Don’t Fence US In! The real cost of the US-Mexico wall revealed.

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Obama might create a new unit for interrogations

The Wall Street Journal reports this, via Jurist:

The Obama administration may create a special unit of interrogators to handle certain terror suspects, the Wall St. Journal reported Saturday, citing unidentified government officials. In creating the unit, the administration would reduce the role of the Central Intelligence Agency in interrogating suspects as the CIA has faced criticism for its interrogation techniques during the Bush administration. It is not clear which agencies the team would draw members from, but it is expected that members of both the CIA and the FBI would be included . The interrogation team would reportedly not use certain controversial interrogation techniques like waterboarding. A spokesperson for the White House refused to comment on the report.

It can’t be a bad thing…right? The WSJ got the exclusive… Wow wee.

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Accusations of Torture in Mexico’s Drug War!

Last week the Obama administration demanded a full report on the actions of federal forces in Mexico’s President Calderon’s war on drugs. The State Department threatened to cancel more than $100 million in funds from the Merida Initiative, a $1.4 billion three-year program of military assistance, if the report is not thorough and convincing.

The State Department’s actions follow an article published in the Washington Post last week which documented abuses by military personnel, including torture, beatings, rape and illegal home searches. Mexicans complain that soldiers have broken into their homes without warrants, made arrests without cause and stolen appliances and food.

Allegations of human rights abuses by federal army troops involved in police activities in dozens of cities around Mexico have increased dramatically. Today, Human Rights Watch, based in Washington DC, added their voice to the cry. In a letter to Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, the Washington-based group said Mexico’s military courts have failed to bring to justice troops Human Rights Watch holds responsible for a “rapidly growing number of serious abuses.”

Under the multiyear Merida Initiative aid package, the U.S. government withholds a 15 percent portion of the aid until the Secretary of State reports that Mexico is meeting human-rights conditions. One condition is that civilian authorities are investigating and prosecuting alleged abuses by troops and federal police “in accordance with Mexican and international law.” Mexico says it takes allegations against soldiers seriously but it insists that, under Mexican law, only military courts can try soldiers.

Sources within the Mexican government claim the U.S. State Department is not insisting on a full accounting of illegal detentions, torture and other abuses committed by the army. Mexico’s President Calderon intends to send a delegation to the Washington to clear up any “misunderstandings” the Obama administration might have about his war on drugs.

–written with input from the Mexico Solidarity Network

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How much “cybersecurity” will we achieve?

When the Obama administration came into office, some of its best and brightest thinkers started looking at the issue of security on the world wide web, or “cybersecurity.” The thinking was undoubtedly spurred when the White House computers went down for a day as staffers were moving in. More and more reports of breaches to private and government computers, fears about Russia, China’s efforts to break into U.S. computers and other issues related to terrorism and the internet persisted.

Cybersecurity was an issue that had been discussed by the previous administration, but nothing was ever done about it, possibly because it has been hard to determine who should be in charge of the overall program. The Director of National Intelligence, retired Admiral Dennis Blair, proposed at this confirmation hearing that the NSA should run it. Rod Beckstrom, a Silicon Valley entrepreneur who resigned his post as the director of America’s National Cyber Security Center in March, claiming that a lack of support was preventing him from doing the job. But the firestorm of protest that went on for weeks eventually calmed when the headline from Wired Threat Level (4/21/09), “NSA Chief: ‘We Do Not Want to Run Cyber Security’,” appeared. To quote:

NSA Director Lt. Gen. Keith Alexander, speaking at the RSA Security Conference in San Francisco, told the audience of security professionals on Tuesday that the NSA does “not want to run cyber security for the United States government.”

Aiming to dispel news reports — and counter previous intelligence agency statements — that the National Security Agency is angling to grab the top spot in the government’s cyber security initiative, Alexander said it’s a job that’s bigger than one agency and that the NSA isn’t looking to control but rather to partner with DHS, other defense departments, industry and law enforcement.

