Raffaela Wakeman works at the Brookings Institution, focusing on law, American politics, and governance issues. She graduated with a B.S. and M.S. in political science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 2009, and wrote her Master’s thesis on electoral design in the Middle East. She is currently a law student at Georgetown University Law Center.
Today was the big Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on the Benghazi attack. You can watch it on C-SPAN here. Here are a number of stories about the 4 State Department employees who have lost their positions: NPR, … Read more »
As Bobby noted last night, the NDAA conference report has been filed, and yes, the Feinstein amendment was dropped. Here’s Politico’s Josh Gerstein and Jeremy Herb and Carlo Munoz of The Hill. If you’d like to read the 1600 … Read more »
Senator Daniel Inouye died yesterday. The former Chairman of the Senator Appropriations Committee defense subcommittee was 88. Here’s an obituary in the Washington Post, a story at NPR, and a New York Times article about his life.
In … Read more »
No, no no—I didn’t quit my job. I was knee-deep in other stuff. So a big round of applause goes to Ritika for taking over the roundup while I’ve been otherwise engaged. Her reward is a month free from roundup … Read more »
I bet you thought we’d take today off of the roundup, didn’t you? But as long as there are reporters out there covering things other the opening of the polls in Dixville Notch and Hart’s Location at midnight, we’ll be … Read more »
For those seeking a respite from pre-election analysis and predictions, you’ve come to the right place. Or at least, the closest thing to right place based in Washington, D.C.
Remember Staff Sargent Robert Bales, the Army soldier charged with killing … Read more »
The top story of the day should be about the results of a Department of Energy investigation into the security of our nuclear facilities. Turns out that a contractor sent the questions and answers for a recertification exam to the … Read more »
Hurricane Sandy may have put your life on pause—and it shuttered Brookings, and hence, Today’s Headlines and Commentary for two days—but the world continues to turn.
From the Pakistan Tribune comes the news that Pakistan’s Foreign Minister, Hina Rabbani, formally … Read more »
Today, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit filed a per curiam order in the case of Bahlul v. United States, ordering the parties to file briefs addressing the implications of the court’s decision in … Read more »
As Bobby has already noted, Greg Miller has a lengthy Washington Post report (part I of three!) disclosing more details of the Obama administration’s targeted killing policy, discussing the administration’s “disposition matrix,” which maps out details and locations … Read more »
Jordan announced over the weekend that it has foiled an Al Qaeda plot targeted at a number of civilian and military targets in Amman, including the American Embassy there. Jordanian authorities have arrested eleven people, say Joby Warrick & Taylor … Read more »
There is reason to believe that a drone strike today killed the leader of Al Qaeda in Yemen, Nader Al Shaddadi. Here’s Nasser Arrabyee of the Times on the incident, and Reuters lets us know that nine people were killed … Read more »
Let’s start off with a cheery topic: nuclear disarmament. Over at Time’s Battleland blog, Mark Thompson reminds us that the Lugar in Nunn-Lugar will be out of the Senate come January (the Nunn has been out for quite some time), … Read more »
The D.C. Circuit Court’s opinion that we’ve all been waiting for has come down. The D.C. Circuit has vacated Hamdan’s conviction for material support for terrorism in the Military Commission and reversed the Court of Military Commission Review’s judgment. The … Read more »
In today’s New York Times is this article by Ben Weiser about some information that has come to light in a memorandum written by District Court Judge Kevin Thomas Duffy this week. Weiser writes:
Federal officials had to be intrigued
Yesterday was a big day:
As Ben already noted, SecDef Panetta spoke to business executives in national security on cybersecurity yesterday in New York. Here’s coverage in The Hill, the New York Times, Agence France Presse, … Read more »
The House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence has released a report on the alleged unauthorized data transfers from Huwai systems in the U.S. to computers in China; the report is entitled “Investigative Report on the U.S. National Security Issues Posed … Read more »
Over the weekend, Israel announced that it had shot down a drone that had penetrated its airspace. Here’s John Villasenor over at Slate on the news’ implications, Bloomberg with Israel’s remarks, the AP on Israel’s flyover over Lebanon in response, … Read more »
Anonymous senior European officials said yesterday that a proposal for U.N. Security Council approval is in the works to authorize a Western-backed African force to battle with AQIM in Mali. The U.S. has not publicly committed to arming or funding … Read more »
The Supreme Court heard oral arguments in Kiobel yesterday, and here is SCOTUSblog’s roundup of coverage:
In Kiobel, the Justices considered whether corporations can be sued under the Alien Tort Statute for human rights abuses committed abroad. Coverage of
Secretary Clinton said as much yesterday, but it’s now official: the U.S. has confirmed that Al Qaeda is linked to the attack in Bengazi. Here’s the Washington Post story. And over in Libya, the lack of security is what’s … Read more »
The Pentagon has permitted its employees to “get their hands on” Mark Owen’s book, but can’t discuss, blog or tweet about “potentially classified or sensitive contents of NED”. Here’s Carlo Munoz’s story on the memo, and you can read the … Read more »
The DoD has distributed a memo to its employees explaining its stance on Mark Owen’s book No Easy Day, and I’ve got it right here (they even give the book an acronym!). It lays out guidelines for how Pentagon … Read more »
Over at NPR, Leila Fadel reported on All Things Considered that pro-government militiamen warned U.S. government officials in Bengazi that security was deteriorating, and that they should scale back their diplomatic mission. The interim government has ordered all militias … Read more »
Here’s an opportunity for law students to intern at the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU Law School’s Liberty and National Security Program. The Brennan Center emails:
We are looking for outstanding law students who are interested in spending the
The American and Libyan investigators can’t seem to agree about the source of the attack that killed Ambassador Stevens in Libya. Dina Temple-Raston of NPR writes that the U.S. says that it was a spontaneous attack, while Libya maintains that … Read more »
All American government employees except emergency U.S. government personnel were evacuated from Tunisia and Sudan over the weekend, writes the Washington Post. The Post also says that negotiations on U.S. aid to Egypt are stalled because of the continuation … Read more »
To Libya first: the Economist argues that there actually has been progress in Libya toward peaceful, stable governance. Greg Miller and Michael Birnbaum write in the Washington Post on the lead up to the attacks on the consulate in Bengazi, … Read more »
Another year has passed, so lets start with a selection of 9/11-anniversary coverage:
Delays in completing the National September 11 Memorial & Museum have flowed from what the AP is calling a “funding squabble”—which has now been resolved. A … Read more »
A suicide bombing in Kabul outside of NATO HQ killed eight civilians. Afghan police say that the bomber was only 14 years old. The Detroit Free Press reports, and the New York Times says that this was in response … Read more »
It’s official: the Pentagon said yesterday that Matt Bissonnette’s book did reveal “sensitive and classified” information, and Rear Adm. Sean Pybus, who heads up the Naval Special Warfare Command, sent a letter to those under his command that “We owe … Read more »
Lots of coverage of the drone-tracking app that Apple blocked on its App Store. Steve Henn of NPR interviewed the app developer whose program was blocked for “excessively objectionable or crude content.” CNNMoney is conducting an online poll on the … Read more »
The Obama administration confirmed yesterday that the Haqqani militant network’s #3 was killed by a drone strike in Pakistan last week. Karen DeYoung of the Washington Post reports.
