Marcy Wheeler
writes in
The Targeted Killing Memos Shared with NYT, But Not Senate Intelligence Committee:
The Senate Intelligence Committee can’t learn the details of what the government is up to, the Administration says, because even sharing information (much less publicizing details) about our agreements with governments like Algeria would be embarrassing for all parties involved.
So who are the former and current government officials and senior administration officials leaking information to the NYT about new efforts — including the use of unarmed drones — to target the Algerian militant Mokhtar Belmokhtar in Algeria and Mali?
The NYT reports that earlier concerns about conducting operations not covered by the 2001 [authorization to use military force] have recently been allayed.
The idea of taking stronger action in the region has been supported in recent months by Michael Sheehan, the senior counterterrorism official at the Pentagon, and Daniel Benjamin, who until December was the senior State Department counterterrorism official. In the past, State Department lawyers have questioned whether the military action approved by Congress against Al Qaeda after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks authorized efforts to target extremists who were not clearly linked to the group. But according to some officials, those legal arguments have recently been overcome.
“Those legal arguments have recently been overcome.” By the adoption of new [Office of the Legal Counsel] advice the Administration won’t share with Congress? |
Blast from the Past. At Daily Kos on this date in 2008—Republicans To Use The Troops For Political Gain:
Once again showing that "supporting the troops" is just a slogan, Senate Republicans unexpectedly agreed to debate Senator Russ Feingold's bill that would require troops to begin withdrawing from Iraq within 120 days and cut funding for further combat deployments. Is it because Republicans have finally decided to listen to more than 60% of the American people?
Or did they finally realize that the ever-increasing cost in blood and treasure is too high a price to pay? Of course not. It's because Republicans:
...want to highlight the security achievements over the past year under President Bush's troop buildup strategy.
That's right; they want to do a little political grandstanding on the backs of the troops that they claim to support. |
Tweet of the Day:
On today's
Kagro in the Morning show: sequester, guns & false equivalence.
Greg Dworkin talked about United Physicians of Newtown's recognition in the media, the dynamics of the gun conversation in general, and on the sequester, the continuing dependency on false equivalence. Also: the Woodward blow-up, today's most outrageous #GunFAILs, and the new hotness of false equivalency shaming. Jennifer Rubin "fans" in particular will delight in her roasting by
The Atlantic's Conor Friedersdorf.
High Impact Posts. Top Comments.