Archive for April 14th, 2008
Cheney’s al-Qa’ida Fantasia Debunked
McCain, Rick Davis and the “Reform” Institute
Ken Silverstein has an update to last weeks entry on McCain and his non-profit side project and some details that have surfaced since his preceding article went to print. No surprise that the ‘business-as-usual’ revolving door is in play for the straight-bull express. update here.
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bin Laden losing his grip?
As Philip Giraldi notes:in yesterdays @TAC:
The conviction is growing in intelligence circles that Usama bin Laden’s days might be numbered, but his demise will likely have nothing to do with Bush Administration efforts to kill him, which continue to be inept, unfocused, and overly reliant on allies like Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf to do the heavy lifting. Many officers within the counterterrorism community are beginning to question some basic assumptions about al-Qaeda and how great a threat it continues to represent.
maybe that explains why the coalition occupiers in Afghanistan are dropping supplies to the Taliban?
“It’s not the first time weapons are dropped there,” he added rejecting the report by the head of Afghanistan’s intelligence service Amrullah Saleh who told a parliament security committee that “the coalition helicopter dropped by mistake to Taliban militants food and weapons intended for a police checkpoint in a remote section of Zabul province.”
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U.S. Reconnaissance Satellites: Domestic Targets
Documents Describe Use of Satellites in Support
of Civil Agencies and Longstanding Controversy
Update – Washington, D.C., April 11, 2008 – The policy debate over using U.S. reconnaissance satellites to obtain imagery of targets in the United States dates back to the earliest days of spy satellites, according to an updated collection of declassified documents published today by the National Security Archive at George Washington University (www.nsarchive.org).
Obtained and edited by Archive senior fellow Dr. Jeffrey Richelson, the documents add significant historical context to current Congressional concerns (Document 46 and Document 50) about privacy and civil liberties guidelines for the new National Applications Office (Document 41 and Document 48).
Additional historical documents include the charter for the Civil Applications Committee, the statement of authority for National Reconnaissance Program activities over the United States, as well as documents that focus on the question of “proper use” of the satellites and the risk to senior officials should the space assets be used inappropriately.
Documents concerning current plans to establish a National Applications Office and associated Congressional concerns include the letter from the Secretary of Homeland Security to the Director of National Intelligence (reporting his interest in establishing a domestic applications office), expressions of Congressional concern, and the proposed charter (from February 2008).
Documents available from The National Security Archive
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