Iran Sanctions Block Needed Medical Care, Marginalize Political Dissidents
August 9, 2013
As politicians and Washington policy wonks talk glibly of the “dual track” policy towards Iran, in which we dangle the prospect of substantive diplomacy in front of Tehran as it is crippled by harsh economic sanctions, ordinary Iranians continue to suffer. Over at Jadaliyya, Mina Khanlarzadeh has an essay based on survey data arguing that, among […]
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U.S. Ambassador Makes Big Impression in Egypt
August 9, 2013
On the bright side, at least Egyptians know the name of the U.S. Ambassador (Anne Patterson). Maybe if we doubled our foreign aid, they would take down at least one of those signs. I have been railing against foreign aid since… hell…. since way back when my beard was red. Here’s a 2011 piece I […]
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Cabbie Is NSA Surveillance’s Big Get
August 8, 2013
Desperate to drum up some sort of evidence of the NSA’s effectiveness in tracking down terrorists by collecting phone records from literally every single American, officials have tapped a relatively minor case of an immigrant cab driver arrested for sending money to Somalia as proof of how important the program is. Basaly Moalin, a San […]
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Obama: NSA Only Monitors a Fraction of ‘Internet Traffic’
August 8, 2013
White House denials are so often overt lies these days that when they say something at least plausible it’s worth examining. Today, Press Secretary Jay Carney insisted the NSA “examine only a very small percentage” of the world’s Internet traffic. Examine as in give serious scrutiny to. That may sound weird when you first hear […]
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Nixon’s Resignation & the Era of Lawless Presidencies
August 8, 2013
This is the anniversary of President Richard Nixon’s resignation in 1974. Nixon knew that his defense was doomed and chose to throw in the towel without a Senate trial. But President Gerald Ford compounded the damage from Nixon’s presidency when he issued a sweeping pardon of Nixon that practically condemned future generations of Americans to […]
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The Audacity of Lying: Obama Fibs on NSA Spying Again
August 8, 2013
“Publicly, we say one thing. Actually, we do another.” So said Richard Nixon, the man who ushered in one of the most secretive and criminal presidential administrations in American history. Surprisingly for some, President Barack Obama is ably following in Nixon’s footsteps. As just about everyone now knows, NSA contractor Edward Snowden began leaking classified […]
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Ex-CIA Chief Praises Official Leaks for Letting Terrorists ‘Know We’re Alert’ After Condemning Snowden For Doing the Same
August 7, 2013
Lots of people are asking good questions about the veracity of the Obama administration’s claims regarding this latest terrorist attack that they foiled by intercepting electronic communications between Ayman al-Zawahiri, the head of core al Qaeda, and Nasir al Wuhayshi, a high level operative in the Yemeni affiliate. See here for why the official leaks to […]
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