Human Rights Watch has a new report out that indicates that the Bush administration used waterboarding and other forms of torture far more extensively than previously reported — including working with the Libyan dictator Muammar Qaddafi to capture and torture those who were fighting against his regime. That would be the same regime we just …
Category Archive: Terrorism
Sep 11 2012
Judge Smacks Down Obama on Gitmo Access
A Reagan-appointed judge who has often issued strongly-worded opinions has issued a ruling that the New York Times describes as “scathing,” hammering the Obama DOJ for seeking to deny attorneys representing Gitmo detainees access to their clients.
Aug 13 2012
The Roots of Domestic Terrorism
In the wake of two horrifying events, the movie theater shootings in Aurora, Colorado and the white supremacist attack on a Sikh temple in Wisconsin, Steve Coll looks at the patterns to be found in the post-9/11 domestic terrorism cases. Despite public perception, very few have been from Muslims:
Jun 12 2012
Hillary Clinton Plays Pretend
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton gave a speech to the Global Counterterrorism Forum in Turkey last week and made some strong statements against violating civil liberties in the name of fighting terrorism. She said:
May 18 2012
How the Courts Have Undermined Gitmo Rulings
I interviewed Daphne Eviatar for my radio show this week. Daphne is a former AINN colleague who is now an attorney with Human Rights First specializing in law and national security. We talked about the military commissions that have restarted at Gitmo and about what the courts have been doing with the issue over the …
Apr 24 2012
Bush, Obama and the National Surveillance State
Glenn Greenwald reacts to the recent episode of Democracy Now that featured an NSA whistleblower (William Binney) and two people who have been the victims of serious harassment from the government over their activism against the unconstitutional anti-terror measures from both the Bush and Obama administrations. And he recalls this quote from Sen. Frank Church, …
Apr 19 2012
Govt. Denies Visa to Anti-Drone Activist
If you’re already disappointed in the Obama administration’s many illegal and unconstitutional actions in the war on terror, prepare to be even more disappointed. The administration has denied a visa to a Pakistani attorney who represents victims of the American drone bombing campaign in that country. He was invited to speak at a conference in …
Apr 09 2012
Bush State Department Opposed Torture
My former colleague Spencer Ackerman got his hands on a document that a lot of people have wanted for a long time, a legal memo from the State Department’s legal counsel, Philip Zelikow, saying that the “enhanced interrogation techniques” — torture — approved by Bush and the DOJ were illegal and a violation of the …
Apr 04 2012
Hutaree Militia Gets Off
U.S. District Judge Victoria Roberts has thrown out the seditious conspiracy charge against all nine members of the Hutaree Christian militia in Michigan, leaving only weapons charges for two of the defendants and eliminating the charges against the others. You can read the full ruling here.
Mar 12 2012
Holder’s Idea of Due Process
Eric Holder gave a speech the other day and addressed the issue of whether the president has the authority to order the killing of an American citizen if he determines that the individual is aiding terrorists abroad. And he makes a distinction between due process and judicial process:
Mar 01 2012
Greenwald Interviews Feingold
Glenn Greenwald did an interview with former Sen. Russ Feingold, one of the few consistent civil libertarians in Congress (and I mean really few, less than a handful) for the last couple decades. You can listen to it here and read the transcript here. They both point out, as I have, how bad Obama has …
Feb 29 2012
Obama Wants FISA Amendment Challenge Dismissed
The Obama DOJ is being asked to dismiss a challenge to the 2008 FISA amendments, which were supported by Obama despite his threat to filibuster the bill, on standing grounds. There’s a great FARK headline for this: “The GOP’s conundrum: Created by Bush, so it’s good. Wait, it’s supported by Obama, so it’s bad. Crap, …
Feb 23 2012
Civilian Courts Handle Terrorism Case. Again.
In yet another case showing the utter lunacy of right wing positions on how to handle terror cases, a civilian court had no difficulty convicting Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, the Nigerian man who tried to blow up an airplane with explosives hidden in his underwear. He was found guilty and sentenced to life in prison. TPM …
Feb 13 2012
Obama, Terror Policy and Bipartisan Consensus
A new Washington Post poll finds a significant shift in the views of liberal Democrats and conservative Republicans when it comes to major anti-terror policies. On issues like drone strikes, Guantanamo Bay and the Patriot Act, Democrats are now more likely to support them now that Obama is in office, while Republicans are less likely …
Feb 06 2012
The American Injustice System
Glenn Greenwald’s new book With Liberty and Justice for Some: How the Law Is Used to Destroy Equality and Protect the Powerful is brilliant and compelling. And on his blog, he shows how three recent cases demonstrate the thesis of that book perfectly.
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