guns to Health-Care Town Halls

Wed, 19 Aug 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Associated Press - By Mark Thompson - Aug. 19 (News Analysis) - The fact that protesters at President Obama's political events have begun showing up bearing arms may be disquieting, but it's perfectly legal — and the Secret Service, charged with protecting the President, insists that it is not unduly alarmed by the development. That's because while the Second Amendment guarantees Americans the right to carry guns, federal law also gives the Secret Service the right to keep gun-toting folks away from the President. ... But former Secret Service agent Joseph Petro thinks his former employer may be trying to put the best face on a bad situation. "The Secret Service is very concerned about this," says Petro, who spent 23 years as an agent, including four guarding President Reagan and his family. "It's hard enough to protect the President, and this is not helpful."

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Blackwater Heir Wants to Keep State Dept. Security Contract

Mon, 10 Aug 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Washington Independent - By Spencer Ackerman - Aug. 10 (News Report) - Even as a wrongful-death lawsuit moves forward against the controversial private security company formerly known as Blackwater, the firm seeks to renew its contract with the State Department to guard diplomats when the deal expires next year.

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Criminal investigation into CIA treatment of detainees expected

Sun, 09 Aug 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Los Angeles Times - By Greg Miller, Josh Meyer - Aug. 09 (News Report) - U.S. Atty. Gen. Eric H. Holder Jr. is poised to appoint a criminal prosecutor to investigate alleged CIA abuses committed during the interrogation of terrorism suspects, current and former U.S. government officials said. A senior Justice Department official said that Holder envisioned an inquiry that would be narrow in scope, focusing on "whether people went beyond the techniques that were authorized" in Bush administration memos that liberally interpreted anti-torture laws.

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Climate change ranked as a threat to U.S. security

Sun, 09 Aug 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Pioneer Press - By John M. Broder - Aug. 09 (News Report) - The changing global climate will pose profound strategic challenges to the United States in coming decades, raising the prospect of military intervention to deal with the effects of violent storms, drought, mass migration and pandemics, military and intelligence analysts say.

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Feingold Set to Oppose Further Troop Boost for Afghanistan

Wed, 05 Aug 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Washington Independent - By Spencer Ackerman - Aug. 05 (News Report) - “I don’t think the case has been effectively made for continuing to send more and more troops into Afghanistan,” Feingold said in a Wednesday interview. “I am very unhappy with the answers I’ve received about the issue of whether constantly increasing troops is helping the situation in Pakistan or making it worse. I suspect it could be making things worse.” Feingold fears that increasing troops in Afghanistan might lead insurgents to cross the border into Pakistan, which is engaged in its own fight against a distinct but affiliated insurgency,

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