President Obama asked for a report in 60 days on the extent of the threats and put former Bush administration adviser, Melissa Hathaway in charge of it the study. Hathaway wrote about it on the White House blog on 5/29. Both Hathaway and Beckstrom could be in contention for the czar position, according to The Guardian. But according to the AP,

As many as a half dozen candidates — from the public and private sector — are being considered for the job, according to officials familiar with the discussions.

Obama’s announcement comes as the Pentagon is poised to create a new cyber command to improve protection of military networks and coordinate its offensive and defensive cyber missions.

President Obama presented a briefing Friday, as the White House released a report on a 60-day review of the nation’s cybersecurity efforts (.pdf). The report was conducted by acting White House cybersecurity chief Melissa Hathaway, who is considered a front runner for the permanent czar job, according to Wired Threat Level. After months of rumors, Obama confirmed that the White House will be creating a new office to be led by a cybersecurity czar. The story’s headline, “Obama Says New Cyberczar Won’t Spy on the Net,” is from (5/29/09). To quote:

. . . The office will be in charge of coordinating efforts to secure government networks and U.S. critical infrastructures. . . Obama was quick to add that the new White House cybersecurity office would include an official whose job is to ensure that the government’s cyber policies don’t violate privacy and civil liberties of Americans. He also reaffirmed his support for the principle of net neutrality.

“Our pursuit of cybersecurity will not include — I repeat, will not include — monitoring private sector networks or internet traffic,” he said. “We will preserve and protect the personal privacy and civil liberties that we cherish as Americans. Indeed, I remain firmly committed to net neutrality so we can keep the internet as it should be, open and free.”

. . . in his address on Friday, Obama said the new cybercoordinator will have “my full support and regular access to me as we confront these challenges.”

. . .“From now on our digital infrastructure, the networks and computers we depend on every day, will be treated as they should be — as a strategic national asset,” Obama said. “Protecting this infrastructure will be a national security priority. We will ensure that these networks are secure, trustworthy and resilient. We will deter, prevent, detect and defend against attacks and recover quickly from any disruptions or damage.”

The story of the report is also in Wired Threat Level (5/29/09):”Obama Cybersecurity Report Addresses Critical Infrastructure and Privacy Issues.” The article includes a good set of highlights from the recommendations. To quote:

A cybersecurity report . . . touches on everything from establishing communication networks for emergency response teams to the role government should play in the protection of critical infrastructure networks and whether or not entities that experience a breach should have to notify governments and law enforcement agencies. Privacy and civil liberties concerns receive a repeated nod, with privacy being mentioned in the report more than five dozen times.

The 76-page report (.pdf) was released in conjunction with a White House announcement that the president will be creating a new cybersecurity office and czar, as well as a privacy and civil liberties official to oversee the government’s cybersecurity plans.

How much cybersecurity will result from all of this is not yet known. But it certainly seems like a good start. Hathaway, if she is named the czar, had a very good reputation. Both she and President Obama seem cognizant of the concerns about privacy raised by civil libertarians. That concern has been dampened now that the office will be in the White House and not the NSA. And it is “down one rung” on the White House authority ladder (under both the National Security and Economic Security councils) because both private and government internet needs must be protected. And it seems clear that the czar will have adequate direct access to the President, who will probably get to settle any remaining turf battles. Much remains to be seen as the military arm of cybersecurity is more fully revealed. And finally, President Obama has reaffirmed his support for net neutrality.

Cross posted at Making Good Mondays.  My new blog is called “Behind the Links.”

Carol Gee – Online Universe is the all-in-one home page for my websites.

Technorati tags: news news and politics politics cybersecurity national security obama administration

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Obama Report Cards —

Elected in November of 2008, President Obama on April 29 will go into the next 100 days of his new administration. I have no idea what is magic with the number 100, outside of President Franklin Roosevelt’s record-making administration during the Great Depression. Everyone with an opinion seems bent on grading the President’s first hundred days. Democrats, of course, will be giving him high marks. And many Republicans will fume.

