At the end of last week I expressed my doubts that Secretary of State John Kerry could orchestrate substantive peace talks between Israel-Palestine. At the crux of it, since Israel refuses to freeze settlements, and since settlements essentially indicate an intention...
Libertarian-leaning Republicans are holding up a defense appropriations bill until they get amendments through that will block funding for any military operations in either Syria or Egypt and for dragnet-style NSA surveillance. Representative Justin Amash (R-MI) is...
Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab's failed underwear bombing on Christmas of 2009 has fueled the imagination of many a TSA agent. Not that the TSA really did anything to foil him, mind, the underbomber's explosive parcel managed to start a small fire that burned his genitals...
From the Sam Adams Associates for Integrity in Intelligence: Courage, like cowardice, often comes in individual, incremental pieces building toward something great and honorable, or small and dishonorable. The resignation of Brandon Toy from General Dynamics fits into...
Nearly 12 years after the 9/11 attack, virtually every single element of national security policy - from the occupation of Afghanistan, to the drone war, to a massive NSA surveillance apparatus, to a defense budget that outpaces the rest of the world combined - is...
Secretary of State John Kerry has now gone to Israel-Palestine six times in five months in an attempt to restart negotiations between the two parties. One wonders what in the world he is saying in these private, one-on-one meetings. As Kerry shuttles back and forth,...
Why have Edward Snowden’s actions resonated so powerfully for so many people? The huge political impacts of the leaked NSA documents account for just part of the explanation. Snowden’s choice was ultimately personal. He decided to take big risks on behalf of big...
Getting to the top of a Congressional committee with foreign policy implications is reserved mostly for the lunatic hawks, and Congressmen who are reasonable are usually anonymous. But maybe a little less anonymous today, after 118 members of the House of...
I’m shocked – shocked! – that Colonel Denise Lind, the military judge who ruled in February that Bradley Manning could be tried on various charges even after being held prior to arraignment for more than five times the absolute longest time specified in the US Armed...
