Sic Semper Tyrannis

Let's Weaken the Authority of Military Commanders - No?

 
"... military officials united in opposition to Gillibrand’s proposal, which would take away commanders’ authority to determine whether sexual assault cases go to trial. “If you’ve heard each of us suggest that the role of a commander is central in solving this problem, it’s because we believe that the role of the commander is essential to any change we will be able to make on this issue,” Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Martin Dempsey told the committee, defending the current processes. Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force and Coast Guard leaders testified Tuesday on a panel convened by the Senate Armed Services Committee to hear opinions on pending sexual assault bills.  Politico

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The notion that military society is or should be closely analogous to civilian life is just ignorant and silly.

The military life and military society exist for the sole purpose of doing violence in service of the foreign, and if need be, the domestice policy of the US Government

The military does not exist for the purpose of creating opportunities for "self-actualization" for people in the forces.  This is true without regard to gender, race, status as a membe of a protected minority or whatever.

In pursuit of combat power in the service of the country, nothing can be  allowed to exist in the US armed forces that detracts in any way from the generation and maintenance of that power.

 A key factor in the generation of combat power is the unity and integrity of what is called the chain of command.  By this is meant the undivided authority and responsibility of commanders at all levels from squad leader to theater commander over all that occurs within their commands.  The principle enunciated by the Commandant of the USMC today that both the authority and the responsibility of commanders can not be diluted without threatening the capability of the force is absolutely correct.

Both the functioning of the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ) and the Inspector General system are command functions.  There is no separate judicial system,  in the military, nor should there be.  A court-martial is a command function.  It sits in the name of the commander and represents him or her and acts for him.  The commander should continue to have the right to reduce sentences recommended by a court-martial that was authorized by him.

To take judicial power away from commanders is to weaken the power and authority of all commanders and to court battlefield disaster when in some future combat service members question that authority.

It is amusing to hear draft dodgers like Christopher Matthews opine on how the armed forces should be run, but it is much more serious to hear senators who know little of the reality of war treat this crisis of criminal activity as an issue left over from the feminist culture wars.

Solution:

What needs to be done is to hold commanders responsible in terms of promotion and assignment for failure to enforce existing militsry law.  In other words, commanders who do not fully investigate, prosecute and punish malfeasants should be penalized in term of their careers.  As soon as it becomes clear that this is true, the rate of such misbehavior will drop to a low level.  All that will be required to achieve that effect will be for some general or admiral to be heavily penalized for failure to act or for retaliation.  pl 

http://www.politico.com/story/2013/06/military-sexual-assault-hearing-92196.html

"Lawmakers Push for Federal Trial of Boston Suspect" NY Times

Having been an expert witness in several Guantanamo Habeas Corpus  cases that stretched on interminably and having served the same function in Article Three criminal cases involving national security I would heartily recommend that Tsarnaev be tried in federal civilian court.

In my experience the Department of Justice and the FBI are more than qualified and quite willing to prosecute such cases.  There is an abundance of evidence in this case and any links to a larger group than the two brothers will soon be uncovered.

Any idea that a Military Commission under the present law would deal with the culprit(s) more severely than a civilian court is misguided.  Having been "burned" by the experience of the mistreatment of prisoners in the immediate post 9/11 world the military can be expected to be very wary of any such idea.  Under pressure from Cheney and Rumsfeld, carefully chosen commanders did things then that were outside the traditions and regulations of the US armed forces.  The armed forces have payed a price for that in reputation and corruption of their institutions and will not repeat the error.  It would be much better to let the civlian courts deal with this matter.

BTW, the claim that the US government has been opposed to Soviet/Russian government actions against the Chechens in Chechniya is nonsense.  At the level of working government there has been a constant cooperation on the basis of anti-terrorism since the emergence of salafi wahhabi elements among the Chechen guerrillas in; Chechniya, the Balkans, Iraq and Afghanistan.  FSB (formerly KGB) witnesses who have worked on the Chechen "problem" for decades are routinely called as prosecution witnesses in US federal courts in cases whree their "expertise" is useful.  The Chechens know this.

We should remember that the Chechens and other Northern Caucasian minority "nations" have resisted Russification and Westernization for centuries.  Until recently they were led in this resistance by their own Sufi murids.  these Sufis were in no way either salafi or wahhabi.  pl

 

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/22/us/push-for-tsarnaev-to-be-tried-in-federal-court.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

Local Government Corruption

"State Senator Malcolm A. Smith arranged payments to get on the ballot of the New York City mayoral race, according to federal prosecutors. Mr. Smith, a Democrat, wanted to run as a Republican, and needed approval from Republican leaders. A criminal complaint detailed transactions that led to the arrests of six officials. "  NY Times

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Naughty.  Many will say that this kind of thing is typical of the fantasy archipelago of places like New York City, Washington, Atlanta, Chicago, etc.  It is, and the ridiculous teacher corruption scandal in Atlanta comes to mind.

On the other hand, our popular governor, Bob McDonnell is reported to have allowed a developer who needed state help to pay for much of his daughter's wedding.  This was in the ever hateful to Virginia Washington Post. 

I have a deep and abiding loathing for state and local governmental pursuit of graft, and particularly the pursuit of developer money in zoning and re-development proposals.

The Department of Justice and the FBI have been zealous in pursuing such corruption in the Washington metro area north of the river.

Are we not deserving of their vigilance in the Old Dominion?  pl  

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2013/04/02/nyregion/mayor-plot.html?_r=0

Freedom to Marry

Correct me if I am wrong but it appears that the Proposition 8 and DOMA cases are being argued by opponents on the basis of a supposed absolute right to marriage contained somewhere in the constitution of the US.

This is quite different from a challenge that could have been made on basis of the "normality" of such marriages. 

If the argument that people have a right to marry whom they please without government interference is successful, it would seem inevitable that laws banning polygamy will be challenged. 

What is the social benefit derived from laws against polygamy? As a libertarian constitutionalist I do not understand the laws against polygamy as being other than derived from Judeo-Christian tradition.  pl

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/27/us/supreme-court-same-sex-marriage-case.html?_r=0

The federal courts begin to act on classification issues

"A US judge has ordered the FBI to stop its "pervasive" use of National Security letters to snoop on phone and email records, ruling Friday that the widespread tactic was unconstitutional. The order issued by US District Court Judge Susan Illston in San Francisco came as a blow to a measure heavily used by the administration of President Barack Obama in the name of battling terrorism "  globalpost

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"Garland rejected an effort by the Obama administration to keep secret any aspect of the C.I.A.’s interest in the use of drone strikes to kill terrorism suspects abroad. It does not necessarily mean the contents of any of those records will ever be made public, and it stopped short of ordering the government to acknowledge publicly that the C.I.A. actually uses drones to carry out “targeted killings” against specific terrorism suspects or groups of unknown people who appear to be militants in places like tribal Pakistan. The Obama administration continues to treat that fact as a classified secret, though it has been widely reported."  NY Times

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There has been a consistent pattern in which  federal judges have been willing to uncritically accept the Executive Branch's arguments with regarding to classification issues regarding evidence.

It often seems that any argument at all from the Justice Department will suffice in most courts.  This different.  pl  

http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/afp/130315/fbi-snooping-tactic-ruled-unconstitutional

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/16/us/court-says-cia-must-yield-some-data-on-drones.html?_r=0

 

 

New FBI surveillance video release reopens IAI Nozette espionage question--IRmep

New FBI counterespionage surveillance video release reopens concerns about Israel Aerospace Industries Ltd. On March 21, 2012 U.S. prosecutors played FBI surveillance video in court of former NASA employee Stewart Nozette agreeing to sell U.S. government secrets to Israel. Nozette was then sentenced to thirteen years in prison. The FBI surveillance video, obtained by IRmep under the Freedom of Information Act, is now available on YouTube and Vimeo. An imperfect redaction reveals Nozette appearing to say he sold classified U.S. government information to "Israeli Aircraft," also known as Israel Aerospace Industries and IAI.

