US politics

Edward Snowden said that he stepped forward because he came to realize that the US government is engaged in invasions of Americans’ privacy on a vast and unprecedented scale, and was hiding its interpretation of the law from the American people. Given that the NSA is contravening the 4th amendment guarantees against unreasonable search and […]

US politics

Turning the Tables on the Surveillance Class (Cole on Majority Report)

Juan Cole

Here are part 1 and part 2 of Michael Brooks’s interview of me on Sam Seder’s Majority Report on Monday. Part 1: and Part 2:

US politics

Its the Corporations, Stupid: Why we are 2nd Amendment Fundamentalists but the 4th Amendment doesn’t Count

Juan Cole

The Second Amendment to the Constitution is interpreted by lawmakers and judges in an absolute manner. Every American, we are constantly told– even mentally ill ones like the shooter at Santa Monica College who killed 6 persons on Friday, hunting our children as though they were wild game– has the right to stockpile semi-automatic weapons […]

al-Qaeda

Gitmo comes Home to America: Torture, Gag Orders and Legal Dirty Tricks have Corrupted the System (Brittain)

Juan Cole

Victoria Brittain writes at Tomdispatch.com A four-month hunger strike, mass force-feedings, and widespread media coverage have at last brought Guantanamo, the notorious offshore prison set up by the Bush administration early in 2002, back into American consciousness. Prominent voices are finally calling on President Obama to close it down and send home scores of prisoners […]

Uncategorized

We Misunderstood Barack: He only wanted the Domestic Surveillance to be Made Legal, not to End It

Juan Cole

We misunderstood Barack Obama years ago when he slammed the Bush administration for arbitrary intrusion in the privacy of citizens, in the name of the war on terrorism. No more illegal wiretapping of American citizens, he promised. But note that he didn’t say ‘no more wiretapping.’ Apparently Obama only meant that he would pass laws […]

US politics

Sen. Wyden Warned us in 2011 that the Government was Running wild on Surveillance (Video)

Juan Cole

Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR) warned two years ago that when the US public discovered how the Patriot Act is actually interpreted by the FBI and NSA with regard to domestic surveillance, they will be stunned and angry: He had to talk analogically about the issue, however, since PRISM was classified. So he told about a […]

CIA

PRISM: The US Government is mad at Bradley Manning for doing to it what it is Doing to All of us

Juan Cole

Bradley Manning, who spilled the beans on the US blowing away of unarmed Iraqi journalists and overlooking war crimes by the US military and allied Iraqi troops, released thousands of low-level cable messages. He has been charged by the US government with thereby being a traitor, giving aid and comfort to the enemy. It is […]

al-Qaeda

Have we no Shame? Will Hunger Strikes and medical Torture finally close Guantanamo? (Hickman)

Juan Cole

John Hickman, author of Selling Guantanamo, writes in a guest column for Informed Comment Curious isn’t it how the decision-making of the United States Government is also imprisoned at Guantanamo Bay? In a seemingly escape-proof blame game President Obama insists that the U.S. Congress prevents him from closing the prison while Congressional Republicans insist either […]

Afghanistan

Obama: US will Continue its Targeted Killing with Drones (Woods)

Juan Cole

Chris Woods writes at the Bureau of Investigative Journalism Barack Obama has made it clear that the US will continue with its controversial targeted killing programme. In a major speech the US president also announced that he has signed into force a new – and secret – rule book for lethal action that provides ‘clear […]