US President-elect Barack Obama‘s pick to run the Department of Homeland Security, Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano, is described by the AP Nov. 20 as “tough on illegal immigration”—although she has been a skeptic on the border wall, having once said,… Read moreObama: ominous appointment for Homeland Security
On the heels of Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel, Barack Obama’s second formal appointment—former Sen. Tom Daschle for secretary of health and human services—appears to be another tilt to the neocons. The New York Times Nov. 20 notes potential conflicts… Read moreTom Daschle: “regime change” extremist
Al-Qaeda second-in-command Ayman al-Zawahiri released a video statement Nov. 19 calling US President-elect Barack Obama a “house slave” who had aligned himself with the “enemies” of Islam. “You were born to a Muslim father, but you chose to stand in… Read moreAl-Qaeda disses Obama, invokes Malcolm X
Navy Cmdr. Jeffrey Gordon acknowledged Nov. 16 while speaking to the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child that the US has held 12 juveniles at the Guantánamo Bay prison. The announcement came in response to a study released… Read moreUS admits more juveniles held at Gitmo
Now they tell us. From the New York Times, Nov. 10, links and emphasis added: Secret Order Lets U.S. Raid Al Qaeda WASHINGTON — The United States military since 2004 has used broad, secret authority to carry out nearly a… Read moreNYT: secret executive order approved strikes on al-Qaeda
Judge Richard Leon of the US District Court for the District of Columbia Nov. 6 began habeas corpus hearings for six Algerians challenging their detention at Guantánamo Bay. The hearings are the first to be held since the Supreme Court… Read moreFederal court begins habeas hearings for Gitmo detainees
The US Department of Defense Nov. 4 announced the transfer of one Guantánamo Bay detainee to Somaliland. DOD hailed the move as proof of the effectiveness of its review processes and of US desire not to hold detainees any longer… Read moreGitmo detainee transferred to Somaliland
A panel of the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit Nov. 4 suspended its review the status of Guantánamo Bay detainee Yasin Muhammed of Yemen as an “enemy combatant,” saying it may lack jurisdiction over the case. Basardh… Read moreDC Circuit suspends status review for Yemeni Gitmo detainee
The jury in the US military commission trial of alleged al-Qaeda media director Ali Hamza Ahmad Suliman al Bahlul reached a verdict in the case Nov. 1, finding him guilty of material support for terrorism. The verdict was sealed until… Read moreUS military tribunal reaches verdict on accused al-Qaeda media director
Sam Stein writes for Huffington Post, Oct. 22: McCain Surrogate: Al Qaeda Blogger Using Reverse Psychology The McCain campaign blasted back against a story in today’s Washington Post reporting that an al-Qaeda official in a “commentary posted Monday on the… Read moreAl-Qaeda endorses McCain: “reverse psychology”? No…
A Canadian government inquiry has found that officials of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) and the Canada Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) “indirectly contributed” to the torture of three citizens while in Syria between 2001 and 2004. The men, Ahmed… Read moreCanada officials complicit in Syrian torture: inquiry report
The US Department of Defense announced Oct. 23 that it has filed new war crimes charges against two Kuwaiti men held at Guantánamo Bay. Fouad Rabia, a US-educated aeronautical engineer suspected of running a supply depot at Tora Bora, and… Read moreNew charges filed against Gitmo detainees
