Many people cocked their heads when Secretary of State John Kerry told Congress this week that the Syrian rebel opposition is increasingly moderate and secular, while the jihadist forces aligned with al-Qaeda are faltering. That seemed wrong to many people who...uh,...
Two weeks ago the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) succeeded through a FOIA request in compelling the Justice Department to release a 2011 FISA court opinion, which ruled significant parts of the NSA's surveillance unconstitutional. Today, another victory: In a...
One issue that came up several times in the congressional hearings on the authorization for the use of force in Syria is whether or not the U.S. will markedly weaken the Assad regime in its targeted bombing campaign. Secretary of State John Kerry equivocated when...
As I wrote earlier this week, much of the pretext for bombing Syria because of chemical weapons use is overshadowed by more fundamental motivations on the part of the Obama administration. Namely, to "send a message" to Iran - the idea being that if Assad can cross...
Over the past couple of weeks I've written multiple times about the illegality of the Obama administration's plan to bomb Syria. But the lack of legal legitimacy in what Obama is preparing to do should be reiterated. Even if Congress grants Obama authorization to...
William G. Howell at Foreign Policy explains that Obama's decision to go to Congress was not out of respect for the Constitution but to gain political cover for an action he knows is reckless. Or, as Howell puts it, "to force members of Congress to go on the record...
Late last month, only 9 percent of Americans supported a U.S. intervention in Syria even if chemical weapons attacks were confirmed, according to a Reuters/IPSOS poll. Just over a week later, after the gauntlet of pro-war propaganda from the Obama administration,...
Any U.S. bombing mission in Syria is unlikely to effectively protect civilians and runs the risk of instigating a regional war and greater U.S. involvement, according to a study just published by the RAND Corporation. "Destroying or grounding the Syrian air force is...
After meeting with President Obama, Republican House Speaker John Boehner spoke to reporters outside the White House to publicly voice his support for the administration's case for bombing Syria. We must bomb Syria "to warn others around the world that this type of...
McClatchy has a valuable article poking holes in various aspects of the Obama administration's case for war with Syria. In one segment, reporters Hannah Allam and Mark Seibel question the U.S.'s estimate for how many Syrians were killed in the alleged sarin gas attack...
