Tonight’s Presidential debate will focus on foreign policy, and that means we will once again wade into this attack on the US consulate in Benghazi, the details of which look more muddled than ever. The need for clarity among the media and political class – either this arose from a spontaneous demonstration, or it was [...]

With the June, July, August and September surprises fizzled, the Romney campaign now must turn to an October surprise, and they think they’ve got one, which they’ve inexplicably previewed to a reporter (it’s not a surprise then). According to a highly reliable source, as Mitt Romney and President Barack Obama prepare for the first presidential [...]

US intelligence agencies have officially described the attack on the US Consulate in Benghazi, Libya on September 11 that killed four Americans as a planned terrorist attack carried out by militants friendly to Al Qaeda. That’s distinct from it being an Al Qaeda attack, though the decentralized (and also battered) nature of the organization means [...]

The attack on the US consulate in Benghazi certainly revealed some level of instability in Libya. It showed the consequences of military intervention, putting guns into a country and inevitably seeing them funnel into the hands of extremists. And there is justifiable criticism of the new Libyan government as ineffective outside a very narrow band. [...]

As we learn more about the attack on the US consulate in Benghazi on September 11, it becomes harder and harder to ignore the probability that the militants involved were retaliating for a drone strike that took out a top al-Qaeda leader who happened to be Libyan. Christopher Chivvis puts this in context. As details [...]

The Obama Administration’s war on whistleblowers has been well-documented by Kevin Gozstola and others. Now, McClatchy has the tale of a similar muzzling of whistleblowers at the National Reconnaissance Office, which handles the nation’s spy satellites: A senior officer with the nation’s spy satellite agency is being investigated over criminal allegations related to contracting even [...]

Scarecrow has already gone on in this space about the New York Times’ big takeout today about the “kill list” – the President’s leadership in presiding over a list of suspected terrorists that the US then assassinates with Predator drone strikes. There’s a lot that can be said about this article, most of it from [...]

You can pretty well judge priorities in Washington simply by a matter of speed. If issues sit out there forever without being addressed, the political powers that be don’t really care about them. If they get attended to right away, they must have a certain importance attached. And this isn’t about lip service, but follow-through. [...]

Another policy that the election of Francois Hollande could shift a bit is the war in Afghanistan. Hollande recommitted today to removing French troops by the end of the year, which Nicolas Sarkozy vowed as well, but only to catch up to Hollande’s position. Last week the President announced in a surprise visit to Afghanistan [...]

An important story from James Risen shows why anyone with a passion for more war who talks about the “intelligence” on Iran’s nuclear program should not be listened to. In fact, we know precious little about that program, and even what we do know gets shifted by new information all the time: While American spy [...]

Attorney General Eric Holder helpfully explained when the government can kill you without a trial, in a speech last night at Northwestern University. He didn’t take questions, because he was so crystal clear about it. Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. asserted on Monday that it is lawful for the government to kill American citizens [...]