Author: Alejandro

“Nothing has changed about Mr. Bush’s intentions. Waving off the independent reports, he plans to stay the course and make his successor fix his Iraq fiasco. Military progress without political progress is meaningless, and Mr. Bush no more has a plan for unifying Iraq now than when he started the war.” – New York Times…

The Battle of Big Brother: As a US district court judge rules National Security Letters unconstitutional in their current usage in counterterrorism investigations, lawmakers are planning to fight back against use of classified and military spy satellites for domestic spying: Judge Invalidates Patriot Act Provisions (Washington Post) Lawmakers Challenge Plan to Expand Spying (Washington Post)…

Former CIA officer Michael Scheuer explains why Syria and Iran are not threats to the United States, unless we decide to attack them: Syria and Iran: The Threats That Aren’t (Antiwar.com) The latest arrests in Europe of “homegrown” extremists has authorities pursuing other bombing suspects, but also pursuing greater policing powers at the possible cost…

Former State Department veteran testifies on behalf of Palestinian charities, saying that Israeli intelligence has “an agenda … [and they] provide selective information to try to influence US thinking:” Ex-Diplomat Testifies for Muslim Charity (Associated Press/Washington Post) Citing its own report on the surge, GAO finds that the surge has failed to meet 11 out…

At annual national Muslim convention, religious leaders say that members of the government and society have to stop treating Muslims as suspects: Abandon Stereotypes, Muslims in America Say (New York Times) “The treatment of Padilla ranks as one of the most serious abuses after 9/11…. This is a case that would have shocked the Framers.…

Round three over the rights of Guantanamo detainees commences in the US Supreme Court: Legal Battle Resuming on Guantánamo Detainees (New York Times) Questions of power and class, not religion, will play out on five major issues facing Turkey and the AK Party administration: The Traps in Turkey’s Power Shift (New York Times) Abbas reveals…

DoJ Inspector General Glenn Fine adds allegations political favoritism in hiring practices and the NSA wiretapping to several “ongoing investigations” including “the National Security Agency’s Terrorist Surveillance Program, the FBI’s use of national security letters, and Gonzales’s characterizations of his conversation with an aide before a House hearing”: Justice Dept. Probing Whether Gonzales Lied (Washington…

If the Bush’s administration’s success for detaining and convicting actual terrorists could be compared to a baseball hitter, it “could not qualify even for a tryout for the minor leagues. The federal government has had far more strikeouts than people realize when it comes to terrorist suspects.”–James Bovard, author of “Attention Deficit Democracy” The “Terrorist”…

The third time is a charm: After two other run-off votes, the AK Party finally gets Gul into the Presidency and is ready to approve a pro-EU reform cabinet, but lingering concerns from secular parties and the military remain: Gül Era at Çankaya Palace Begins (Today’s Zaman) Turkey’s New President to Approve Reform Cabinet (Reuters/New…