Obama administration drops GWOT nomenclature

The Obama administration has formally abandoned the phrase “Global War on Terrorism” for the more clinical and antiseptic “Overseas Contingency Operation.”

Rights advocates welcome rehearing denial in detainee photo case

The ACLU hailed a decision denying the Pentagon’s appeal of a ruling that it must disclose photographs of apparent detainee abuse in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Freeman affair opens window on intra-elite paleo-neocon wars

Chas Freeman’s withdrawal as chair the National Intelligence Council—allegedly due to pressure from the “Israel Lobby”—opens a window into the paleo-neocon jockeying in the Obama administration.

Obama administration drops “enemy combatant” nomenclature

The Obama administration officially abandoned the term “enemy combatant,” stating in a Justice Department brief that it will seek a new standard for authority to hold detainees at Guantánamo Bay.

Maine neo-Nazi prepared “dirty bomb”?

Maine millionaire and neo-Nazi sympathizer James G. Cummings, slain by his wife in December, allegedly had the radioactive components necessary to build a “dirty bomb.”

“Terrorist watch” list hits 1 million

The government’s terrorist watch list has hit 1 million entries, according to figures released to USA Today—up 32% since 2007.

Italy: high court deals blow to CIA “rendition” trial

Italy’s highest court ruled that an investigation into the role of US and Italian intelligence agents in the kidnapping of an Egyptian terrorism suspect breached state secrets.

UN rights rapporteur blasts GWOT

UN Special Rapporteur on human rights Martin Scheinin cited the case of Canadian citizen and former US detainee Maher Arar in a report critical of international counter-terrorism practices.

Destroyed CIA interrogation tapes contained torture evidence: documents

Twelve of the 92 videotapes destroyed by the CIA contained evidence of torture, according to redacted documents filed with a federal court under an FOIA suit brought by the ACLU.

Ex-Gitmo detainee: memos show UK torture complicity

Former Guantánamo Bay detainee Binyam Mohamed claims that documents sent from MI5 to the CIA show that the British intelligence agency was involved with his torture in Morocco.

Supreme Court dismisses al-Marri “enemy combatant” appeal as moot

The US Supreme Court granted a motion by the government to dismiss as moot an appeal challenging the indefinite detention of suspected al-Qaeda operative Ali Saleh Kahlah al-Marri.

CIA admits 92 “terror tapes” destroyed

The CIA has destroyed 92 tapes of interrogations of “terror” suspects, far more than previously acknowledged, government lawyers said in a letter filed as part of an ACLU lawsuit.