Coming Soon to a Base Near You! Drone Hangars!
The House Armed Services Committee Mark-Up for next year's Defense Authorization is out. And it includes funds to build drone hangars at four bases in the Continental US. The bases are--with images showing how far a Predator drone might be able…
Marc Thiessen, You Are My Piñata
Normally, Marc Thiessen's torture apologies aren't worth my time. But seeing as how I didn't whack any piñatas on Cinco de Mayo, why not Thiessen's latest, in which he claims those who deny CIA interrogations played a part in nabbing bin Laden…
Condi Claims US Was at War When She Ignored August 6, 2001 PDB
Condi Rice is, of all Bush's top aides, the best at managing her reputation. Which is why her interview with Fareed Zakaria yesterday is so interesting.
Sure, there are some examples of Condi's signature lies, such as when she claims the…
Alberto Gonzales Explains Why Torture Didn't Work Even While Defending It
As I noted in an update to my Mushroom Cloud Brigade post, even Univision joined in the torture apologist fun, inviting Alberto Gonzales on to talk about the killing of Osama bin Laden. And Gonzales did defend torture.
Jorge Ramos: Mr.…
The MSM's Gift to Moms? The Mushroom Cloud Brigade
I noted this already, but it so exceeds even the abysmal standards of the Sunday show bookers, I'm going to repeat it.
To celebrate Mothers Day, the Sunday shows have brought you the Mushroom Cloud Brigade--Condi Rice, Rummy, and Dick Cheney--the…
Sometimes Notes Get Destroyed, Sometimes They Don't
One more point about the case of Mohamed Mohamud, the accused bomber from Oregon. A government filing submitted last month addresses the defense's requests for notes regarding various interactions Mohamud had with the FBI. It describes two…
Osama bin Laden Left the Tribal Lands in 2003
All those drones we've been dropping on the tribal lands of Pakistan?
Well, they must have come close to hitting OBL once before--because a drone in Waziristan apparently killed one of OBL's daughters.
Amongst those left behind by the evacuating…
Grey-Bearded Osama Watching Videos of His Youth
The Pentagon has released video found at Osama bin Laden's home. It shows a grey bearded OBL watching images of a black-bearded OBL engaging in jihad.
The video has to be less than two years old: note the juxtaposition of images of Obama…
More on the Year-Long Pursuit of Mohamed Mohamud
Teddy did a diary this morning on a newly-reported detail in the case of Mohamed Mohamud--the Portland man accused of attempting to set off a bomb. The FBI had contacted him a year earlier than originally disclosed. The first contact with Mohamud…
WH Stenographer: Obama Took Big Risk in Deciding to Go after Bin Laden
There's not all that much in this Bob Woodward piece on the raid to get Osama bin Laden that hasn't already been reported generally elsewhere: just some details about the surveillance leading up to the raid (which I'll discuss below) and a cute…
Obama Apparently Was Hoping for a Trifecta
Qaddafi last Saturday, Osama bin Laden Sunday, and Anwar al-Awlaki on Thursday.
A U.S. drone strike in Yemen Thursday was aimed at killing Anwar al-Awlaki, the American-born radical cleric who is suspected of orchestrating terrorist attacks…
Why Did the Torture Apologists Come Out of their Caves?
I don't really have the heart to refute Michael Mukasey's apology for torture. In it, he contradicts assertions made by torture apologists who were closer to the torture. He includes extraneous (and false) details to fluff up his case. He falsely…
Like SSCI, HPSCI Requires DNI to Close Gaping Security Holes ... by 2013
Steven Aftergood has the House intelligence report online and--as he points out--it contains a requirement that the intelligence community close one of the gaping holes in network security highlighted by the WikiLeaks case. The deadline? 2013.
SEC.…
Maybe We Fought the War Wrong?
National Journal has a fascinating article comparing the cost-benefit of the war against al Qaeda with that of other wars. It puts the cost of the war at $3 trillion--less than just the defense costs of World War II. But it didn't bring the…
Choo Choo Track Attacks
I'm bemused by this first report on the intelligence from Osama bin Laden's compound. Apparently, al Qaeda wants to derail trains.
A new bulletin issued tonight by the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security and obtained by ABC News describes…
The Weird Circumstances Surrounding Hassan Ghul's Interrogation
As I noted earlier, the AP and other outlets have reported that Hassan Ghul was among the first to inform American interrogators of the importance of Abu Ahmed al-Kuwaiti. Here's what the AP reported.
Then in 2004, top al-Qaida operative Hassan…
Monica Goodling Finally Gets Reprimanded
According to the Virginia Bar and in a filing that she agreed with, Monica Goodling committed "a criminal or deliberately wrongful act" that reflected badly on her "honesty, trustworthiness or fitness to practice law."
Monica Marie Goodling,…
Obama's DOJ Advocated Lying to Judges in June 2009
Back in 2006, a bunch of Islamic groups FOIAed the FBI to find out what kind of records the FBI had on them. The FBI blew the request off, so in 2007, the groups sued. When the groups got their data, they complained the FBI had improperly labeled…
Beneficiary of Revolving Door Pork to Head Blackwater Ethics Committee
As Spencer reports, former Attorney General John Ashcroft just got named the-Company-formerly-known-as-Blackwater's ethics chief.
The consortium in charge of restructuring the world’s most infamous private security firm just added a new…
Jose Rodriguez Brags that He Got Terrorists to Deny Things Using Torture
Jose Rodriguez, the guy who as head of Counterterrorism Center oversaw the torture program and who as head of Clandestine Services had the videotapes that would prove torturers exceeded torture guidelines destroyed, has chosen this moment to…