Month: June 2013

Vlahos on how Hollywood still doesn’t get it

Edward Snowden’s disclosures, the New York Times reported on Sunday, "have renewed a longstanding concern: that young Internet aficionados whose skills the agencies need for counterterrorism and cyberdefense sometimes bring an anti-authority spirit that does not fit the security bureaucracy." Agencies like the NSA and CIA – and private contractors like Booz Allen – can’t … Continue reading “David Brooks, Tom Friedman, Bill Keller Wish Snowden Had Just Followed Order”

At least 23 Iraqis were killed and 79 more were wounded in today’s attacks.

President Obama announced late last week that the US intelligence community had just determined that the Syrian government had used poison gas on a small scale, killing some 100 people in a civil conflict that has claimed an estimated 100,000 lives. Because of this use of gas, the president claimed, Syria had crossed his “red … Continue reading “Obama’s Syria Policy Looks a Lot Like Bush’s Iraq Policy”

As happens with so much news these days, the Edward Snowden revelations about National Security Agency (NSA) spying and just how far we’ve come in the building of a surveillance state have swept over us 24/7 – waves of leaks, videos, charges, claims, counterclaims, skullduggery, and government threats When a flood sweeps you away, it’s … Continue reading “The Making of a Global Security State”

I have some personal business to take care of today, which accounts for the lack of a column. I’ll be back on Wednesday. NOTES IN THE MARGIN You can check out my Twitter feed by going here. But please note that my tweets are sometimes deliberately provocative, often made in jest, and largely consist of … Continue reading “A Note to My Readers”

A surge in attacks that began last month resumed after several days of relatively light violence. Shi’ites were targeted in today’s hostilities. Because several of the bombings occurred in southern cities unaccustomed to daily or even weekly attacks, the violence was likely coordinated. Overall, at least 43 Iraqis were killed and 149 more were wounded.

Fresh attacks left 21 Iraqis dead and 12 wounded. Two Iranians were also killed, and 40 more were wounded.

The name card at the Senate hearing read, “Hon. General Keith B. Alexander,” but layering on the extra honorific title was not enough to change the sad reality that the National Security Agency’s director — a proven prevaricator — was not “honorable.” You might have thought that some impish congressional staffer was trying to inject … Continue reading “Secrecy’s Tangled Web of Deceit”