During these times of extreme stress and anxiety producing recession, the President has been about cutting wasteful or ineffective programs while dramatically increasing spending on economic rescue of the financial sector and a different set of priorities from Republicans’. The House and Senate will meet for a 2010 budget conference to compromise on their legislative differences on April 27: CQ Politics reports that “Democratic leaders would like to have the final budget adopted next week as Obama marks his first 100 days in office.”

President Obama has been known to compromise, sometimes surprising people. The New York Times (4/18/09) put it this way: “Despite Major Plans, Obama Taking Softer Stands.” In summary, “After pledges to change Washington, the president’s early willingness to deal or fold has left commentators and allies wondering: where’s the fight?”

Well, here is the fight – The release of the top secret Bush Office of Legal Counsel torture memos, came after a difficult and protracted fight within the Obama administration. Nudged by events, an ACLU FOIA lawsuit, and the leaking of an International Committee of the Red Cross report on torture to the New York Times, President Obama took the very courageous decision to release the mostly unredacted classified OLC memos. The Justice Department is charged with enforcing the rule of law.

President Obama has ushered in a new era of foreign relations. The moment he took office the U.S. standing in the world improved. People of color all around the earth found new hope for a chance at success. During the first 100 days the President exercised effective leadership in his meetings in various countries in Europe and Latin America.

From Time Magazine – Joe Klein wrote a very good article on “Sizing Up Obama’s First 100 days” for the (4/23/09) Time Magazine. At the beginning Klein was discussing the President’s “prose” speech at Georgetown University on April 14. To quote:

. . . Obama was making his case in the midst of a national crisis, at a moment when it seemed possible that he might enact much of what he was seeking. And he was talking about far more than a new set of policies: he was implying a new set of national values. “There’s also an impatience that characterizes [Washington],” he said, “that insists on instant gratification in the form of immediate results or higher poll numbers. When a crisis hits, there is all too often a lurch from shock to trance, with everyone responding to the tempest of the moment until the furor has died down … instead of confronting major challenges that will shape our future in a sustained and focused way.” (See who’s in Obama’s White House.)

The combination of candor and vision and the patient explanation of complex issues was Obama at his best – and more than any other moment of his first 100 days in office, it summed up the purpose of his presidency: a radical change of course not just from his predecessor, not just from the 30-year Reagan era but also from the quick-fix, sugar-rush, attention-deficit society of the postmodern age.

From Politico - Jim VandeHei and John Harris of Politico wrote, “100 days: What Obama wants you to read,” a user’s guide to 100 days stories (4/23/09). Politico published a special glossy 100 Days magazine on Friday. The authors’ generallt positive story lists seven things the White House wants reporters to write: “Obama is a promise keeper. . . Obama is a game-changer. . . Obama is the decider. . . Obama’s not in the bubble. . . Obama is not FDR. . . Obama is FDR. . . Obama is one cool cucumber.”

From The Democratic Strategist -”Obama’s ‘Third Way’ ” is the manner that an article in The Democratic Strategist defines the Obama presidency. To quote: “. . . the president represents a sort of hybrid liberalism that reflects the market-friendly attitude of Bill Clinton’s New Democrats tempered by a more traditional commitment to equality.”

See also Behind the Links, for further info on this subject.

Carol Gee – Online Universe is the all-in-one home page for all my websites.

Technorati tags: news news and politics politics obama 100 days

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Closing in on 100 days do you think Obama is making the grade?

I am constantly every day impressed with Obama’s many accomplishments and what he is doing in order for us to get back our version of America and destroy the mess Bush and Republicans made of us and our America while instituting their version. He makes inroads toward that end. That is why as they get increasingly more desperate Republicans are getting increasingly extremist. I am very concerned at how far they will go to make Obama fail so they can get back in and finish their agenda and us off.

I commend Obama for what he has been able to accomplish in his first 100 days. Particularly because before he was elected he promised to be all inclusive and once again bring bipartisanship back to our Government. I have always thought that partisanship was sometimes necessary and essential. However not now. I prefer to have bipartisanship to clean up the mess created under Bush to destroy our version of America and implement their new version. Republicans do not want that to happen and will continue to be the party of no to make Obama appear to be a liar and the purveyor of Partisanship they themselves insist on as they attempt to block Obama. They will fail!

