Where's the Outrage?

I’m tired of war. I’m tired of secret prisons. I’m tired of renditions. I’m tired of my government acting like the bad guys and not the good guys.

From the Nation:

The CIA presence in Mogadishu is part of Washington’s intensifying counterterrorism focus on Somalia, which includes targeted strikes by US Special Operations forces, drone attacks and expanded surveillance operations. The US agents “are here full time,” a senior Somali intelligence official told me. At times, he said, there are as many as thirty of them in Mogadishu, but he stressed that those working with the Somali NSA do not conduct operations; rather, they advise and train Somali agents. “In this environment, it’s very tricky. They want to help us, but the situation is not allowing them to do [it] however they want. They are not in control of the politics, they are not in control of the security,” he adds. “They are not controlling the environment like Afghanistan and Iraq. In Somalia, the situation is fluid, the situation is changing, personalities changing.”

Tags: Security, Terrorism by ecthompson md
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Tags: Foreign Affairs, Military, Obama administration, Other Political Thoughts, Security by Neil Aquino
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It seems to me that our Constitution guarantees some basic rights for all Americans. (Now we can, of course, argue about whether Faisal Shahzad should have been allowed to become an American citizen.) These rights are not open for negotiations. Yet, we have some who have argued that alleged failed Times Square bomber, Faisal Shahzad, shouldn’t have been afforded these rights. Why not? Doesn’t our Constitution work in good times and bad? If there is some reason that the Constitution doesn’t work, then we need to amend it. I think that this is really pretty simple, but it seems that folks don’t get it.

Tags: Congress, Party Politics, Security, Terrorism by ecthompson md
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I don’t know if any of you remember Monty Python and the Spanish Inquisition. These guys would show up in the middle of scenes and yell, “Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition.” Well, this is Blackwater. They are everywhere. This is what progressives feared. Blackwater would be used as a military force to go around Congress. With their tanks and copters, there isn’t much that Blackwater can’t do. They aren’t tied down like our military. They can do whatever they want.

From the Nation:

At a covert forward operating base run by the US Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC) in the Pakistani port city of Karachi, members of an elite division of Blackwater are at the center of a secret program in which they plan targeted assassinations of suspected Taliban and Al Qaeda operatives, “snatch and grabs” of high-value targets and other sensitive action inside and outside Pakistan, an investigation by The Nation has found. The Blackwater operatives also assist in gathering intelligence and help direct a secret US military drone bombing campaign that runs parallel to the well-documented CIA predator strikes, according to a well-placed source within the US military intelligence apparatus.

The source, who has worked on covert US military programs for years, including in Afghanistan and Pakistan, has direct knowledge of Blackwater’s involvement. He spoke to The Nation on condition of anonymity because the program is classified. The source said that the program is so “compartmentalized” that senior figures within the Obama administration and the US military chain of command may not be aware of its existence.

The White House did not return calls or email messages seeking comment for this story. Capt. John Kirby, the spokesperson for Adm. Michael Mullen, Chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told The Nation, “We do not discuss current operations one way or the other, regardless of their nature.” A defense official, on background, specifically denied that Blackwater performs work on drone strikes or intelligence for JSOC in Pakistan. “We don’t have any contracts to do that work for us. We don’t contract that kind of work out, period,” the official said. “There has not been, and is not now, contracts between JSOC and that organization for these types of services.” (more… )

Tags: Pakistan, Security by ecthompson md
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I’ve become somewhat overwhelmed by what my country, the United States, has done. While I’m still struggling with the definition of “torture,” I believe that some abuse (most of the things that I’ve read) can be classified as torture. We have a long history in our country of delineating good treatment from bad treatment of detainees (prisoners or soldiers).

I’ve come across a story of Khaled el-Masri (I found the story in Jane Mayer’s book, the Dark Side. Other accounts of this tale can be found here and here.)  El-Masri was a Muslim of Lebanese descent but became a German citizen in 2003. He had a German passport. Going across from Macedonia into Serbia for a vacation from the family, he was stopped at a checkpoint. For 13 days he was held by Macedonian authorities. He was not allowed to call his family. He was not allowed access to a lawyer. As it turns out, he has the exact same name as a terrorist the United States government was looking for. As a twist of fate, this happened around the holidays so the Macedonian authorities had difficulty verifying the new German passport.

