The fact is that the entire US program of extra-judicial assassinations by drone requires a bit more study and debate, but this is especially true when the targets are US citizens. In that case, the Constitution comes into play, and the right of due process of the law. But we never really had such a [...]

Amidst the inevitable 9-11 retrospectives, I feel like only the Los Angeles Times is putting the past ten years in the proper perspective. Because the longest-lasting legacy of the 9-11 attacks is clearly the terror industry it spawned. Over the weekend the LAT looked at the hundreds of billions of dollars being spent on absurd [...]

I know this is normally The Dissenter’s beat, but I’ve grown pretty concerned at the shift of all law enforcement organizations into anti-terror operations. We have two more examples of that today. First, Charlie Savage writes that the FBI has stepped up their counter-terror operations. Agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation have been more [...]

The FCC has begun an investigation into the shutdown by BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) of mobile and data communications in advance of a rumored protest last week. Now the FCC is taking an interest, a spokesman for the federal agency said Monday. “Any time communications services are interrupted, we seek to assess the situation,” [...]

Just after Christmas in 2001, Corey Maye was sleeping in his home when armed men attempted to break into his home. To protect his family from what he took to be burglars, Maye fired three bullets from a gun at his bedside, and inadvertently shot a cop. The police were breaking into the wrong house [...]

As I noted yesterday, the Senate passed cloture, by a 74-8 margin, on the motion to proceed for a four-year extension of key provisions of the Patriot Act. Final passage is expected Wednesday, so for a seminal civil liberties issue that has been in place nearly ten years, we will see essentially one day of [...]

Congressional leaders in both parties made a deal to extend three expiring provisions of the Patriot Act for four more years with little debate. Earlier this year, the same provisions – roving wiretaps, court-approved access to business records, and “lone wolf” provisions allowing surveillance on foreign citizens without connections to terrorists – were extended for [...]

C.J. Chivers reports hopefully on rebel gains in the Libyan civil war (remember that?). They are small gains, to be sure – the breaking of a front line a few miles west of Misurata, a successful fight near Brega. But the real strategy was revealed in the NATO airstrikes: Early Tuesday morning, NATO aircraft flew [...]

As Marcy reported earlier, the Obama Administration retreated from their initial position and decided to try Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and four of his co-conspirators at a military tribunal in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. This includes Walid bin Attash, Ramzi Binalshibh, Ali Abdul Aziz Ali and Mustafa Ahmed al Hawsawi. Holder in a press conference said that [...]

I didn’t even consider this level of cynicism. RT @JohnBranchCNN: BREAKING: PJ Crowley out as Clinton Spokesman #CNN confirms So just days after expressing his opinion that the treatment of Bradley Manning was “ridiculous, counterproductive and stupid,” he’s out. I don’t think you need a weather map to know which way the wind blows on [...]

President Obama has announced that he will lift a two-year ban on military commissions for detainees at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and restart those trials immediately. Here’s the statement from the President: “From the beginning of my Administration, the United States has worked to bring terrorists to justice consistent with our commitment to protect the American [...]