I heard Boehner say he would give Obama an F for his first one hundred days because of borrowing, spending, and avoiding all the hard choices What?
Everything is a hard choice. They credit him for spending more than every President in the past combined. Do not forget Bush did too but for his wars while we lost our jobs and our infrastructure fell apart. Now Obama has to understandably spend more than that to put us back to work and rebuild our infrastructure. What the hell do they think!? Anyway This is from the House leader that destroyed US and world order! That means to us he gets an A and has done most things right.

Remember what Obama is trying to work with. All the while Obama inherited this anti abortion Republican Abortion called the economy as well as all the rest of them. Obama will get us back on track to get back our America. However that is what Republican’s are against not Obama. They want their version back! Being Anarchistic they will do anything to keep Partisanship and try to blame it on Obama, hoping he fails. We must do everything possible to help and keep that from happening.

I am looking forward to Obama’s next 100 days and what he will accomplish. As far as I am concerned Obama was acting President long before Bush left as he was running the country behind the scenes while Bush was screwing around and patting himself on the back for a job well done. Yeah! That aside I am afraid Obama has yet to face his biggest tests and the next hundred days will go a long way towards proving that. The next 100 days and beyond is going to be a lot tougher because of the mess Bush made of the US.

America and the mess he made out of us in his “success” Is a small part of the crises he has set in motion. Wow think of this! What the hell is Obama going to do if the Taliban overruns Islamabad? Many of you remember what happened to us in Hanoi. I am sure the Taliban is not only camping out 65 miles outside Islamabad the capitol of Pakistan You know there are many on the inside and all over ready to act. I keep hearing the Pakistan army can handle them if they pull their army off the India Border but I absolutely do not think so. I do not trust the ISI either. They were complicit with those that attacked the towers and I absolutely do not think they want the Government of Pakistan as it is.

Meanwhile Obama is going to have a hell of a fight with Republicans to pass health care and and with environmental issues. Everything Obama says or does they jump on and call it the wrong thing. It is the wrong thing for them and their version of America but it is the right thing for us and our version of America. We must help get it back. should have long been over being stunned at what I have seen and heard coming from the Republican party since some fools got the dumb ass drunk elected. He was a proven life long loser and I still can’t believe he was elected and worse is defended. Look what he friggen did, I do not get it! Anyway again I am flabbergasted how someone with the resume of Gore can be so ignorantly discounted by this time the likes of Gingrich. These idiots will not shut up and sadly they will not go away but will get much worse.

I refuse to believe that at this point anyone can not realize cleaning up the environment is a dire necessity and a money maker of the future. Let alone someone of Gingrich’s low moral standing refuting Gore and his vast resume on the subject. Gore correctly told Congress the fate of the planet is in their hands and it it is. Gore and thus Obama does not want your job. Going green, cleaning up the environment will create jobs. I wish to hell Republicans would stop their divisive crap as it is only designed to confuse for selfish gain and divide. As usual to some extent it will succeed.

* In closing: The ass hole Republicans will do everything to not cooperate with Obama on everything. As you know, they blame their partisanship on Obama and Democrats. I am happy to see that 67% of Americans see through the Party of NO. They see a spade and call it a spade. They blame the Republicans for wanting to do nothing but block Obama. I just wish they would gather why. Obama is using our drones in Pakistan that may erupt and soon. Giving Obama I am afraid more than FDR had on his plate during WW2. He handled the Pirate situation well. I think with his diplomacy in the middle east, South America and around the world we are much safer not weaker as Republicans want you to believe. Tempering Obama’s good guy demeanor and approach with toughness will be his challenge and he will deliver! He will come through. I give him an A! What say you?

James Joiner
Gardner, Ma
Crossposted at www.anaveragepatriot.com

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National Security Opinion Roundup

Retired General James Jones is President Obama’s pick to head the National Security Agency. In my opinion it was a brilliant choice of a brilliant man for a crucial position. Policy making, coordination, advice will be the stuff of his days in the West Wing. With what issues has he been dealing in recent weeks?