Almost immediately the CIA was alerted of his capture. The CIA wanted him transferred to a prison in Afghanistan. So, basically we have a man who was stopped at a checkpoint. He is arrested and detained for 13 days without Macedonian authorities verifying that the redesigned passport was indeed an official German passport. United States officials, the CIA, desperately wanted to talk with this man.

After 13 days, El-Masri believed that he was going to be released. He was taken to the airport, where he was blindfolded and led into a small room. In this room, he was stripped of all his clothes, photographed and beaten. Earplugs were placed in his ears, a hood is thrown over his head and he was thrown on a jet, tranquilized and sent to Afghanistan. Over the next 149 days, a debate raged within the CIA. The head of the counterterrorism division believed that he, el-Masri, was in fact a terrorist, even though she has never seen or spoken with this man. CIA agents, in Afghanistan and at Langley, argue that they have no evidence against him. In Afghanistan, el-Masri was thrown in a cold dank cell. The water was foul and the food was even worse. He developed chronic diarrhea. He lost some 40 to 50 pounds. He was given frequent enemas.  According to reports, he was threatened with death. “You’re in a country where no one knows about you. There is no rule of law. If you die, you will be buried here. No one will ever know.”

After 149 days, El-Masri was released as only the CIA could do it. There is no explanation. He was simply flown to Albania. He was driven down the long winding road and given back his possessions, told to walk and not look back. He was met by three men who gave him some food and took him to the Tirana airport. From there he was flown home.

I have a problem understanding how you can whisk somebody away from their family for almost five months without one shred of evidence. I find this completely mind-boggling, nauseating and stupid.  One CIA officer call the program of rendition – Kidnap, Inc.

Tags: Bush Administration, Security, Torture by ecthompson md
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Today, President Barack Obama delivered a fantastic speech on national security.

Watch it here:

Words from Obama’s speech given today:

After 9/11, we knew that we had entered a new era — that enemies who did not abide by any law of war would present new challenges to our application of the law; that our government would need new tools to protect the American people, and that these tools would have to allow us to prevent attacks instead of simply prosecuting those who try to carry them out.

Unfortunately, faced with an uncertain threat, our government made a series of hasty decisions.  I believe that many of these decisions were motivated by a sincere desire to protect the American people.  But I also believe that all too often our government made decisions based on fear rather than foresight; that all too often our government trimmed facts and evidence to fit ideological predispositions.  Instead of strategically applying our power and our principles, too often we set those principles aside as luxuries that we could no longer afford.  And during this season of fear, too many of us — Democrats and Republicans, politicians, journalists, and citizens — fell silent.

In other words, we went off course.  And this is not my assessment alone.  It was an assessment that was shared by the American people who nominated candidates for President from both major parties who, despite our many differences, called for a new approach — one that rejected torture and one that recognized the imperative of closing the prison at Guantanamo Bay.

Now let me be clear:  We are indeed at war with al Qaeda and its affiliates.  We do need to update our institutions to deal with this threat.  But we must do so with an abiding confidence in the rule of law and due process; in checks and balances and accountability.  For reasons that I will explain, the decisions that were made over the last eight years established an ad hoc legal approach for fighting terrorism that was neither effective nor sustainable — a framework that failed to rely on our legal traditions and time-tested institutions, and that failed to use our values as a compass.  And that’s why I took several steps upon taking office to better protect the American people.

First, I banned the use of so-called enhanced interrogation techniques by the United States of America.  (Applause.)

I know some have argued that brutal methods like waterboarding were necessary to keep us safe.  I could not disagree more.  As Commander-in-Chief, I see the intelligence.  I bear the responsibility for keeping this country safe.  And I categorically reject the assertion that these are the most effective means of interrogation.  (Applause.)  What’s more, they undermine the rule of law.  They alienate us in the world.  They serve as a recruitment tool for terrorists, and increase the will of our enemies to fight us, while decreasing the will of others to work with America.  They risk the lives of our troops by making it less likely that others will surrender to them in battle, and more likely that Americans will be mistreated if they are captured.  In short, they did not advance our war and counterterrorism efforts — they undermined them, and that is why I ended them once and for all.  (Applause.)  (more…)

Tags: Obama administration, Security by ecthompson md
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Here’s tonight’s evening roundup:

• Thoughtful quiet reflection is in order today. Many papers have excellent coverage.
• Hurricane Ike, currently sitting in the Gulf of Mexico, is about 30 to 36 hours away from hitting the Texas coast. It is projected to strengthen to a category two or weak category three hurricane. The lights are still out for a large swath of southern Louisiana as another storm approaches. For those who are in the path, including Texas Liberal, please stay high and dry.
• I like Joe Biden. He got emotional as he talked about how his current wife restored his life. On the other hand, Governor Sarah Palin has granted her first interview with a national reporter, Charlie Gibson of ABC news. There are no surprises in her interview — at least the snippets that have been released so far.
• Senator Inhofe, a Republican from Oklahoma, again links 9/11 to the war on terror — Iraq. This is one senator who will never let facts change his mind or sway his opinion.
• Why are we spending millions of dollars to build a fence? It is one of the stupidest political ploys that I’ve seen in the last eight years. Fences haven’t worked to keep out enemies since the Middle Ages. Anyway, there are more delays in the fence.
• General David Petraeus admits that he will never use the word “victory” in association with Iraq. Progressives have said for years that victory was not definable. Now General Petraeus says approximately the same thing in a BBC interview.
• The Economic Policy Institute came up with a new analysis showing that we’re spending more on health insurance than we are on energy goods and services.
• The press continues to be in denial. They can’t believe they were so terribly wrong about Senator John McCain. They can’t believe that McCain would be running such a dishonorable campaign. His sex education commercial continues to be a low point of McCain’s campaign. Until the press is able to see McCain for who he really is — a politician — we, the American people, will continue to suffer from biased and mediocre reporting.
• Research in Motion (the makers of the Blackberry) introduced a new flip phone. One reviewer believes that this will revolutionize the smart phone industry.
• David Broder, long time columnist for the Washington Post, reminds all of us that there’s a long time between now and the election. Republicans appear optimistic for the first time in over two years. Democrats, for reasons that are unclear, seem to be filled with self-doubt. As far as I know, the election is not tomorrow. The temporary bounce that McCain is enjoying will be temporary. We have over 50 days of campaigning and four debates to go.
• John Feinstein, of the Washington Post, has an excellent article on Texas Western basketball coach Don Haskins. Coach Haskins died of congestive heart failure on Sunday. In 1966, Texas Western played the University of Kentucky for the national championship. Five black players versus the five white players. Coach Haskins changed the face of basketball — forever.

Tags: Domestic Issues, Election 2008, Environment, Iraq, Security by ecthompson md
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It has been about a week since the car which was in gulfed in flames crashed in the Glascow Airport.  2 doctors have been arrested.  This event seems to be linked to the London attack of last week.  That seems to be all that we truly know.  Doctors.  Attack.  From the Middle East.  It is unclear if there is a direct link to Al Qaeda.  The plot seems to have been at least inspired by Al Qaeda.  There doctors were screened by British procedures but still slid through.

One of the questions that right wing bloggers ask is why does it take a week to post something about a major terrorist attemptted attack.  There have been so many false alarms and pseudo-attacks, I don’t want to personally add to the hype.  I would like to simply put out meaningful information.

————

From NYT:

Investigators have identified two “principal protagonists” in the botched terrorist attacks in London and Glasgow and are trying to establish how the other detained suspects fit in, a British security official said Saturday.

The two principal suspects are almost certainly the two men arrested after crashing their Jeep Cherokee into a terminal at Glasgow’s international airport: Dr. Bilal Abdulla, a British-born Iraqi doctor who was formally charged Saturday, and a man known both as Kaleef and Khalid Ahmed, an Indian engineer who is being treated for severe burns sustained in the attack last week.  (more…)

Glasgow [ 1:33 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Tags: Security, Terrorism by ecthompson md
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I know that there’s a joke here that is so easy to make but I’ll have to pass. Probably a half a dozen of them. But I’m not in the mood for shooting fish in barrels today. I just have a question.

Who’s in charge of intelligence in the Bush Administration?

No, seriously…. Who’s in charge?

Isn’t it worrisome, or telling, or whatever….., that the top two spots at the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, the office that is supposed to correlate, corroborate, coordinate and otherwise oversee all of the various national intelligence agencies…… that those top two spots are empty. [Read more →]

Tags: Bush Administration, National Intelligence, Security by desertbug
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Department of Homeland Security has turned to Disney to polish its image, Stephen Colbert has a few things to say about this. Colbert is funny as usual.

