At the risk of going Biblical, I wonder if for once the word ‘evil’ would be appropriate:
Combatants of the rebel Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) brutally massacred at least 620 civilians and abducted more than 160 children between December 24 and January 13 in northern Democratic Republic of Congo, said Human Rights Watch and Justice Plus, [...]
Archive for the ‘Human rights’ Category
DR Congo: LRA Killing Spree Leaves Hundreds Dead
Posted in Human rights on January 19, 2009 | 2 Comments »
No More Torture Memos: ‘Anti-Yoo’ to Head OLC
Posted in Election 08, Human rights on January 8, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
Of Obama’s many smart picks, one of the most significant, yet the one least likely to attract public attention, is the nomination of Indiana University law professor Dawn Johnsen to head the Office of Legal Counsel.
You may recall that during the Bush years, the OLC, which is supposed to advise the president on how to [...]
Obama Sighs in Relief as Bloggers Endorse Panetta
Posted in Human rights, Terrorism on January 7, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
Phew. After the blogger-concocted “Brennan scandal”, it must come as a great relief to Team Obama that the same virtual vetters are wholeheartedly endorsing the president-elect’s choice of Leon Panetta as CIA chief.
Here’s Salon’s Glenn Greenwald recycling his own narrative:
I don’t have any particular thoughts, one way or the other, about Panetta himself, but — [...]
From Bad Apples to Rotten Trees: Senate Blames Rumsfeld
Posted in Human rights on December 12, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
There is little in the new Senate Armed Services Committee report on detainee abuse that we didn’t already know. Still, when a bi-partisan report, co-released by Carl Levin and John McCain, says that top administration officials were responsible for the mistreatment of prisoners in Gitmo, Iraq and Afghanistan, it’s… kind of breathtaking:
Conclusion 1: On February [...]
McCarthyism on the Left: Greenwald Lists ‘Brennan Defenders’
Posted in Human rights, Media, Terrorism on December 9, 2008 | 1 Comment »
Salon blogger Glenn Greenwald, who has been a leading voice in the echo chamber of Google-based criticism of John Brennan’s CIA candidacy, today goes a step further in his self-righteous offensive and — I can’t believe I’m writing this — in true McCarthyist fashion provides a list of reporters he thinks have erred in “defending” [...]
Torture: Brennan, Feinstein and the Risks of Misquoting
Posted in Human rights, Terrorism on December 4, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
At the risk of belabouring the point, I’m going to say a few more words about Case Brennan.
A few days ago, commenting on blog posts that contributed to John Brennan withdrawing his candidacy for CIA director, I suggested that we bloggers “don’t dig up stuff, we just rip off other people’s work; and when that [...]
After John Brennan, Who Will Withstand Vetting-by-Google?
Posted in Human rights, Terrorism on December 3, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
In today’s New York Times, CIA veteran Mark Lowenthal sums up what’s wrong with Obama’s decision to let John Brennan withdraw. According to Lowenthal,
Mr. Obama’s decision to exclude Mr. Brennan from contention for the top job had sent a message that ‘if you worked in the C.I.A. during the war on terror, you are now [...]
John Brennan: From Man to Boogeyman, Pt. 2
Posted in Human rights, Terrorism on November 26, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
So he withdraws:
John O. Brennan, a C.I.A. veteran who many believed would be the spy agency’s next director, on Tuesday withdrew his name from consideration for a top job in the Obama administration amid concerns he was intimately linked to controversial C.I.A. programs authorized by President Bush.
The reason? Better believe it:
The opposition to Mr. Brennan [...]
John Brennan: From Man to Boogeyman
Posted in Human rights, Terrorism on November 22, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
John Brennan, who was Bill Clinton’s daily intelligence briefer and George Tenet’s XO, and who ran the National Counterterrorism Center for its first two years, has lately become something of a pet villain for Obama supporters. Judging by the blogospheric reaction to the news of his possible nomination as the head of CIA, you’d think [...]
The Gitmo Debate: Recommended Reading
Posted in Human rights on November 12, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
Now that the debate over the closing of Guantanamo Bay is heating up, and some loony arguments have started to fly back and forth, I’d like to recommend a very good book to read. No — it’s not Jane Mayer’s The Dark Side, nor Torture Team by Philippe Sands. I mean Law and the Long [...]
