Month: November 2007

In spite of last-ditch efforts to avoid a power vacuum in Lebanon, various parties to the talks say an agreement over a consensus presidential candidate is unlikely before current president Emile Lahoud leaves office on Nov. 24th, leading to a possible constitutional crisis and violence: Lebanese Presidential Vote Seen Unlikely (Reuters/New York Times) In a…

New York Times editorial praises some members of congress for trying to pass a bill that would restore some oversight to the ongoing NSA spying program and argues that “red lines” must be drawn on establishing clear sunset provisions, giving the FISA court oversight powers and denying amnesty to telecoms’ that collaborated with the government…

The uproar over the Los Angeles Police Department’s planned use of blatant racial profiling to prevent terrorism, civil society activists scrutinize department’s actions further and force law enforcement officials to try a different method—reaching out to Muslim community leaders: Why L.A. Police Nixed Plan to Map Muslims (Christian Science Monitor) With better security, some Baghdadis…

With little preparation and big expectations, the Bush administration is trying to get key players in Palestinian-Israeli conflict to begin first-round of “final status” talks at the upcoming one day-long Annapolis conference: Mideast Conference Nears, With Few Plans (Washington Post) Turkish human rights researcher Didem Cakmakli finds that long-term solutions of political representation and economic…

George Mason economics professor Tyler Cowen looks at the hidden opportunity costs of the Iraq war and argues the price tag is much more than the $1 trillion estimated by the Congressional Budget office: What Does Iraq Cost? Even More Than You Think. (Washington Post) Bush’s personal liking of Musharraf for his supposed opposition to…

While the House of Representatives passes a bill that restores some oversight powers to regulate the unrestrained NSA spying and contains an “exclusion provision” barring immunity for telecoms, the Senate Judiciary Committee releases its own bill that also leaves out telecom immunity: House OKs Surveillance Oversight Bill (Associated Press/Washington Post) Panel Drops Immunity From Eavesdropping…

After intense outcry from Muslim and civil libertarian groups as well as facing practical obstacles, Los Angeles Police Department scraps its program to “map” Muslim communities in the city: LAPD’s Muslim Mapping Plan Killed (Los Angeles Times) Although Musharraf pledges to step down as head of the army at the end of November, his martial…

Bush finally stops stonewalling Justice Department inquiry on NSA domestic spying and grants the necessary security clearances to investigators: Bush Gives Clearances for N.S.A. Inquiry (New York Times) Report from some members of Congress puts current price tag of Afghanistan and Iraq conflicts at $3.5 billion over the next decade when “[h]igher oil prices, treating…

European human rights watchdog slams UN and EU methodology for blacklisting terrorism suspects as “totally arbitrary” and finds recent attempts to modify the process are “just as flawed as the previous ones”: Panel Decries Terrorism Blacklist Process (Washington Post) Musharraf continues to slip on political and military fronts in Pakistan as Bhutto calls for his…

Big Brother makes a big push on both sides of the Atlantic: In Britain lawmakers push for legislation allowing terrorism suspects to be detained for up to 56 days without criminal charges, while a top US intelligence official states in Congressional testimony that privacy no longer means anonymity, but trusting that the State and businesses…