TCR - A Small World [ 3:37 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Tags: Security, The Colbert Report by ecthompson md
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From CNN.com:

As many as 84 people in five Northeastern states have been confirmed as having the strain of E. coli bacteria involved in an outbreak believed to be linked to Taco Bell restaurants, officials said Thursday.

State and federal agencies are still trying to pin down the source.

At least one lawsuit relating to the outbreak already has been filed against the fast-food restaurant chain.

E. coli cases — first reported November 29 in New Jersey, followed by New York and Pennsylvania — now have appeared in Delaware and Connecticut, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said. Interviews showed that most of the first 58 who became ill had eaten at Taco Bells.

On Wednesday, Taco Bell said it had ordered the removal of all green onions from its 5,800 outlets nationwide, after three samples tested by an independent laboratory were found to be positive for E. coli.

But now the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is testing several ingredients used by Taco Bell. The epidemiology detectives are also conducting more interviews to track down the source of the E. coli strain, said Dave Daigle, spokesman for the Infectious Disease Center of the CDC. more

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I may be wrong but I’m getting the notion that our food supply is not safe.  6 years after 9-11.  (9-11 was suppose to change everything)  Wasn’t just a couple of months ago the FDA was chasing down some bad spinach??

Tags: 9-11, Domestic Issues, Security by ecthompson md
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From NPR

After a weeks-long battle, the White House and moderate Republicans in Congress have reached a compromise on legislation that would let the president detain suspected terrorists at CIA prisons and try them at special military tribunals.

The proposed compromise legislation has two major elements. It sets out new guidelines on military commissions — the tribunals that will be used to try suspected terrorists at Guantanamo Bay — and clarifies policy with regard to the Geneva Conventions Common Article 3, which prohibits torture. Sprinkled throughout the bill are provisions dealing with access to courts and culpability for war crimes. Here, key points of the bill:

ON MILITARY COMMISSIONS

Secret Evidence

Defendants can’t be convicted on the basis of evidence they haven’t seen. If classified documents are necessary to prove the defendant’s guilt or innocence, the judge will give the defendant summaries or edited versions of the documents.

Hearsay Evidence

Hearsay evidence is generally OK in these trials. A judge has to rule that the evidence is reliable and relevant to the case. [Read more →]

Tags: Domestic Issues, National Intelligence, Security, Torture, War on Terror by ecthompson md
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WaPo: Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden is a longtime and prominent member of the FBI’s “Ten Most Wanted” list, which notes his role as the suspected mastermind of the deadly U.S. embassy bombings in East Africa on Aug. 7, 1998.

But another more infamous date — Sept. 11, 2001 — is nowhere to be found on the same FBI notice.

The curious omission underscores the Justice Department’s decision, so far, to not seek formal criminal charges against bin Laden for approving al-Qaeda’s most notorious and successful terrorist attack. The notice says bin Laden is “a suspect in other terrorist attacks throughout the world” but does not provide details.

The absence has also provided fodder for conspiracy theorists who think the U.S. government or another power was behind the Sept. 11 hijackings. From this point of view, the lack of a Sept. 11 reference suggests that the connection to al-Qaeda is uncertain. more

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I don’t understand the administration’s decision.  Why hasn’t capturing or killing Osama bin Laden been our goverment’s number one priority?

Tags: Al Qaeda, Security, Terrorism, War on Terror by ecthompson md
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Say it ain’t so?  Progressives have said this since last December that the program was illegal.  The whole first chapter of Glenn Greenwald’s book, How Should the Patriot Act?, clearly delineates how the program is illegal.  This was actually a no-brainer.  Again, let me state for the record, that I believe that domestic surveillance is important.  It is an important tool in the war against terrorism.  This tool should be used within the scope of the law.  All domestic surveillance should be overseen by the courts.  Domestic surveillance without oversight leads to abuse.  Finally, remember that the FISA laws were written during the Cold War (the late 1970s).  At that time we had a risk of nuclear annihilation.  There is a special war provision of the FISA laws. Do not buy the neoconservatives argument that this is a special time and a special threat.  The law is flexible and it works.