YouTube: http://youtu.be/UKaL-adh1T4

Vimeo: http://vimeo.com/61086025

In 2007 the FBI obtained a sealed warrant to search Nozette's home. They discovered a huge cache of classified U.S. government files unlawfully stored on Nozette's computer. One document named "Proposed Activities for 2005-6" ominously contained a section titled "Penetration of NASA" on behalf of a foreign client. The FBI soon discovered that between 1998 and 2008 a nonprofit run by Nozette received $225,000 in "consulting fees" from Israel Aerospace Industries. IAI tasked Nozette to obtain "technical data" beginning in November of 1998. Nozette complied with IAI's requests in exchange for "regular payments" according to criminal complaints filed in court. In the 1950s the state-owned IAI was established and led by Adolph "Al" Schwimmer, an American felon convicted for serially violating U.S. arms export controls. Schwimmer fraudulently obtained heavily discounted surplus U.S. aircraft from the War Assets Administration. In the 1960s IAI obtained stolen French Mirage 5 jet fighter plans in order to build its own copycat Kfir jet fighter. In the 1980s IAI relied on the American Israel Public Affairs Committee to win U.S. funding for the development of the troubled Lavi jet fighter. The Lavi program was terminated in 1987 after questionable Israeli technology transfers to China. The U.S. has paid for half of the jointly developed IAI/Boeing Arrow Anti-Missile system since 1988. Since 2007 the AIPAC has lobbied for hundreds of millions in additional U.S. taxpayer funding for the new Arrow III, beyond the $3 billion in military aid already provided to Israel annually. Today AIPAC DC convention attendees will lobby Congress against cutting under sequestration any funding to IAI or other aid to Israel. On May 4, 2012 US Attorney Ron Machen was confronted on WAMU radio (YouTube) for officially stating no classified information was passed by Nozette to Israel.

YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0RK-acJmFPg

This was contradicted by court filings and now surveillance video. Machen could not credibly explain why the Justice Department limited its criminal investigation to only Nozette.  IRMEP

"Garrow's Law" a must see drama

 

"Set around trials at the Old Bailey in Georgian London against a backdrop of corruption and social injustice, Garrow's Law is a legal drama inspired by the life of pioneering barrister William Garrow. The series, co-created by Tony Marchant, is based on real legal cases from the late 18th century, as recorded in the Old Bailey Proceedings. Andrew Buchan as Garrow leads a cast including Alun Armstrong and Lyndsey Marshal. From rape and murder to high treason and corruption, each episode begins with the investigation of a real crime sourced from the published accounts of Old Bailey trials, available in a fully searchable edition online. In an age when few of the accused could afford defence counsel, the youthful Garrow and his associate John Southouse (pronounced soot-house), a solicitor, work to uncover the truth or fight for justice, championing the underdog and pioneering the rigorous cross-examination of prosecution witnesses that paved the way for the modern legal system. " Wiki

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The state of British criminal justice in the 18th Century is fully developed in this BBC production.  The reasoning and experience that led to the adoption of the Bill of Rights in the US Constitution are made evident.  pl  

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garrow%27s_Law

Treason

"Treason against the United States, shall consist only in levying War against them, or in adhering to their Enemies, giving them Aid and Comfort. No Person shall be convicted of Treason unless on the Testimony of two Witnesses to the same overt Act, or on Confession in open Court...."  Articel III, Section 3 of the US Constitution.

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I have received repeated requests to have an ongoing open thread on traitors to the United States.  The crime of treason is defined as above in the constitution.  It is clear from this that one must be a US citizen to be covered by this paragraph in the constitution. 

Don't bother to try to cite the Confederates as "traitors.'  We have dealt with that endlessly elsewhere.  Briefly, the US Government never tried any of them for treason and treated the seceded states as a belligerent power throughout the war.  After the war, the seceded states were re-admitted to the Union one by one, Therefore...   IMO the Confederates were not US citizens.  pl

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treason#Federal

Will we have sex commissars?

"... a female soldier in combat zones is more likely to be raped by a fellow soldier
than killed by enemy fire. The Defense Department estimated that 19,000 cases of
sexual assault occurred last year, 3,200 of which were reported or investigated
by the armed services. It’s hard to watch the film and not wonder why — despite
years of Pentagon studies, congressional hearings, stern talk of “zero
tolerance” and task-force recommendations — there hasn’t been more progress."  Washpost editorial

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Hard to understand, eh?  Well. lemmee try to 'splain it to you all.  (Soldier dialect).  The great majority of men desire women.  I realize that this is not true for some Washpost editorial writers.  Nevertheless, as is said in that font of wisdon "When Harry met Sally," men pretty much want women.  Really platonic male-female friendship is largely an illusion at least on the male side.  As Harry said, "You pretty much want to nail them all."

This is true in the military as well as in the general population.  The real question is what the male will do about opportunities he might have.   In the military you have youngish, fit, fairly basic men placed in authority in training situations over young impressionable women.  The resultant exploitation of the often acquiescent women is frequently a result.  Why would the woman acquiesce?  In training, enlisted women are homesick, afraid, exhausted and confused.  A drill instructor who appears to be a possible protector has a tremendous psychological advantage in dealing with such women.  Once the woman graduates from training, she naturally does not want to make such an experience public.

Rape in the military is a different but closely related matter.  Our present wars cause soldiers to exist for long periods of time under inhuman conditions.  The puritan spirit of the age, is reflected in close policing of; smoking, drinking and certainly addictive drugs. Such things occur but the penalties for getting caught are severe.  Local women are out of the question unless one wishes to come home in a box in several pieces.  It was not always this way. In my biggest war, the one in SE Asia, women would stand by the side of the road to loudly announce their availability.  Life in today's wars is a form of enforced and unwilling monasticism.  "Forward Operating Bases," (FOBS) are inhabited by hordes of male and female "fobbits," busily pumping iron, eating a lot of rich food, and surfing the internet.  The Post finds rape surprising under these circumstances?   The French Army used to have "Mobile Field Bordellos" staffed by girls from North Africa striving for La Gloire Francaise  while earning a future dowry for back home.  In combat, as at Dien Bien Phu, the girls worked as nurses aides in the hospitals.  But, that was the French.  We would never do anything as immoral and human as that.

How to deal with all this?

This is a disciplinary matter.  Rape is the equivalent of a felony under UCMJ.  The use of positions of authority to sexually exploit women in the military is also a major crime.  The military must enforce the law.  The decision to require a colonel or Navy captain to resolve such matters is a good one.  Officers at that rank are usually two or three levels of command distant from the offense.  This will make senior officers more likely to believe that the "stain" of this disgrace will not extend to them. 

It is a terrible idea to think of injecting civilians into the military chain of command.  This would be a step on the road to some sort of dual command situation.  the communists had such systems in which a political officer (commissar) exercised "joint command" with actual commanders.  This was done to ensure political correctness.  Commissars counter-signed orders before they were effective.

Is that what we want?  I think not.  pl

 

http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/the-militarys-zero-tolerance-policy-on-sexual-misconduct-isnt-working/2012/07/04/gJQANSa6NW_story.html

Tribe and Rivkin on Robert's Choice

"...Chief Justice Roberts opinion' for the court -- re-articulates in the most elegant fashion the importance of a dual-sovereignty system, its connection to individual liberty, the proposition that the federal government cannot exercise general police power.

I have been saying from the very beginning this is not about health care. This is not about individual mandate. It's about constitutional architecture. The fact that this decision does it with vigor I have not seen since the Lopez decision, where it was only a concurring opinion by Justice Kennedy, is remarkable.

And even on the taxing power, Professor Tribe misses the point, with respect, that there are limiting factors that the chief justice hung his hat on, for example, the total size of a penalty. I think if a penalty was in the thousands of dollars, the decision may have come out differently.

