“What lies at the nexus of Obama’s targeted drone killings, his self-serving leaks, and his aggressive prosecution of whistleblowers is a president who believes himself above the law and seems convinced that he alone has a preternatural ability to determine right from wrong.” – Peter Van Buren, a 24-year veteran Foreign Service officer at the …
Continue reading “Has the President Become a Law Unto Himself?”
Last week, touching down in India on his way to Afghanistan, Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta described reality as you seldom hear it in the confines of Washington and, while he was at it, put his stamp of approval on a new global doctrine for the United States. Panetta is, of course, the man who, …
Continue reading “The Ultimate No-Fly List”
Todd Miller on the al-Qaedization of immigrants
This week BBC hosted a short debate between our news editor Jason Ditz and prominent neocon Richard Perle, on the subject of drone strikes in Pakistan. To listen to the audio, click here. Below is the transcript: Host: Now last night we were reporting a US drone strike in Pakistan had killed Al-Qaeda’s second in …
Continue reading “Jason Ditz vs. Richard Perle Debate Drones in Pakistan”
For the past few weeks, I have been writing in this column about the government’s use of drones and challenging their constitutionality on Fox News Channel where I work. I once asked on air what Thomas Jefferson would have done if — had drones existed at the time — King George III had sent drones …
Continue reading “Where Is the Outrage?”
Be assured of one thing: whichever candidate you choose at the polls in November, you aren’t just electing a president of the United States; you are also electing an assassin-in-chief. The last two presidents may not have been emperors or kings, but they — and the vast national-security structure that continues to be built-up and …
Continue reading “Praying at the Church of St. Drone”
Nick Turse on the new Terminator Planet
Earlier this week, the federal government announced that the Air Force might be dispatching drones to a backyard near you. The stated purpose of these spies in the sky is to assist local police to find missing persons or kidnap victims, or to chase bad guys. If the drone operator sees you doing anything of …
Continue reading “Is There a Drone in Your Backyard?”
Here’s the essence of it: you can trust America’s crème de la crème, the most elevated, responsible people, no matter what weapons, what powers, you put in their hands. No need to constantly look over their shoulders. Placed in the hands of evildoers, those weapons and powers could create a living nightmare; controlled by the …
Continue reading “Predator Nation”
Since even readers of The New York Times are aware of Deputy National Security Adviser John Brennan’s open identification with torture, secret prisons, and other abuses of national and international law, Fordham University’s invitation to him to give the commencement address on May 19 brought, well, shock and awe to many Fordham students, faculty, and …
Continue reading “Honoring a ‘Terror War’ Architect” 
