So now we know that waterboarding was used 266 times on two terrorist suspects. 183 of those times were on Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, the self-described planner of 9/11, in one month. The Bush administration euphemistically used waterboarding as an "enhanced interrogation technique", but when you hear that it was used 183 times in one month, a couple of common sense … Read More
Secret Torture Memos Released
For years, Bush assured the nation that "we did not torture". Today, Obama released four legal memos which helped to describe what "interrogation techniques" we did use. Apparently, according to news reports, the decision to release the memos was a tough one for Obama, and one he did not take lightly. He saw the virtues of government transparency but had to … Read More
Memo To Tea Bag Protesters
You can't whine about being pegged as potential rightwing extremists and also hold up signs like this: Imagine if that sign had been carried by a participant at a CAIR event? UPDATE: Again, I'm sure this doesn't speak for a majority of the Tea bag protesters, but still, this type of "America-loving" speaks for some of them: Another … Read More
Right Wing Bloggers Angry At Homeland Security For Monitoring Right Wing Extremists
It all started, as these things often do, with Michelle Malkin: Yesterday, Roger Hedgecock and the Liberty Papers posted an unclassified DHS Office of Intelligence and Analysis report titled: Rightwing Extremism: Current Economic and Political Climate Fueling Resurgence in Radicalization and Recruitment. Malkin called the DHS report (from “Obama’s” DHS) “a sweeping indictment of conservatives.” She seems to think this … Read More
More On The Pirates
Not that anybody except law geeks like me care, but the national and international laws regarding piracy is remarkably well-developed. Of course, it all stems from the 18th century, but it's still good valid law. Also, this account of the pirate takedown is kind of, well, movie-like. The setting is the small craft (the main ship's "lifeboat") where three pirates … Read More
Over The Weekend
(1) I guess the big news was that the U.S. Navy rescued that skipper from the pirates. Skipper? Pirates? This sounds like a bad episode of "Gilligan's Island". But no, it happened. Obviously, it is a good thing since (1) Obama's first serious military rescue operation was a success [guess those concerns about the 3 am call were unfounded]; (2) … Read More
Avast Ye
American crewmen of the U.S.-flagged cargo ship have taken back control of the vessel from pirates. No word as to whether the pirates are being made to walk the plank. [UPDATE: Hmmmm. Maybe they did have to walk the plank. One pirate was captured; the rest are reportedly "in the water"]
Defense Department Doing The Right Thing
These two graphs on United States defense spending are worth 2000 words: Yeah, there's a war on terrorism and we're in Iraq and Afghanistan, but do we really need to spend over $400 billion, or 20% of our budget on defense? Now, defense secretary Robert Gates' proposed defense budget hasn't actually cut defense spending, but he seems to have … Read More
Diplomacy In Action
For those who ever doubted that effective diplomacy cannot lead to results, and that our new president is a skilled diplomat, read this: According to sources inside the room, President Obama just played peacemaker in a spat between French President Nicolas Sarkozy and Hu Jintao, President of the People's Republic of China. In the finaly plenary session among the G-20 … Read More
But It Works So Well For Jack Bauer
Right wingnuts must be unhappy to read this: When CIA officials subjected their first high-value captive, Abu Zubaida, to waterboarding and other harsh interrogation methods, they were convinced that they had in their custody an al-Qaeda leader who knew details of operations yet to be unleashed, and they were facing increasing pressure from the White House to get those secrets … Read More
Six Years Ago Today…
…we started the Iraq War. We're not out yet. Today's just as good as any to remember the 4,261 dead U.S. soldiers.
No More “Enemy Combatants”
Announcement just out from the Justice Department: In a filing today with the federal District Court for the District of Columbia, the Department of Justice submitted a new standard for the government's authority to hold detainees at the Guantanamo Bay Detention Facility. The definition does not rely on the President's authority as Commander-in-Chief independent of Congress's specific authorization. It draws … Read More
Will The Next Terrorist Attack Come From Muslim Extremists….
…or domestic right-wing extremists? Beware the latter: Trust fund millionaire James G. Cummings, an American Nazi sympathizer from Maine who was slain by his wife Amber in December, allegedly had the radioactive components necessary to construct a "dirty bomb," a newly released threat analysis report states. The man, allegedly furious over the election of President Obama, purchased depleted uranium over … Read More
The Bush Legal Memos
As much as possible, I've resisted Bush-bashing since he was ushered out of office. He's gone, let's go forward I figure. But certain legal memos of the Bush Administration, released yesterday, really are truly frightening. Michael Isikoff from Newsweek gives an example: In perhaps the most surprising assertion, the Oct. 23, 2001, memo suggested the president could even suspend press freedoms … Read More
Thoughts I Had Or Heard While Serving In Iraq
By Steven A. Devine: Wow, it's really hot here. Wow, those guys look really mad. Wow, I don't want to know where he was hiding that rocket. Now, that looks really painful. That is really painful. Wait, define "infection." Merry Christmas. Wow, it's really cold. Wow, that guy looks really angry. That spider was really fast. Wait, define "amputate." When I … Read More