But what's important in the long run again, to correct this mistaken impression which this administration has unfortunately propounded, that somehow the structural separation of powers issues are archaic, this is not important, only matters what was good for a matter and policy and politics."  David Rivkin

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I think Rivkin has the better of this argument.  IMO the long term effects of this decision are severely limiting for the "interstate commerce" clause.  This clause has been used for decades by consolidationists to expand the power of the federal government.

The additional limitation on the power of the federal government in the matter of Medicaid expansion was evidently bartered to Roberts by two of the liberal justice (breyer and Ginsburg) in return for his acquiesence in sustaining the general tenor of this law.  How the BHO Administration plans to implement this insurance structure without Medicaid expansion in some states is a mystery.

I am of two minds in this matter. As I have said I favor public health care for the poor, but on the other hand the middle class is going to pay for that care under this law as it was designed.  The money for subsidies will have to come from the general treasury of the United Statees.  That means that tax paying citizens will pay for subsidies for those who do not pay taxes because of low incomes.  Will the middle class benefit from the law on a net basis?

Europeans and Canadians cannot see why some Americans (including me) do not want to live in a consolidated state in which the central government of a country 3,000 miles wide with 300 million people can simply dictate what it likes as an ideology driven future.  IMO Chief Justice Roberts struck a blow against that future and I applaud him.  pl

http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/law/july-dec12/roberts_07-02.html

DHS will not respond to local police on immigration

"The move means that even if local police step up immigration checks, they'll
have to rely on federal officials to make the arrests.

And federal officials made clear that ICE would be selective in responding to
the expected rise in calls from Arizona and other police agencies about
immigration status. Officials said ICE will not respond to the scene unless the
person in question meets certain criteria -- such as being wanted for a
felony."  Foxnews

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Well, well.  The president of the United States takes an  oath that he will ensure that the law is enforced and obeyed.  This action places barriers in the way of enforcing federal customs and immigration law.  Would this have anything to do with the coming November presidential election?  pl

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2012/06/25/feds-suspend-immigration-enforcement-program-after-arizona-court-ruling/#ixzz1yqNwQfqw

 

 

 

Update on Sanger and classified disclosure.

David Sanger (NY Times) wrote the story published this week on the joint Israeli/US Stuxnet cyber sabotage project called "Olympic Games."  This is an ongoing highly classified covert action of the US Government.  It was presumably authorised by the president as a "finding" under the national security statutes of the US.

Today, on "Face the Nation," Sanger and his writing colleague claimed that they, over a period of a year,  had interviewed officials who had access to this program and who told them all about it "for reasons of conscience."  And then, according to the journalistic duo, they went to the White House to tell "them" how much they knew and to request yet more information.  They say that the government complied and gave them informatin to complete the picture of this ongoing US strategic covert action.

"DAVID SANGER: You know, in the case of Olympic Games, I spent a year working the story from the bottom up, and then went to the administration and told them what I had. Then they had to make some decisions about how much they wanted to talk about it. All that you read about this being deliberate leaks out of the White House wasn't my experience. Maybe it is in-- in other cases. I'm sure the political side of the White House probably likes reading about the President acting with drones and cyber and so forth. National security side has got very mixed emotions about it because these are classified programs."  Face the Nation - 3 June, 2012

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-3460_162-57446259/face-the-nation-transcript-june-3-axelrod-priebus-and-more/?pageNum=8&tag=contentMain;contentBody

Now it is true that the government has an absolute legal right to decide who it will prosecute or not prosecute for any federal crime. Nevertheless, the willingness of the Obama Administration to allow this particular security violation brings into question the willingness of the Obama Administration to prosecute journalists and sources in much less sensitive cases.  You can name the cases.  I was an expert witness in one and so will not comment on that matter.

If it occurred, was such government action legal? It probably was.  Was it unjust in light if the government's other actions?  Yes.

As I stated in another post, there really is no justice.  pl

 

Ratko Mladic war crimes trial plunged into confusion

"The Hague war crimes tribunal, already under fire for its slow pace in dealing with Balkan war crimes cases, was thrown into confusion on Thursday by the revelation that lawyers prosecuting the Bosnian Serb commander Ratko Mladic had failed to turn over hundreds of thousands of pages of evidence to the defence.

The Dutch judge, Alphons Orie, said the mistake would lead to a delay in the trial, which lawyers were already predicting would last four years or more.

"The chamber is still in the process of gathering information of the scope and full impact of this error," Orie said."  The Guardian

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This does not surprise me at all.  In several years of participating as an expert witness in criminal trials in federal and state courts as well  as "habeas corpus" hearings in federal courts I have seen prosecutors do this over and over again.  

It seems that the temptation to cheat the process and try a defendant on evidence he has not seen before the courtroom confrontation is overwhelming.  An additional "technique" used by prosecutors is to declare that some evidence is so sensitive that the defense team and the defendant cannot be shown it.  This is now prevalent in Americans national security cases.  In one pending case, the Justice Department attempted to have witnesses testify without identification and in disguise.  This case is still before a circuit court of appeals.  pl

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/may/17/ratko-mladic-war-crimes-trial-chaos

Zimmerman Case Medical Evidence

In the hope that conversation can be civil, I am re-opening discussion of this case because of  evidence delivered in "discovery" to the defense team by the prosecution.

To wit:

The Zimmerman family physician wrote a report that says that Zimmerman had two black eyes, a broken nose and an injury to the back of his head the day after the killing.  IMO the defense will offer the doctor as an expert witness.  If he is accepted by the court he will be sworn to deliver his evidence about GZ's injuries

Also in "discovery is the medical examiner's report on the condition of TM's body.  He reports the bullet wound and skinned knuckles consistent with a fight.

Also IMO, the court will send the case to trial and depending on the jury make up GZ may well be acquitted

In that event the federal government will charge GZ with violating TM's civil rights and will attempt to apply the Hate Crimes law to the trial.  The Justixe Department is likely to lose in that trial, but they will try anyway.

I will close comments again if ugliness emerges here or to wait for further developments.  pl

http://www.latimes.com/news/nation/nationnow/la-na-nn-injuries-martin-zimmerman-20120516,0,7794169.story

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2012/05/16/autopsy-results-reportedly-indicate-trayvon-martin-suffered-injuries-to/

 

 

"Massive cloud of suspicion gathering over AIPAC in DC Court of Appeals- IRmep

Update: The three-judge panel is still deliberating over the $20 million Rosen v. AIPAC et al defamation suit. 

AIPAC Fights Former Executive's $20 Million Defamation Suit by Grant F. Smith The Washington Report on Middle East Affairs March-April 2012 Full report at:  http://tinyurl.com/wrmea-aipac 

During Feb. 14, 2012 oral arguments before a three-judge panel in the District of Columbia Court of Appeals, attorney David Shapiro argued passionately that the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) has a long history of obtaining and using classified U.S. government information. The fiery Shapiro clashed with AIPAC's legal team, headed by employment and labor law expert Thomas McCalley. The $20 million question before the judges was whether AIPAC defamed its former top lobbyist, Steven J. Rosen, after it fired him in 2005--but before Rosen, along with his colleague Keith Weissman, was indicted by the Department of Justice under the Espionage Act. AIPAC repeatedly told establishment media outlets that Rosen's "behavior did not comport with standards that AIPAC expects of its employees." 

The Affidavit of Probable Cause in the Zimmerman Case

Adam L. Silverman, PhD*

The Affidavit of Probable Cause that was filed in the Zimmerman case is now available online.  I found the link to it here.  Here's an interesting take on it from James Fallows at The Atlantic and one on the case in general from Johnathon Turley.

* Adam L. Silverman is the Culture and Foreign Language Advisor at the US Army War College (USAWC).  The views expressed here are his own and do not necessarilu reflect those of USAWC and/or the US Army.