Go here to read the actual FISA law.

WaPo has the story:

By Dan Eggen
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, August 17, 2006; 2:42 PM

A federal judge in Detroit ordered a halt to the National Security Agency’s warrantless surveillance program, ruling for the first time that the controversial effort ordered by President Bush was unconstitutional.

U.S. District Judge Anna Diggs Taylor wrote in a strongly-worded 43-page opinion that the NSA wiretapping program violates privacy and free-speech rights and the constitutional separation of powers between the three branches of government. She also found that it violates a 1978 law set up to oversee clandestine surveillance.

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The judge’s opinion 

Glenn Greenwald, a lawyer and blogger, has much more analysis on this legal topic: [Read more →]

Tags: Domestic Spying, National Intelligence, Security by ecthompson md
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21 people up in arrested in London connected with a plot to blow up airplanes heading for the United States.  Early reports indicate that the plotters may be connected with Al Qaeda.  Also, that the perpetrators would use liquid explosives hidden in common drinks like a Coke or Pepsi.

We know that Ramzi Yousef, the planner of the 1993 attack on the World Trade Center and a nephew of Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, key planner in 9/11, was almost caught, in the Philippines if I’m not mistaken.  While in the Philippines he was working on some type of liquid explosive.  The plan at that time was to blow up airplanes over the Pacific Ocean.  Richard Clarke’s book, Against All Enemies, describes the incident. 

“And he was planning to blow up US airliners in the Pacific with bomb smuggled on board, bombs we would not notice, using liquid explosives.  There assembled on board in the bathroom and then left there.  The terrorists gets off at the first stop and the plane continues on and blows up.  The Filipinos found some of the bombs, but not all.  He had all the flights picked out, United, Northwest… 11 of them, 747s.”

The above incident happened in January of 1995.  In the intervening 11 years what have we done to prevent these kind of incidents?  If the answer is nothing, many government officials should be fired!!!  This should have been a surprise.  We were warned about this method!

Bush Terror plot in London [ 2:39 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Tags: Al Qaeda, Domestic Issues, Security, Terrorism, War on Terror by ecthompson md
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Representative Conyers suggests that the Bush administration has broken the law.  Really?  Is this a surprise to anyone?  I guess, my question is-what do we do with this report that suggests 23 laws have been broken?

Update: Complete house report here.  Summary here.  Discussed on Daily Kos here.

Cafferty on Conyers findings [ 1:34 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Tags: Civil Liberty, Civil Rights, Domestic Issues, Iraq, Legal, Mess O'Potamia (Iraq/Iran/Israel/Palestine), Security, War on Terror, WMD by ecthompson md
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This is an old story but I found a video that I would like to post.  So, NY gets the finger from Homeland Security.  One must wonder why?  Most Americans outside of politicians, if asked what American city do you think would be hit with the next terrorist attack, wound guess New York, Washington or possibly Los Angeles.  So, one would figure that NY would get an increase in its anti-terror funding.  That would be wrong.  Their budget was cut by 40%!! Appeals have landed on deaf ears. 

Decisions like these are why we will never get true Security around this country.  Republicans are handing out Homeland Security dollars like they are rewards for great campaigning instead of measuring risk but then again, what do I know?

(This is Nancy Giles from the CBS Sunday Morning News.)

Giles Homeland Security [ 2:45 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Tags: Domestic Issues, National Intelligence, Security by ecthompson md
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Last week, besides shooting Mr. Whittington in the face, there were two other major news stories which surrounded Vice President Cheney. First, was the revelation that Scooter Libby testified under oath that a superior instructed him to release classified information. If one looks at the government structure. There are only a few people who are superior to Mr. Libby. The vice president, the president, Andy Card, the Chief of Staff, Condoleezza Rice who was the president’s national security adviser and possibly Donald Rumsfeld. That’s about it.

During the Britt Hume interview, Vice President Cheney was asked about releasing classified information. Vice president Cheney stated that he had the authority (thru the President) to classify or declassify anything that he saw fit to declassify. Only the president had the authority to change his decision. This was an amazing revelation. So, any document that was classified by the CIA, the FBI or the State Department could be declassified by Vice President Cheney unilaterally without consultation with anyone else.

So how is this in the best interest of the United States?

Tags: Other Political Thoughts, Security by ecthompson md
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