Surveillance

Peter Van Buren writes at Tomdispatch.com On July 30, 1778, the Continental Congress created the first whistleblower protection law, stating “that it is the duty of all persons in the service of the United States to give the earliest information to Congress or other proper authority of any misconduct, frauds, or misdemeanors committed by any […]

Domestic Surveillance

Putin as America’s Frenemy: The Snowden Paradox

Juan Cole

Russia’s decision on Thursday to grant NSA leaker Edward Snowden asylum for one year and allow him freely to live and work in the Russian Federation hit Washington like a hydrogen bomb. Angry politicians called on President Obama to cancel talks in Moscow with Putin scheduled in September. Russia Today covered the decision rather breathlessly: […]

Domestic Surveillance

‘Every Stroke you Type’: Greenwald Reveals Xkeyscore, Vindicating Snowden

Juan Cole

When Edward Snowden went public, he alleged that as a low-level analyst, he could see you type your emails in real time: “I, sitting at my desk . . .” could . . . “wiretap anyone, from you or your accountant, to a federal judge or even the president, if I had a personal email”.” […]

Afghanistan

Top Ten Ways Bradley Manning Changed the World

Juan Cole

Bradley Manning will be sentenced today, having been found guilty of 20 counts on Tuesday, including espionage (despite the lack of evidence for intent to spy and the lack of evidence that his leaking ever did any real harm). Whatever one thinks of Manning’s actions, that we deserved to know some of what he revealed […]

Domestic Surveillance

Lest we Forget that Manning was Tortured before being Found not Guilty of Aiding the Enemy (America’s Bouazizi)

Juan Cole

Breaking news: Firedog Lake reports that Bradley Manning has been found not guilty of aiding the enemy, a blow against the Obama administration’s repeated attempts to smear whistleblowers as traitors. The other charges against him could put him behind bars for 100 years. But just so it isn’t forgotten, Manning’s journey to sentencing has been […]

CIA

The Kidnapper & Torturer vs. the Whistleblower: The Gov’t’s different Treatment of Lady and Snowden (Engelhardt)

Juan Cole

Tom Engelhardt writes at Tomdispatch.com: He came and he went: that was the joke that circulated in 1979 when 70-year-old former Vice President Nelson Rockefeller had a heart attack and died in his Manhattan townhouse in the presence of his evening-gown-clad 25-year-old assistant. In a sense, the same might be said of retired CIA operative […]

Domestic Surveillance

Thousands of Germans Protest Obama/ Merkel STASI-like Spying on Them

Juan Cole

A few thousand people came out to demonstrate in 40 cities Germany on Saturday against US National Security Agency spying and German government complicity with it. They hailed from the Green Party, the Pirate Party, and organizations like “Stop Watching Us!” The biggest demo was in Frankfurt, the financial capital. German Chancellor Angela Merkel (center-right) […]

Domestic Surveillance

What Congress Could do about NSA Spying if It were Serving the People (Brandeisky)

Juan Cole

Kara Brandeisky writes at ProPublica: Although the House defeated a measure that would have defunded the bulk phone metadata collection program, the narrow 205-217 vote showed that there is significant support in Congress to reform NSA surveillance programs. Here are six other legislative proposals on the table. 1) Raise the standard for what records are […]

Domestic Surveillance

Congress betrays vow to Uphold Constitution, abrogates 4th Amendment; Snowden is Better

Juan Cole

The US House of Representatives narrowly declined on Wednesday to deny funding for National Security Agency collection and storage of millions of Americans’ phone records. The requisition of the records of domestic and foreign calls made by Verizon customers was revealed by The Guardian newspaper’s New York operation . The NSA Prism program seems to […]