Mark Garagos on Zimmerman Case

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3036697/ns/msnbc_tv-hardball_with_chris_matthews/#47045939

pl

Dershowitz on L'Affaire Zimmerman

Ah, the hell with it.  This from Alan Dershowitz is just to good to pass up. He wasn't smiling today.   pl

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3036697/#47034974

Opposing Government-sponsored Torture by Dr. Chris Bolan

The National Security Archive published a recently declassified memorandum from a senior U.S. State Department advisor Philip Zelikow who in 2006 courageously (if belatedly) opposed the Bush Administration's authorization of water boarding and other methods of what is often euphemistically referred to as 'enhance interrogation.'  The legal opinions by former Deparment of Justice lawyers led by John Yoo endorsing the use of torture will serve as a blot on the soul of our nation for some time to come.  It is a credit to both John McCain and Mr. Zelikow that they pressed the government to adhere to its own laws and professed principles.

Much of the Zelikow memo is written in legal-ease.  The essence of his argument is that many of the "enhanced interrogation techniques authorized for employment by the CIA...[are] intrinsically cruel, inhuman, [and] degrading...[and should] be barred even if there is a compelling state interest asserted to justify them."  The memo goes on to more explicitly make the case that specific coercive techniques including water boarding and stress positions are unconstitutional; while other measures such as sleep and food deprivation may be legal "depending on the circumstances and details of how these techniques are used."

Nations often reflect the aspirations, hopes, and fears of their people and leaders.  In the of 9/11, many Americans have become overly fearful and only too willing to sacrifice personal liberties and bypass constitutionally-guarantee legal protections in the pursuit of an imagined (and unachievable) sense of security.  Thankfully, President Obama has put some of the uglier aspects of the 'global war on terror' behind us.  However, other aspects such as warrantless searches, 'targeted assassinations', and indefinite detentions remain.  We will yet need many more citizens, politicians, and officials to demonstrate the courage of their convictions.

The author is professor of national security studies at the U.S. Army War College.  The views expressed are his own and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the Army, Department of Defense, or the U.S. Government.

"Holder needs to issue FARA surrender to Israel" by Grant Smith IRMEP

The 1938 Foreign Agents Registration Act is supposed to deter the most egregious foreign meddling in America.  It does so through transparency.  FARA doesn’t prohibit any foreign government from launching US public relations campaigns or lobbying initiatives.  It only insists that the agents of the foreign principal behind such endeavors publicly reveal the control relationships, campaigns, and funding flows. 

Brilliant. 

Perhaps no foreign government has violated the letter and spirit of FARA more than Israel and its US agents.  They’ve had steady help from the US Department of Justice.  In the late 1940’s DOJ stood by as the Zionist Organization of America executed immaterial changes in its organizing documents to sever the appearance of foreign control on paper though not in fact.  DOJ ordered AIPAC’s founder to continue registering as a foreign agent in the early 1950s, but then did nothing to enforce the order.  DOJ allowed Israel’s super-agent Abraham Feinberg to shut down his propaganda paper and move on to funding Israel’s nuclear arsenal rather than comply with a registration order. In the early 1960s, DOJ ordered the American Zionist Council to register, but let its lobbying division AIPAC slip away to incorporate just six weeks later. FARA, the best transparency law in America, has been bested by Israel.  It is now time for the Attorney General  recognize that by issuing a formal declaration of surrender.  

Fortunately, there is now an easy way to do that. 

An amendment to FARA allows an attorney general to admit defeat and formally exempt a foreign principal from all FARA oversight.  Since the 1960s white shoe law firms such as Covington & Burling, where Eric Holder was once an attorney, have worked diligently to gut FARA and water down its investigative and enforcement mechanisms.   If it wasn’t written for Israel, it’s hard to say who the exemption is for.  Crudely abbreviated it reads, “The Attorney General may, by regulation, provide for the exemption..[if the AG] determines that such registration…is not necessary…” 

Although the AG has not yet handed over this formal declaration of surrender to AIPAC or Israel, it is now quite easy to imagine why this ejection seat has been quietly installed in FARA. The next time AIPAC is caught red-handed stealing industry secrets or national defense information to touch off war with Iran , the AG can reach down and pull the FARA exemption handle.  The AG and AIPAC can then float down to business as usual under a large blue and white canopy lettered “Israel is a vital interest to the US.” 

Mr. Holder, FARA has been riddled with Israeli Ak-Ak and is now burning all around you.   The Prime Minister is on the phone.  The ejection handle beckons.  

Why wait? 

Grant Smith, IRMEP

 

"(AIPAC) is attempting to block a brief filed by Director of the Institute for Research: Middle Eastern Policy (IRmep) Grant F. Smith"

WASHINGTON, Feb. 13, 2012 /PRNewswire -- The American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) is attempting to block a brief filed by Director of the Institute for Research: Middle Eastern Policy (IRmep) Grant F. Smith in the DC Court of Appeals on February 3, 2012. The 78-page IRmep filing asserts "AIPAC has never abandoned its original role as an arm of the Israeli government in the United States." http://www.IRmep.org/ila/rosen 

Citing declassified criminal investigations, IRmep underscores the public's interest in the outcome of the case. "AIPAC's observable standard for employees is 'solicit, obtain and leverage classified information without being criminally indicted.' AIPAC is never held publicly accountable for these types of activities which harm governance and public perception of rule of law." 

Exhibits include State Department files declassified on January 20, 2012 revealing in detail how former AIPAC Director Morris Amitay endangered US national security when he obtained Department of Defense secrets in 1974. The IRmep brief also analyzes ongoing financial damages from a 1984-1987 incident. The FBI investigated how AIPAC acquired an International Trade Commission report full of still-classified confidential business information. 

AIPAC characterized the IRmep brief as "completely inaccurate portrayals of events that occurred decades ago" but seeks dismissal on procedural grounds. IRmep argues for its acceptance even though oral arguments begin February 14, because "AIPAC is an organization that has long 'had it both ways' in functioning as an agent of the Israeli government without registering, influencing funding flows to political candidates while claiming charitable tax-exempt status, and rewarding employees who obtained classified information--until they are criminally indicted." 

Former employee Steven J. Rosen sued AIPAC and its board of directors for defamation in 2009. AIPAC fired Rosen after FBI wiretaps alleged Rosen had received classified national defense information. Rosen was indicted for espionage in 2005 though charges were later dropped. AIPAC claimed Rosen's behavior "did not comport with standards that AIPAC expects of its employees." Rosen immediately appealed after the defamation suit was dismissed in 2011. 

IRmep has previously filed formal complaints seeking the revocation of AIPAC's tax exempt status and registration under the 1938 Foreign Agents Registration Act. In filing the appellate court brief, IRmep's director seeks to protect and advance growing popular demands that AIPAC be properly regulated. Major briefs filed in the Rosen v AIPAC et. al. court case may be viewed online at: http://www.IRmep.org/ila/rosen 

SOURCE Institute for Research: Middle Eastern Policy 

Full IRmep Filing:   http://irmep.org/ILA/rosen/02032012amicus.pdf

Full AIPAC Filing: http://irmep.org/ILA/rosen/02082012opposition.pdf

News Release: http://tinyurl.com/IRmep-brief Releted Court Filings: http://www.IRmep.org/ila/rosen/ 

 

Sometimes I Think there is Something Really Wrong with US... Q: Do You Think Jesus Would Vote for the Bill? A: Probably Not, Probably Not... by Adam Silverman

Adam L. Silverman, PhD*

If you've got a spare minute head on over and check out this past weekend's This American Life.  Its about Alabama's, strictest in the US, recent anti-illegal immigration law and the current GOP primary debate issue of self deportation.  Now before anyone freaks and screams "states rights!!!" give it either a listen or a read (hyperlink goes to the transcript).  The law was not written in AL or by one of her legislators, rather it was written by a Kansan, who was also one of the drafters of AZ's recent law (which, amazingly, is NOT the most draconian one out there), as well as similar pieces of legislation in a number of other states - and there appears to be an ALEC connection.  Do we need to have secure borders and a rational (economically, politically, and psychologically) immigration policy?  Without a doubt.  Is this the way to do it?  Most likely not.  I think one of the biggest examples of this in the report is when the AL Republican legislative whip that helped get the law passed (a self described devout Christian) has the following exchange with the interviewer:

 

Canada is not Afghanistan

"A Canadian jury Sunday convicted three members of a family of Afghan immigrants of the "honor" murders of four female relatives whose bodies were found in an Ontario canal.