In two incidents in Afghanistan Wednesday and Thursday, five Australian soldiers … Read more »
Amnesty International’s web site has been hacked by supporters of Syrian President Bashar Assad, reports James Ball of the Washington Post.
Some new details are emerging about Matt Bissonnette’s book about the bin Laden raid, and they seem to … Read more »
Over at the political science blog The Monkey Cage, UNC-Charlotte professor James Igoe Walsh shares some polling research on American views about the use of force. He conducted an online experimental survey to test the impact of using drone … Read more »
News surfaced this morning that the Taliban has beheaded 17 Afghans who were dancing in a mixed-gender setting (two of the victims were women) Sunday evening. Sayed Salahuddin of the Washington Post reports on this attack, along with the news … Read more »
The government has just posted a memorandum from March 12, 1945 in the Bahlul docket concerning the question of whether participation in a conspiracy to commit an offense against the law of war is punishable in a military commission.
The … Read more »
The current commander of ISAF has written this op-ed in the Washington Post on the progress that is being made in Afghanistan, the collaboration between NATO and Afghan security forces, and the uptick in “green on blue” attacks. He concludes:… Read more »
Last week, D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals Judges Henderson and Brown handed down a per curiam order in response to the government’s motion to remand Ravil Mingazov’s case to the District Court for consideration of his motion there under Rule … Read more »
Big news from the publishing world: a member of SEAL Team 6 has written an account of the mission to kill Osama bin Laden, to be published on September 11th. Julie Bosman at the New York Times reported yesterday, noting … Read more »
The Obama administration’s line-drawing yesterday on what it would take to bring U.S. involvement in the Syria conflict has some none too pleased. Critics of the decision say that Syrian President Bashar Assad may interpret U.S. policy as permissive of … Read more »
The top story today is the news that 7 American troops were killed in Afghanistan when a Black Hawk helicopter crashed. The Taliban is claiming responsibility for downing the helicopter. Here’s the AP story and the Washington Post report.… Read more »
The Hill’s Carlo Munoz tells us that a Somali-born pirate will serve 12 life sentences in connection with the kidnapping, piracy, hostage-taking and murder of Americans last February off the coast of Oman.
Alissa Rubin writes in the New … Read more »
What looks to be the fifth Taliban attack by a man in an Afghan police officer uniform on NATO and Afghan forces took place this morning. No service members were killed, reports the AP.
Meanwhile, Afghan government officials met over … Read more »
Three NATO troops and at least seven other people were killed in coordinated suicide bombings in Afghanistan today.Read the Washington Post story here, and Carlo Munoz’s story at The Hill, and read Matthew Rosenberg and Alissa Rubin’s latest… Read more »
Light news day.
Stewart Baker has been blogging about the failure of the Senate to find common ground on cybersecurity issues, and now the Washington Post editorial board writes on its displeasure over the failure to pass a bill before … Read more »
The New York Times At War blog has this fascinating post about how the U.S. was supplying Libya with arms during the pre-Qaddafi years of the Cold War. The post, written by C.J. Chivers and John Ismay, includes a photo … Read more »
As a fellow Arlingtonian and a reasonably tech-savvy person, I join Air Force General Counsel Charles Blanchard in taking issue with the categorization of Arlingtonians by our friends in the Bay Area as too technologically backwards to use an RSS … Read more »
Rajiv Chandrasekaran over at the Washington Post has this breaking news on the just-released report by the inspector general for Afghanistan reconstruction. Read the full report here, previous reports to Congress here, the Post story here, a … Read more »
I am officially declaring cybersecurity legislation to be today’s big story of the day. The Hill has a slew of stories on the politics of getting a compromise bill passed, including this piece detailing Senator Harry Reid’s reaction to the … Read more »
Monday, May 20, 2013
As Jack posted yesterday—and as everyone is buzzing about—President Obama will give a major counterterrorism speech on Thursday at the National Defense University. The Wall Street Journal, CNN, and Politico all report on the talk, and subjects that the President will likely address.
Speaking of Jack, he noted another of today’s big stories: the Washington Post’s piece on the FBI’s search, a few years… Read more »
