Jason Ditz

March 10, 2015

Everyone needs a hobby. For most reporters, it seems to be freaking out about anything even vaguely ISIS-seeming. That’s where CaliphateBook comes in, which is supposed Facebook, but for ISIS. Cute, right? The site itself started as an incomplete CMS site, then crashed, (attacked by Anonymous, according to some) and now merely posts a single […]

Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity

March 9, 2015

The original idea of the CIA was to have independent-minded experts assessing both short- and longer-term threats to U.S. national security. Mixing with operations and politics was always a danger, which is now highlighted by CIA Director Brennan’s reorganization, opposed by a group of U.S. intelligence veterans. MEMORANDUM FOR: The PresidentFROM: Veteran Intelligence Professionals for […]

Peter Certo

March 6, 2015

When Benjamin Netanyahu looked out over the joint session of Congress that had assembled to hear him speak on March 3, the Israeli prime minister almost caught a glimpse of something unusual: empty seats. That would’ve been a rarity in Washington, where bipartisan support for the Israeli government runs deep. Just a few years ago, […]

Branko Marcetic

March 5, 2015

After weeks of buildup, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu finally delivered his long-planned speech to a joint meeting of Congress, attacking President Obama’s deal with Iran over the latter’s nuclear program. Asserting that the agreement would only empower Iran to become nuclear armed, and painting the regime as a murderous cabal set on wiping Israel […]

Ray McGovern

March 5, 2015

The leniency shown former CIA Director (and retired General) David Petraeus by the Justice Department in sparing him prison time for the serious crimes that he has committed puts him in the same preferential, immune-from-incarceration category as those running the financial institutions of Wall Street, where, incidentally, Petraeus now makes millions. By contrast, “lesser” folks […]

Jason Ditz

March 4, 2015

Western media are constantly reporting a Russian invasion of eastern Ukraine as an undisputed fact. That no one ever sees these troops is just one of life’s little mysteries, as seemingly ever article just shows a couple of pictures of single unidentified camouflage vehicles or a handful of random people with the caption “pro-Russian separatists.” […]

John V. Walsh

March 4, 2015

This video should go viral. It is from the Israeli media. Watch, laugh – and cry. (It is preceded by a 15-second commercial in Hebrew.) Now let’s be serious. First, the Congress is completely humiliated, dancing to the tune of Netanyahu who is the representative of a foreign power. That humiliation extends to every American […]

Marcy Wheeler

March 3, 2015

As a supine Congress sitting inside a scaffolded dome applauded Benjamin Netanyahu calling to reject a peace deal with Iran, DOJ quietly announced it had reached a plea deal with former CIA Director David Petraeus for leaking Top Secret/Secure Compartmented Information materials to his mistress, Paula Broadwell. Among the materials in the eight “Black Books” […]

Eric Garris

March 3, 2015

When was the last time you heard of a major speech to Congress taking place in the morning? It rarely happens. Why is Netanyahu speaking so early? The answer is that the speech is mostly aimed at the Israeli public, who are headed to the polls in two weeks to elect a new parliament that […]

Shane Smith

March 2, 2015

Do the creatures of the Warfare State feel shame, regret, remorse, guilt, or penitence? I have a hard time believing they can, but if they can leverage those same feelings among the population into supporting endless foreign intervention, they will make vigorous use of any emotion, in a manner similar to a used car salesman. […]