Mohammed Shafia, 58; his wife, Tooba Mohammad Yahya, 42; and their son, Hamed, 21, were found guilty of first-degree murder in the deaths of Shafia's three teenage daughters and his first wife in his polygamous marriage. Sunday's verdicts followed a three-month trial, in which jurors heard wiretaps of Shafia referring to his daughters as "whores" and ranting about their behavior."  CNN

----------------------------------

Canadians should be proud of this defense of human rights and particularly those of women.  Did this man (the father) really think that he could behave this way in Canada?

Honor killings are an abomination, and not accepted by most Muslims.   The vast majority of Muslim jurisprudents would say that to do such a thing is to place oneself outside Islam.  This is tribal law behavior.  This should be a warning for those who think their familial honor demands such barbarity.  pl

http://www.cnn.com/2012/01/29/world/americas/canada-honor-murder/index.html

Qathafi's end, etc.

How did he die?  Who cares?  IMO the "Gs" killed him after they got through kicking him around.  They are not soldiers.  They are undisciplined civilian enthusiasts with a smidgin of training.  If MQ had died in an ambush or as the "Gs" shot their way into his hideout a lot of you would think nothing of it.

The Washington/New York foreign policy clique is now wringing its hands over the fate of Libya.  "They might not be ready fpr DEMOCRACY.  Oh my!  The US should establish a another Coalition Provisional Administration."  Yes, sure, the last one (Iraq) was such a success that the Iraqi government that we fostered has now thrown us out.

Americans can't seem to get it into our thick skulls that other people do not necessarily want to be like us and that this does not mean that they are retarded (oops - mentally special).

LEAVE THE LIBYANS ALONE!.  Let them work out their problems.  They are not children.  If they want one country or three that is THEIR  BUSINESS, not ours.  The think tank crowd can't leave people alone.  What would they do for a living if they did?  What would their next book or TV appearance be about?  pl

Leibowitz and Silverstein, their story.

"In 2009, Shamai Leibowitz was working secretly for the FBI, translating wiretapped conversations among Israeli diplomats in this country. He passed some transcripts of these conversations to me, which described an Israeli diplomatic campaign in this country to create a hostile environment for relations with Iran. I published excerpts from them in my blog, Tikun Olam."  Richard Silverstein

------------------------------------

Now, this is interesting...  It remains true that if it were not for patriotic Jewish Americans we would all be in deep trouble, or at least deeper trouble.  pl

http://www.truth-out.org/why-i-published-us-intelligence-secrets-about-israels-anti-iran-campaign/1316550301

The NSC Death Council - National Security Experts

 
Was Obama's Order to Kill Awlaki Justified? - National Security Experts.

Well This Explains It...

Adam L. Silverman, PhD*

In the comments to my most recent Sharia Law is Not Closer to America than It Appears post, DanM brought Spencer Ackerman's** recent reporting on some really factually inaccurate training materials pertaining to Islam that were, apparently, used at the FBI.  After looking through the training slide decks, I have got to say they are a mess!***  And that we need to bring the links to the reporting out of the comments and up where everyone can see it.  The apparent good news, which Spencer reports in his article and links to, is that Senators Lieberman and Collins seem to take these problems seriously and have made it clear they intend to fix it if the relevant agencies do not do so themselves.  But the poor quality information that Spencer has reported is being provided to Federal law enforcement, perhaps explains some of the confounding and very public terrorism prosecutions we have been witness too over the past decade as reported on by Petra Bartosiewicz at Harpers.  

* Adam L. Silverman is the Culture and Foreign Language Advisor at the US Army War College.  The views expressed here are his own and do not necessarily reflect those of the US Army War College and/or the US Army.

** Full disclosure: I once wrote a guest post for Spencer Ackerman.

*** As someone who has briefed, lectured, and presented on Islam, Islamic theology and dogma, and the connections between Islam and a variety of types of political violence and conflict to a number of different US Army elements, I can honestly say that these are some of the worst materials on the subject I have ever seen.  

Sharia Law is NOT Closer to America than it Appears... Part IV: This Club has an Exclusive Membership

Adam L. Silverman, PhD*

At Salon's War Room, Justin Elliott brings a report on a Lebanese American who is trying to establish a Republican Muslim club in FL.  As SST readers can no doubt imagine, this has been met with, shall we say, skepticism by some Republicans in FL (there are even more, and more inflammatory, links in Elliott's reporting, I'm not putting them here, if you want to click through to Salon and then click through fair enough).  Apparently the fear of a MUSLIM AMERICA is so upsetting to some Americans that it has garnered Governor Perry some negative campaign publicity from everyone's favorite Islamophobes and deep thinkers, as well as a Muslim running for a GOP spot in VA's House of Delegates from one of the same deep thinkers.  It has even led the Orthodox Jewish Candidate trying to hold Congressman Weiner's seat in NY for the Democrats to trail in the race, and combined with concerns over Democrats (because of President Obama) not being supportive enough of Israel has led Mayor Koch to endorse the Republican Candidate.  And what really gets me is that the guy who wants to form the Republican Muslim club indicates in Elliott's report that he agrees with Congressman West on many of his views, not just those on Islam.  That's after Congressman West sent him a less than pleasant letter, as a reply to a letter asking him to stop demagoguing on the Islamaphobia and shouted him down at a town hall meeting earlier this year (video at the latter link, as well as Elliott's report).  This reminds me of Hannah Arendt's remarks about Leo Strauss: “he wanted to join a party which wouldn’t have him because he was a Jew.”  And that's the irony in America ten years after the events of 9-11: Muslim Americans have, in many ways, become the Jewish Americans of the late 19th to mid 20th Century America...

*Adam L. Silverman is the Culture and Foreign Language Advisor at the US Army War College.  The views expressed here are his own and do not necessarily reflect those of the US Army War College and/or the US Army.

Nozette Court Documents

 
Download Nozette_forfeiture_order

Download Nozette_plea_agreement

Download Nozette_plea_factual_basis

"9 September 2011 

Attached are papers filed in connection with the plea of Stewart David Nozette to count 3 of the superseding indictment filed on 17 November 2010-- 

1.  The plea agreement.

2.  The factual basis for the plea.

3.  The agreed judgment of forfeiture of $9,600. 

A sentencing date has not yet been set.

The sentence is an agreed specific sentence, so he should be given it, with credit for time served since 2009, unless he "cooperates" so much that they may agree to a lower one.The next status conference is set for 15 November 2011.

 

Robert W.........

San Antonio, Texas"

 

Nozette convicted of attempted espionage.

 
"Stewart Nozette is expected to serve a sentence of 13 years in prison after making a plea deal with prosecutors.

He has been in jail since his arrest in 2009 after a sting operation by an undercover FBI agent posing as an Israeli intelligence officer.