Secrecy – “How long will the secret Bush counterterrorism memos stay secret?,” was written by Chisun Lee at ProPublica. At the (2/25/09) confirmation hearing for Dawn Johnsen to head the Office of Legal Counsel, the nominee evaded flatly saying that the memos would be released. Senator Diane Feinstein was not satisfied with her answer, echoing the opinion of many civil libertarians. Before being nominated Johnsen has called the Bush OLC’s secrecy a “terrible abuse of power.”

Jameel Jaffer, director of the American Civil Liberties Union’s National Security Project, told us, “I would have liked to hear a clearer commitment” to releasing the memos and to the public value of doing so. But, he said, “ultimately what matters is not what Ms. Johnsen says but what she does, and when she does it. We’re hopeful that over the next few weeks we’ll start to see some of these memos released.”

Guantanamo Bay – Anthony Romero, who heads the ACLU, urged President Obama to let human rights groups examine conditions at Guantanamo Bay. Romero recently said it is not enough that the Pentagon has just issued a report concluding that the prison complies with the humanitarian requirements of the Geneva Conventions. Here is the action link Romero recommends: Ask President Obama to let human rights groups independently examine conditions at Guantánamo Bay.

Detention policy – “The Obama administration position on detention policy: what he said,” according to Christopher Weaver’s article at ProPublica (2/23/09), is essentially the same as the old policy. To quote:

But the orders didn’t address the broader questions of detention policy that have left the four Bagram prisoners behind bars for years, without due process. The men are basically the same type of prisoners that stirred up fervor over Gitmo. Unlike most of the 600 inmates at Bagram, who were detained in combat on the battlefield, these four were captured outside of Afghanistan or any other war zone, and they’ve been in custody for years. One detainee, according to his lawyers, was captured on a business trip in Bangkok.

Observers weren’t surprised that the Obama administration hasn’t developed a sweeping new policy on combating terrorism in the brief period allotted by the court. Jack Balkin, a Yale law professor, told the New York Times, “It may take some time before we see exactly what is going on — whether this is just a transitory policy or whether this is really their policy.”

Central Intelligence Agency – Old scandals and new beginnings:

1. “Disgraced senior CIA official heads to prison still claiming he is a patriot,” by Marcus Stern, (2/27/09) at ProPublica. Kyle “Dusty” Foggo, who held very senior positions at the agency, has been sentenced to over three years in federal prison for defrauding the government. It stemmed from the bribery scandal that involved Randy “Duke” Cunningham a few years ago. Foggo claimed he plead guilty in order to spare the government the cost of a trial where national security secrets might have been revealed.
2. “Biden says Bush gave Al Qaeda a recruiting tool,” Scott Shane reports at the International Herald Tribune (2/20/09). Speaking to the employees of the CIA after swearing in its new director, Leon Panetta, Vice President Biden’s words implied criticism of the organization’s record under the previous administration. To quote:
   

   Biden said the new president’s actions “reverse the policies that in my view and the view of many in this agency caused America to fall short of its founding principles and which gave Al Qaeda a powerful recruiting tool.”

   Such remarks . . . did not appear to dampen the enthusiastic reception from CIA employees. Panetta, 70, a former California congressman and White House chief of staff who has never before worked for an intelligence agency, also made glancing references to the recent history of the CIA, which was blamed for mistaken assessments of Saddam Hussein’s weapons programs in the months before the Iraq war.

The Democratic Left/Progressive/Civil liberties wing of our party is sometimes of the opinion that President Obama has given us several disappointments on the Constitutional vs. national security front. At this point I believe that he is feeling his way, trying to avoid making mistakes that he feels might jeopardize his presidential prerogatives or risk national security. It is my hope that some of these decisions will be softened or reversed as time passes and he gains confidence. In order for that to happen, however, he must be kept aware that we expect better things, better support for the place of the Bill of Rights in the decision mix.

See also Behind the Links, for further info on this subject.

Carol Gee – Online Universe is the all-in-one home page for all my websites.

Technorati tags: news news and politics politics civil liberties national security guantanamo opinion obama administration

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