The “Very Scary” Iranian Terror Plot
The most difficult challenge in writing about the Iranian Terror Plot unveiled yesterday is to take it seriously enough to analyze it. Iranian Muslims in the Quds Force sending marauding bands of Mexican drug cartel assassins onto sacred American soil to commit Terrorism — against Saudi Arabia and possibly Israel — is what Bill Kristol and John Bolton would feverishly dream up while dropping acid and madly cackling at the possibility that they could get someone to believe it.
Zelikow Appointed to Obama's Intelligence Advisory Board
President Obama appointed Philip Zelikow, associate dean for graduate academic programs in the University of Virginia’s Graduate School of Arts & Sciences, to serve on the President’s Intelligence Advisory Board, the White House announced Tuesday. Zelikow, White Burkett Miller Professor of History, will remain with the University while serving on the board, which serves as […]
Congressman Wants Probe of bin Laden Movie Project
The chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee sought an investigation Wednesday into the Obama administration’s cooperation with award-winning filmmakers working on a movie about the hunt for Osama bin Laden. Rep. Peter King said too much information already has leaked out about the Navy SEALs raid that killed bin Laden in Pakistan in May, […]
Why the US Won't Leave Afghanistan
The record since 9/11 shows that’s exactly what’s happening. The war on terror has totally depleted the US treasury – to the point that the White House and Congress are now immersed in a titanic battle over a $4 trillion debt ceiling. What is never mentioned is that these trillions of dollars were ruthlessly subtracted from the wellbeing of average Americans – smashing the carefully constructed myth of the American dream. So what’s the endgame for these trillions of dollars? The US corporate media simply refuses to cover what is one of the most important stories of the early 21st century.
Panetta to Troops: We're in Iraq Because of 9/11
Newly appointed US Defence Secretary Leon Panetta told American troops in Baghdad on Monday that 9/11 was the reason they were in Iraq, before he was quickly corrected by his spokesman. “The reason you guys are here is because of 9/11. The US got attacked and 3,000 human beings got killed because of Al-Qaeda,” Panetta told about 150 soldiers at the Camp Victory US base.
The Kingdom and the Towers
Was there a foreign government behind the 9/11 attacks? A decade later, Americans still haven’t been given the whole story, while a key 28-page section of Congress’s Joint Inquiry report remains censored. Gathering years of leaks and leads, in an adaptation from their new book, Anthony Summers and Robbyn Swan examine the connections between Saudi Arabia and the hijackers (15 of whom were Saudi), the Bush White House’s decision to ignore or bury evidence, and the frustration of lead investigators—including 9/11-commission staffers, counterterrorism officials, and senators on both sides of the aisle.
US Drop Charges Against OBL, Still "No Evidence" for 9/11
Nobody seems to have noticed, but in the nearly two and a half years of the Obama administration at least three commonplace phrases of the George W. Bush era have slipped into oblivion: “regime change,” “shock and awe,” and “imperial presidency.” The war in Libya should remind us of just how appropriate they remain.
How Not to End the War on Terror
In the seven weeks since the killing of Osama bin Laden, pundits and experts of many stripes have concluded that his death represents a marker of genuine significance in the story of America’s encounter with terrorism. Peter Bergen, a bin Laden expert, wrote “Killing bin Laden is the end of the war on terror. We can just sort of announce that right now.” Yet you wouldn’t know it in Washington where, if anything, the Obama administration and Congress have interpreted the killing of al-Qaeda’s leader as a virtual license to double down on every “front” in the war on terror.
Congressman: Bin Laden Photos Could Put Soldiers at Risk
As the Associated Press pushes for the release of reportedly graphic photographs of Osama bin Laden’s corpse, North Coast Congressman Mike Thompson, D-St. Helena, said releasing them is a bad idea. ”I think it would be very harmful,” said Thompson, who recently viewed the photographs at CIA headquarters in Langley, Va., as a member of the House Intelligence Committee.
The Ever-Expanding Bipartisan Surveillance State
Allowing government officials to shield their own conduct from transparency and even judicial review ensures that National Security State officials (public and private) can do whatever they want without any detection and (therefore) without limit or accountability. That is what the Surveillance State, at its core, is designed to achieve: the destruction of privacy for individual citizens and an impenetrable wall of secrecy for those with unlimited surveillance power.