Nozette, 54, was accused of seeking millions of dollars to sell secrets"  BBC

-------------------------------------

it appears that justice has been done.  pl

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-14825820

Sharia Law is NOT Closer to America than it Appears... Part II

Adam L. Silverman, PhD*

I was all set to write something to not only highlight, but rebut the absolute wrongness that is reported in this NY Times article on one of the key individuals behind the anti-Sharia movement in the US (hat tip to Steve Benen).  Fortunately I saw this very interesting article about the most recent Gallup Polling, and the report based on it, pertaining to both Muslim American attitudes and the attitudes towards Muslims by other religious groups.  The full report can be found here:  (Download MAR_Report_ADGC_Bilingual_072011_sa_LR_web).  Among other things it indicates that Muslim Americans are the most likely of any religious adherents in the US to oppose attacks on civilians, either by the military or other actors, that Muslim Americans identify as strongly with America as they do with their religion, and as a direct antidote to what the NY Times article reports, Jewish Americans are even more likely than Muslim Americans to recongize and indicate that Muslim Americans face prejudice in the US.

* Adam L. Silverman is the Culture and Foreign Language Advisor at the US Army War College.  The views expressed here are his own and do not necessarily reflect those of the US Army War College or the US Army.

United States or united States: Some Additional Thoughts on Revolutionary Documents and State Sovereignty

 
Adam L. Silverman, PhD*

Two of COL Lang's most recent posts, on the Declaration of Independence and on Fareed Zakariya's understanding of the nature of the US, especially federalism, got me thinking a bit about American Political Development (of which I did not specialize in...) and how America has and has not changed over time.  

In the first post COL Lang asks if the document could bear scrutiny today and if its author, and I take that to me its primary drafter Thomas Jefferson, could avoid police state surveillance?  I think the answer is quite simply that Mr. Jefferson would have little to no place in modern American political society.  And while this has been evidenced by the State of Texas writing him out of their history textbooks (apparently the religious conservatives who control the board do not like him because he penned the phrase "separation of Church and State"), I think it goes farther than just Mr. Jefferson's status.  I have often wondered, and sometimes remarked, that I do not think any of our founding and framing fathers could be elected to office today or even approved by the Senate for appointment.  And this is not because of the obvious concern that many were slave owners and therefore on the wrong side of what we would today call racial issues (it was the 18th Century after all).  Rather it has to do with their political views, ranging from the radical to the reactionary, their beliefs about the world and nature and the Deity, their understanding of government, and finally their personal lives.  While I could produce a long list of these men, their ideas, and their foibles, with appropriate links, suffice it to say that Jefferson's affair with his sister in law (Sally Hemmings was Mrs. Jefferson's sister),

 

Corporations as People

Adam L. Silverman, PhD*

Frabjous, in comments to the Palin at Gettysburg thread, mentioned how corporations came to be considered as people for legal purposes.  This was a major change in not only American jurisprudence, but also American political philosophy as Madison definitely did not consider corporations, nor did he want them considered, as if they were people for legal or political purposes. Back in 2002 Thom Hartmann wrote an interesting essay explaining how corporate personhood came to be.  I highly recommend his piece to the SST community.

* Adam L. Silverman is the Culture and Foreign Language Advisor at the US Army War College.  The views expressed here are his own and do not necessarily reflect those of the US Army War College or the US Army.

#Air Support: The numbers game - Basilisk

 

In the NATO intervention in Libya, it is easy for the media to lose sight of what is being done, and what is not.

 In the thirty days that ended when the month of April 2011 closed out it is reported that NATO flew a total of 4398 sorties, including 1821 strike sorties.

 It is not clear to me what the terminology means. In my time with NATO “strike” had a very specific meaning that is not intended in the current reporting. In any case, the strike sorties carried out by NATO are a combination of attacks against “strategic” targets—runways, fixed missile installations, and command and control targets, and “tactical” targets intended as the UN resolution directed, to protect civilians by destroying Libyan Government armor and indirect fire weapons.

 There is a constant temptation to equate sorties to iron on target, but in this case a lot of these 4389 sorties have been excellent opportunities for Spanish F-18’s and Norwegian, Danish, Belgian F-16’s to bore holes in the sky. The number also probably includes “air superiority missions,” similarly tooling around looking for the now combat ineffective Libyan Air Force.

 Chalking up a sortie does not mean targets were engaged. So, while 4398 sorties sounds like a substantial number, one should really look at the number in context.

 On 16 November 1944 in preparatory air support to the movement of the Fourth Infantry Division into the Hürtgen Forest 1,389 heavy bombers, 107 medium bombers, and 486 fighter bombers from the Eighth Air Force and the RAF in at least 1982 sorties dropped 9,000 tons of bombs in a single day against seven German villages.

 Granted, the Circular Error Probable (CEP) of a heavy bomber bombardment box may have been a kilometer compared to the roughly one meter CEP for the popular GBU-12 laser-guided 500 pounder that is the most popular air-delivered weapon in the Libyan support missions, but the raw numbers are instructive.

 As the advance into the Hürtgenwald continued, the Ninth Tactical Air Force, weather permitting, provided hundreds of combat sorties per day. It wasn’t enough.

 If anyone still harbors thought of the victorious rebels marching into Tripoli behind a steamroller of airpower, the numbers game should disabuse them of this vision.

 Modern tactical airpower is precise, surgical, and deadly, but the support of the type being provided—numerically small and tailored to limit collateral damage—is not going to provide an offensive advantage for the under-trained and under armed Libyan rebels. They may still win, because if the support missions continue, they are a kind of safety net, but it may take a very long time. The alternative is that an attack against a legitimate command and control target may provide a de facto decapitation, and a swift end.

 That would be luck. Otherwise we surely must be thinking about someone’s boots on the ground if we continue to expect a military solution to the situation.  Basilisk

Public Goods, the Social Contract, and the Discussion that Americans Should be Having

Adam L. Silverman, PhD*

For a several months now, as I've worked on one project or another or interacting with colleagues and friends, I keep coming back to the same two broad concepts that Americans should be discussing, but seem to have lost sight off: what exactly are or should be public goods and what sort of social contract should we have to make sure that they are properly delivered.  While this is going to be a light on hyper links post, as it is essentially a thought piece, given the type of discussions that we usually have here at SST, and given what we all witnessed over the past two weeks regarding continuing resolutions and budgets, and what we'll unfortunately watch going forward as issues like the debt ceiling and the 2012 budget come up, as well as the next election cycle, the time seems right to try to write this up and post it.

Let me start by defining my terms.  I'm using public good to refer to anything that is or should be non-excludable and/or non-rivalrous or both.  Simply if anyone could or should partake of it and if partaking of it can not reduce the amount of it to be consumed by anyone, then something is or should be a public good.  In simpler parlance we generally equate things like roadways, a variety of essential services such as sewer and water and electric, education, defense, law enforcement, emergency services (fire and EMS), and even healthcare as public goods.  Another good way to define a public good, which is often easier to use because it doesn't use words like "non-rivalrous", is an item or service that individuals, or even groups, can not provide for themselves, that by their nature are accessible to everyone in a society, and which have to account for the lowest common denominator (ie it makes no difference what one's class, ethnicity, religion, gender, etc is).  

By social contract I'm referring to the agreements that we make as a society on issues of political, social, economic, and religious governance.  Usually in liberal democracies, which is what the US is supposed to be (of the republic type), this requires giving up some freedom or liberty in exchange for certain public goods; specifically goods and services that individuals or even groups of individuals can not produce or provide for themselves.  So the two concepts - public goods and social contract are linked and intertwined.

#"The Kill Team" - Rolling Stone

 

Colonel Jack Jacobs today said on one of the 24/7 news entertainments that the behavior of this platoon was "worse than Abu Ghraib."  IMO he is exactly correct.  In that prison men were abused by MP reservists who amused themselves by humiliating them in a multitude of disgusting ways, but they did not kill them.

In this instance the men of this rifle platoon (40 men more or less) decided to kill unarmed Afghan villagers because they were bored, hated these strange beings, and thought they could get away with it.  In one instance they picked out an unarmed 15 year old boy as a victim and then revelled in mocking and defiling his corpse while the company commander stood by and watched.

This story is all about leadership, bad leadership as well as the baleful effect of ignorance about the local people, and the degeneration in moral standards that US Army commanders in the chain of command above this unit had allowed to occur.

