There's been some discussion about legal challenges to Righthaven, a firm going after people who quote newspaper articles on the internet, and some consolation:
Blog Law: Saunders says that simply citing to the leading precedent, Fogerty v. Fantasy, Inc., 510 U.S. 517 (1994), can "dissuade a plaintiff from bringing a questionable case." The article is here in pdf format.
TPM readers might have fun with this one:
CIA Source, via NYT: "If you want intelligence in a war zone, you're not going to get it from Mother Teresa or Mary Poppins."
The CIA report about Mary Poppins must be very controversial. What if Mary Poppins were to appear with the really secret stuff about Afghanistan, and how to win the war?
Feel free to leave your snarky rejoinders after the jump. . .
The United States legal community after 2001 allegedly participated in covering up evidence connecting the White House to war crimes.
This conclusion is supported by examining three different databases: CIA Vaughn Index, Propublica's list of DOJ OLC Missing Memos, and the ACLU Torture FOIA index.
This legal compliance problem is more relevant now that the Obama Administration is using CIA operational units to engage in paramilitary operations worldwide. We have no demonstrated legal compliance program to properly oversee American combat operations.
The searchable wikileaks data from Afghanistan shows why some American law enforcement abuse Americans: They're applying the lessons from a war zone in how they interview Americans, document information, and complete reports.
There's been some discussion about the public postings allegedly linked with Timothy Douglas Webster, formerly with Army Counter Intelligence, who provided information about the source of information to wikileaks.
Comic relief: YouTube Summary.
Wikileaks is still in the news, with the US threatening prosecution if information the enemy now has isn't removed before the public can digest the bad news.
The US Government has an arrogant approach toward information: After it violates FISA to access information, it refuses to be held accountable; but when someone else has access to information, the US government wants to talk about the law.
Why a double standard on the law; and what way of life are the troops fighting for?
There's an interesting nugget - among many - on wikileaks. It involves a 2005 Congressional delegation trip to Kandahar, about the same time a shoulder fired missile was fired at an American plane.
This is interesting because there are other reports about the content on wikileaks suggesting that the Taliban and others were firing many ground-to-air missiles at American planes.
This blog goes into some history about the named Congressman, speculates on the purpose of his visit, and discusses some of the other public information about the ground-fired missiles.
Wired: U.S. spy agencies, the State Department and the White House had a collective panic attack Friday over a new Washington Post exposé on the intelligence-industrial complex.Here is the searchable database.
A lawsuit reveals there are many Americans stranded overseas because they are unable to board planes: The US government changed rules, leaving them stranded.
The Geneva Conventions govern how the United States treats civilians during combat operations. These rules relate to, among other things, repatriating, civilian protections, and required government planning (Legal citations at end).
Because of combat-related decisions and policies, the US government has denied a class of US citizens access to transportation systems. The stranded Americans are stranded because of the US government's decision, and its refusal to provide a suitable alternative method meeting the US government's requirements.
These repatriation issues -- affecting stranded American civilians -- may implicate subsequent alleged war crimes attached to DOJ OLC legal counsel. Until these stranded Americans are repatriated, DOJ OLC and the White House cannot lawfully ignore any Geneva obligation related to evidence retention, prisoner treatment, or civilian protection.
The CIA is reported to have used Keflavík for more than sixty rendition flights, allegedly involving Boeing Jeppesen International Trip Planning.
This is an US Embassy assessment of one key Icelandic leaders, Albert Jonsson {pronounced: YOHN-sohn}:
Assessment [4 of 6]: "For instance, he [Jonsson] protested privately when explanations of alleged use of Icelandic airspace by CIA-operated planes were three weeks late in arriving and, in his view, inadequate, but he worked with US diplomats to downplay the issue publicly."
Icelandic officials were, in part, concerned that the overflights might implicate their treaty obligations as a NATO ally to investigate allegations connected with torture.
DOJ IG announced it will be reviewing NSLs.
The content within this TPM blog provides TPM readers with some information about how a specific email can be useful in auditing FBI compliance {see: FBI Manual of Administrative Operations and Procedure (MAOP); and FBI Manual of Investigative Operations and Guidelines (MIOG)}.
Ref: See 2 of 22: 07-cv-00656 --- OIG-Improper Use -PA-NSL- Part 8 --- Section 2 (849734).pdf [PDF, 400.90 KB]
