International Politics and Economy

Bill Moyers on the downside of droning our enemies to death. The blurb: In a web-extended version of his broadcast essay, Bill Moyers gives examples of how indiscriminate killing by our military forces not only cuts down innocent bystanders, but drives “their enraged families and friends straight into the arms of the very terrorists we’re […]

CIA

Top Ten Surprises of the Brennan Hearing on CIA Torture and Drones

Juan Cole

The confirmation hearing for John Brennan allowed the country to grapple with many issues that had been swept under the rug and seldom discussed in public. While few to none of them were thus resolved, it does seem to me positive that they were brought up in public. Surprises? 1. The LAT reports that “Republicans […]

Afghanistan

Naming the Dead Killed by US Drones: (Bureau of Investigative Journalism)

Juan Cole

The Drones Team at the Bureau of Investigative Journalism writes: The Bureau is launching an ambitious new investigation, which will seek to identify as many as possible of those killed in US covert drone strikes in Pakistan, whether civilian or militant. The Bureau is raising some of the money for this project through a crowd-funding […]

al-Qaeda

Top Five Objections to the White House’s Drone Killing Memo

Juan Cole

NBC’s Michael Isikoff has revealed the text of a white paper composed for Congress by the Department of Justice that sheds light on the legal arguments made by Eric Holder in justifying the killing by drone strike of Americans abroad, who are suspected of belonging to al-Qaeda. That the memo did not even require that […]

al-Qaeda

Paranoia Strikes Deep: A Cowering America still Haunted by Bin Laden’s Ghost (Engelhardt)

Juan Cole

Tom Engelhardt writes at Tomdispatch.com Consider Inauguration Day, more than two weeks gone and already part of our distant past. In its wake, President Obama was hailed (or reviled) for his “liberal” second inaugural address. On that day everything from his invocation of women’s rights (“Seneca Falls”), the civil rights movement (“Selma”), and the gay rights movement (“Stonewall”) to […]

Drones

Leaked Obama Memo Shows Assassination of U.S. Citizens “Has No Geographic Limit” (Democracy Now!)

Juan Cole

Amy Goodman’s “Democracy Now!” reports on the leaked drone memo authorizing killing of American citizens abroad at the president’s order: The blurb for the show: “The Obama administration’s internal legal justification for assassinating U.S. citizens without charge has been revealed for the first time. In a secret Justice Department memo, the administration claims it has […]

Africa

US Covert Drone War in Pakistan, Yemen, Somalia – Jan. Update (Woods et al.)

Juan Cole

Chris Woods, Jack Serle and Alice K Ross write at the Bureau of Investigative Journalism Yemen was hit by the highest number of airstrikes in one month since June 2012, though none have been formally confirmed as US operations. No US operations were reported in Somalia. The United Nations also launched a major investigation into […]

Drones

UN to look into US Drone Program, but the Biggest Victim is Democracy

Juan Cole

The US use of armed drones in northern Pakistan, Somalia and Yemen is now being investigated by the United Nations as a human rights abuse or even a war crime. If drones produce significant civilian casualties, their use may be a war crime. If their use constitutes a disproportionate response, it could be a war […]

Drones

Everything You Always Wanted to Know about US Drone Strikes *but Were Afraid to Ask (Currier)

Juan Cole

Cora Currier writes at ProPublica: You might have heard about the “kill list.” You’ve certainly heard about drones. But the details of the U.S. campaign against militants in Pakistan, Yemen, and Somalia — a centerpiece of the Obama administration’s national security approach – remain shrouded in secrecy. Here’s our guide to what we know— and […]