No commissioned officers have been charged for conspiracy or neglect of duty?  What a farce!  This is all about their failures, all of it!

In the last few days I have had the sorry experience of watching a group of senior US Army officers preen and strut and glory in the stature allowed them by high rank.  They do not remind me of the senior officers of my youth, men who led troops by example and with a sense of the responsibility that they carried for the honor of the Army.

In my big war, a lot of officers died on the battlefield.  I can remember two major generals (Ware and Casey) who died within a few months in 1968-69.  Senior officers in these wars are more likely to die from IED incidents than anything else.

These men do not seem like the men of that time.  They seem to be a caste of uniformed Walmart managers and executives, each maneuevering for whatever is to be had in the consultant work that awaits them in retirement.  They band together to arrange such work as a perquisite of their "success."

The enlisted men involved in these bestial murders must be punished but the officers who let this happen should be punished with them.  pl

http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/the-kill-team-20110327?page=8

 

 

#Sharia Law is NOT Closer to America than it Appears…

Adam L. Silverman PhD[1]

At the beginning of February I wrote about how fear of the Muslim Brotherhood taking over in the US, as well as in Egypt was greatly exaggerated.  This theme, or meme for the fashionable and trendy, goes hand in hand with the longstanding argument that Sharia Law is soon to be imposed in the US.  Initially, in the first couple of years after 9-11 this claim was basically made by several Conservative (I’m using the term because I think that’s how they’d describe themselves) bloggers who made the assertion by arguing that soon Americans that were not Muslims would become dhimmis[2].  In fact a new term was coined: dhimmitude; as in our impending dhimmitude.  I’m not going to link to the people who put these arguments out then, one of whom was also a primary instigator of the invented Ground Zero Mosque controversy last year.  They do not deserve the click through traffic, if you want to read what they had and have to say, just do a search for dhimmitude.

Pete Seda AKA Pirouz Sedaghati

 
I am called by conscience to tell you of this matter.

I was an expert witness at this trial, testifying as to certain aspects of cultural and political background in the case.  The issues raised in these filings relate to payments of $14,500 made by the FBI to informants, a husband and wife team, who were later to become witnesses of fact in Mr. Seda’s trial.  Although one of the informants/witnesses died prior to the trial, the other testified for the government.  Prior to that factual testimony the witness was promised an additional $7,500 cash payment, that was to be paid after the trial was concluded.    

These prior payments, and the promise of payment only came to light when the request to pay $7,500 landed on Dwight Holton’s desk and he both refused to authorize the payment and required the trial prosecutors to disclose this information to the defense, as required by law.  I note that Mr. Holton is the chief federal law enforcement officer for the District of Oregon (and a native Virginian). 

When that disclosure was made the defense was provided over 60 pages of notes and reports that had not been disclosed prior to trial, relating to these informants/witnesses.  At that point it was discovered that there are official FBI reports of interviews with the informants/witnesses that have been dramatically altered to remove exculpatory information.  Mr. Seda has been ordered released pending resolution of all this.

Does not our tradition of justice call out for retribution and recompense?  pl

Download (517) Supplement to Motion for New Trial

Download (518) Strupp Declaration

Download (519) Motion for Release

Download (520) Post-Trial Motion For Discovery

Download SedaSuppToMotforRelease 

The Washington Times on Israeli spying.

"Israeli officials have said publicly they do not target the United Statesin intelligence activities. Ilan Mizrahi, a former deputy chief of Israel's Mossad intelligence agency, said recently that Israel did not spy on the United States. "This is a taboo. It was a taboo always, not only against the United States, but also in other friendly countries," he said."  Washington Times

---------------------------------------------

They lie.  The United States has always been a target of both Mossad and Israeli general staff intelligence.  pl 

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2011/jan/18/fbi-took-long-look-at-aipac-activities/?page=4

Murder and Attempted Murder in Tucson

"House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner ordered flags at the U.S. Capitol in Washington lowered to half staff in memory of the victims. He said the incident was a reminder that public service comes with a risk.

"This inhuman act should not and will not deter us from our calling to represent our constituents and fulfill our oaths of office. No act, no matter how heinous, must be allowed to stop us from our duty," Boehner said."

---------------------------------------------------------

If Boehner means that, then why is the Congress going to suspend business for a week?  Flags fly at half staff over the capitol?  People die every day.  How many people died in the United States yesterday?  Do flags fly at half staff for the grunts who die every day in the Afghan War?  Are these victims in Arizona somehow better and more important because they are not soldiers?  Ah, yes, civilians act like this because they think that they are protected from violence by rough men who guard them while they sleep.

The shooter was evidently mad.  Was he also in some sense political?  Perhaps he was. He is reported to have been associated with a group that called itself "American Renaissance."  The group is said to be anti-immigrant, anti-Semitic and anti-government.  Is that true?  We will learn more of that as investigations continue.

The United States  needs to pull itself together and act as a community of adults. The appropriate reaction to murder is trial and punishment.  Hysterical grief is inappropriate.  pl 

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20110109/us_nm/us_usa_shooting_congresswoman

 

 

Good Work by the FBI

"The FBI began tracking Mohamud in August 2009 when they discovered he was e-mailing a former Oregon student who was living in Pakistan's lawless northwest region, where Al Qaeda has a stronghold. The Associated Press reported that the bureau was led to Mohamud by a tip from someone concerned about him."  LA Times

---------------------------------------------

The FBI has developed the ability to provide would be terrorists the opportunity to live out their dream of violent Jihad.  In the last year or so there have been several instances in which this technique has been used with success.  I hope the FBI continues to do this.

I was consulted by the defense in one of these cases.  After considering the available evidence of what had occurred my opinion was that the Bureau had acted appropriately and that the man was both guilty and a danger to the American public. Accordingly I informed the defense that although the man was entitled to a defense he was not entitled to have me participate in it as an expert witness and I declined to do so.

Consider a typical scenario.  A young man develops the urge to violent jihad.  He contacts someone to say that.  This communication is brought to the attention of the FBI.  The Bureau responds by contacting him with a role player or two to ask if he is serious.  He indicates that he is.  That resolve is tested by offering the suggestion that he might want to act.  A planning process emerges in which the wannabe jihadi is a willing participant in reconnaissance, target selection, weapon design, etc.  He is reminded several times including at the time of simulated attack that many civilians will die or be wounded in this attack.  He persists.  A fake weapon is constructed by the FBI and provided to the "jihadi" who triggers the weapon in the full belief that he is killing hundreds.  In the case that I am most familiar with the "attacker" rejoiced in the existence of a child care center in the targeted building and suggested where to park the truck so as to kill as many children as possible.  He then radio "detonated" the bomb and was arrested.

Bravo FBI!  Bravo!  pl 

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-portland-bomb-plot-20101128,0,7641294.story

AIPAC and Espionage

"Rosen says his actions were common practice at the organization. He said his next move is to show that AIPAC, Washington’s major pro-Israeli lobbying group by far, regularly traffics in sensitive U.S. government information, especially material related to the Middle East.

“I will introduce documentary evidence that AIPAC approved of the receipt of classified information,” he said by e-mail. “Most instances of actual receipt are hard to document, because orally received information rarely comes with classified stamps on it nor records alerts that the information is classified.”

But Rosen said he would produce “statements of AIPAC employees to the FBI, internal documents, deposition statements, public statements and other evidence showing that [the] receipt of classified information by employees other than [himself] ... was condoned … for months prior to being condemned in March 2005 after threats from the prosecutors.”"  Stein

--------------------------------------------------------

Is this not espionage in the meaning of the law?  pl 

http://blog.washingtonpost.com/spy-talk/2010/11/ex-aipac_official_got_670000_from_private_donors.html#more

Jonathan Pollard and his friends.

