CIA Director Leon Panetta today released a statement defending his agency from charges that it mislead mmeber of Congress: There is a long tradition in Washington of making political hay out of our business. It predates my service with this great institution, and it will be around long after I’m gone. But the political debates […]
War on Terror
Joe Lieberman: ‘I Totally Disagree’ With Pelosi Assertion that CIA Lies
I disagree with Joe Lieberman on a lot of things but I like him and I respect him… and this is an example of why: MSNBC’s Norah O’Donnell: “Speaker Pelosi came out today and essentially when asked if the CIA is lying, she said, ‘they mislead us all the time.’ Do you agree with that? […]
CNN: Aide Told Pelosi Waterboarding Had Been Used
CNN reported yesterday that a source close to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has confirmed her intelligence aide, Michael Sheehy, told her in early 2003 that waterboarding had been used on CIA detainee Abu Zubaydah: WASHINGTON (CNN) — A source close to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi now confirms that Pelosi was told in February 2003 by […]
Top Pelosi Aide Briefed on Enhanced Interrogations in 2003
The Washington Post on Saturday reported that a top aide to Nancy Pleosi attended a briefing CIA briefing on Enhanced Interrogations, including waterboarding in 2003: A top aide to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi attended a CIA briefing in early 2003 in which it was made clear that waterboarding and other harsh techniques were being used […]
Debra Burlingame: The President isn’t Sincere about ‘Swift and Certain’ Justice for Terrorists.
Debra Burlingame has must read Op Ed in today’s Wall Street Journal: In February I was among a group of USS Cole and 9/11 victims’ families who met with the president at the White House to discuss his policies regarding Guantanamo detainees. Although many of us strongly opposed Barack Obama’s decision to close the detention […]
CIA Says Pelosi Was Briefed on Use of ‘Enhanced Interrogations’
The Washington Post and ABC News are reporting that Speaker Nancy Pelosi was briefed on Enhanced Interrogations Techniques and their use on on Abu Zubaydah. From the Washington Post: Intelligence officials released documents this evening saying that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) was briefed in September 2002 about the use of harsh interrogation tactics against […]
No Criminal Prosecution for ‘Torture Memo’ Authors?
It appears that the Bush Administration lawyers who authored the so called ‘torture memos’ are going to escape prosecution, the Justice Dept. will instead refer them to State Bar Associations for disciplinary action: The Justice Department said it is nearing completion of an internal probe that is expected to recommend professional sanctions but no criminal […]
WSJ: Misconceptions About the Interrogation Memos
William McSwain, a assistant U.S. attorney and executive editor of the 2005 Review of Department of Defense Detention Operations and Detainee Interrogation Techniques, commonly called the Church Report has a must read Op Ed in today’s Wall Street Journal: President Barack Obama has reinvigorated the critics of George W. Bush’s antiterror policies by opening the […]
Gaffestastic: Napolitano Strikes Again
The hits just keep coming… This time it’s Canadians who are wondering how an idiot like Janet Napolitano got the job of Homeland Security Secretary: A diplomatic skirmish has broken out over suggestions by Janet Napolitano, the U. S. homeland security secretary, that terrorists have routinely entered the United States through Canada, including the perpetrators […]
WSJ: Convoys Are an Answer to Piracy
Peter Zimmerman has a must read Op-Ed in today’s Wall Street Journal, in it Zimmerman argues convincingly that convoys are an answer to the threat posed by Somali pirates: To be sure, in different circumstances naval patrols have worked. Towards the end of the 20th century, pirates in the Strait of Malacca, which links the […]
Somali Pirates Hijack U.S. Flagged Container Ship – Updated
This was inevitable: Somali pirates hijacked a U.S.-flagged, Danish-owned container ship on Wednesday with 20 American crew on board in a major escalation in attacks at sea off the Horn of Africa nation, officials said. Andrew Mwangura, coordinator of the Mombasa-based East African Seafarers’ Assistance Programme, told Reuters the 17,000 tonne Maersk Alabama had been […]
Janet Napolitano: This Week’s Biggest Idiot in Washington
From Newsmax.com: The new term for terrorism being used by President Obama’s secretary of Homeland Security would be comical if it were not so scary. Instead of referring to threats from terrorists, Janet Napolitano is referring in her speeches to “man-caused disasters.” In an interview, a reporter for Germany’s Spiegel Online asked Napolitano whether her […]
Big Shoes To Fill
In a little less than a month Barack Obama will take the oath of office and become the 44th President of the United States. In some respects he’s going to have some pretty big shoes to fill… From the Wall Street Journal: The President Comforts a Marine Mom By William McGurn, Wall Street Journal, December […]
Marine Makes Insurgents Pay the Price
“The deadliest weapon in the world is a Marine and his rifle!” – General “Black Jack” Pershing, USA I’ve seen this story on several blogs recently, it was first published on Marines.mil on November 16. Marines’ heroic actions at Shewan leave more than 50 insurgents dead, several wounded By Cpl. James M. Mercure USMC, 2nd Battalion […]
The Perils of Talking
Ralph Peters has an interesting column on Afghanistan in today’s New York Post. Peters directly addresses the difficulties of negotiating with the Taliban. THE TALKING TRAP: AFGHAN FOLLIES By Ralph Peters, New York Post, November 13, 2008 NEGOTIATIONS are the heroin of the chattering classes, blinding them to every reality except the next fix they […]