       
       


Pollard's friends are remarkably active of late.  Four members of the House have signed a letter to Obama pleading for clemency for this convicted spy and traitor. They include Barney Frank, Anthony Weiner and a couple of other dummies.  Their justification is the argument that such a gesture would be encouraging to the Israeli people "in this time of their need."  Frank and Weiner puzzle me.  I would find Frank a comic person if it were not for his obvious skill in financial legislation.  Weiner? Much the same thing although I seem to remember that he wrote some nonsense about Israel's innocence in its treacherous attack on USS Liberty. 

And then there is Lawrence Korb, a former assistant secretary of defense.  His defense of espionage and treason against the US is simply incomprehensible.  Does Pollard's betrayal of his trusted access to US Navy war plans count for nothing to Korb?

 
And there is also James Woolsey, the former DCI and self proclaimed "anchor of the Presbyterian wing of the neocon movement."  Is he a Presbyterian?  He, too, is reported in the Jerusalem Post to have asked for mercy for Pollard, that noble citizen of Israel.

Pollard should have been executed for his cold blooded and mercenary betrayal of what was once his country.  If that had been done, we would not have to listen to this confusion of values.  pl 

Stoning a woman to death - Madness

 My Church gave up the practice of capital punishment a few centuries ago.  Even then, it tried to provide itself a "figleaf' by "relaxing" the victims to the secular authorities so that THEY could draw blood.  The "Holy Office of the Inquisition," Ratzinger's old "gig" under a new name, always insisted that its investigaters not draw blood, a sophistic ruse of memorable proportion.

Nevertheless, I think we should be able to come together on this one. 

From personal experience, I can tell you that there are, from time to time, trials in Amerian courts that remind of the proceeding against Joan of Arc at Rouen.  Enough about that at present.

Who here thinks that this woman should be stoned to death or hanged for playing "the beast with two backs?"  That assumes that she did that.  I do not know that she did.  Do Muslims here think that punishment is justified?  Does anyone think that is justified? 

Sex.  What a terrible, fear inspiring thing it must be.  Augustine, Tertullian et al have a lot to answer for on this subject in Christianity.

"Let him who is without sin throw the first stone."  Jesus

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gXkaTBshlOFxCGSAuNLwK9OSLVSwD9I1Q8M80

What?

 "Following an uproar over a policy it said was designed 30 years ago to achieve racial equality, a school district in a Mississippi town on Friday scrapped a system of student elections where race determined whether a candidate could run for some class positions, including president.

The rules sparked an outcry after Brandy Springer, a mother of four mixed-race children in Nettleton, Miss., complained that her 12-year-old daughter couldn't run for class reporter because she wasn't the right race. Read the original memo."  MSNBC

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It really hurts me to agree with Thaddeus Stevens Matthews, but this is incredible stupidity.   I like Mississippi, always have and was trying to move to The Coast when Katrina intervened, but how could this school board have let this remain policy?  That county owes the woman from Florida a debt of gratitude for pointing out this foolishness.  pl 

http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/38880820/ns/us_news-life/

PS.  Someone should tell Matthews that "Lookout Mountain" and "Stone Mountain' are different places.  pl 

"..to lure unsuspecting boys." Washpost

 "His case underscores the difficulties that educators and parents face when they only suspect abuse but can't prove it, and how reluctant even the most suspicious and well-meaning people can be in coming forward with allegations. It shows how someone can for decades wear a mask of trusted role model while using that powerful position to lure unsuspecting boys.

Interviews with six of his victims or their families in Asia, Europe and the United States -- along with several others who think they or their children were being groomed as victims -- tell a story of a teacher who believed he was falling passionately in love with his students and the foreigners he brought into the country. They said he spent months infiltrating their lives, their families and their youth groups. He plied them with expensive gifts, trips, event tickets, attention and ultimately loads of alcohol.

When the boys were in a drunken stupor or asleep, Ricks would molest them, using a camcorder and camera to capture the graphic, secret sex acts, according to victims and law enforcement officials."  Washpost

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OK.  No girl victims?  Step up boys and girls and tell me why you think this creep is a "pedophile" and not a predatory homosexual.  His wife?  OK, a predatory bisexual.  pl 

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/07/24/AR2010072402605.html?hpid=topnews

Scotland vs. the US(?) Senate?

Well, that's it, we invade Scotland.   People in New Jersey aren't sure where Scotland is anyway...  Bomb, bomb, bomb the glen...  McCain can get on board for this.  You mean Scotland has a government?  Like New York or Israel?  Why?  Arrest them!  Send them to Riker's Island.  Besides, this is about that Gibson bastid.  The '45?  We had left by then.

 pl

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704421304575383391106279322.html

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RxRj-ejoJaM&feature=related

"9 States Stand in Support of Arizona Immigration Law" Fox news

 "The Republican gubernatorial candidate said Wednesday that Michigan is the lead state backing Arizona in federal court. Michigan is joined by Alabama, Florida, Nebraska, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas and Virginia, as well as the Northern Mariana Islands."  Foxnews

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The Northern Marianas? OK.  Why not?  They are Americans.  How many more?  
What is this?  The Nullification Crisis?  Holder is what?  Grand Inquisitor?   pl 

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2010/07/14/brief-states-backs-arizona-immigration-law/

FARA and the Emergency Committee for Israel.

 I have a simple question for the people who have launched this latest "emergency" committee: Have you registered as foreign agents, under the Foreign Agents Registration Act? This seems to be one of the most cut and dried cases of mandatory registration. They are openly advertising that they are serving as a lobby for Israel. And, by the way, as a string of law suits against AIPAC, and an FEC ruling against ADL make clear, foreign agents, whether individuals or organizations, cannot interfere, in any way, in U.S. electoral affairs. So, we have a very strong legal case here, of illegal Israeli interference, using people who ought to be forced to register as Israeli agents. These guys have really overplayed their hands, vastly missing the sea change in attitude that had gripped the American people, and even some of our would-be patriotic institutions. The significance of the Walt-Mearsheimer book, which hit the NYT best seller list, after being initially relegated to publication as an article in the London Review of Books, is just indicative of this change. This shift in attitude might, for the first time, mean that these Ziocons have to actually obey the law, for a change. Is there a good legal mind--attorney or Congressional staffer, or just good activist--who would take this issue up directly with the Justice Department and the State Department?  Harper

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1- N.B., the National Review.  I am not "Harper" and he is not I.  Don't do it again.  You did not answer an e-mail about a prior error of that kind.  Next time...

2-"The act requires people and organizations that are under foreign control ("agents of a foreign principal") to register with theDepartment of Justice when acting on behalf of foreign interests. This law defines the agent of a foreign principal as someone who:

1. Engages in political activities for or in the interests of a foreign principal;
2. Acts in a public relations capacity for a foreign principal;
3. Solicits or dispenses any thing of value within the United States for a foreign principal;
4. Represents the interests of a foreign principal before any agency or official of the U.S. government."

 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foreign_Agents_Registration_Act

3- It seems that this new group, the "Emergency Committee for Israel" is the agent of Israel in the US.  It seeks to influence US policy on behalf of that particular country.  I know something about the FARA law (see my CV) and the purpose of the ECFI seems to completely fit the description of the requirement for registration.  Come on someone!  Sue them!  pl 

Elena Kagan, yet another New Yorker.

 My objection to this woman (Kagan) has nothing to do with her gender, religion, sexual preference (if she has one), educational background or politics.  I reckon that she is someone who compromises every issue and "goes along to get along."  She is everyone's pal.  She will not be a "troublemaker."

My problem with her is that she is from the northeastern United States.  In my opinion there are already too many Justices on the Supreme Court who are from east of the Ohio and north of the Potomac.

Nationalists will reject the idea that culture varies widely across the US but, in fact, that is the case.  The elites of the northeast believe that they are uniquely the guardians of enlightenment and "progress," but the cultures of rural America, the Midwest, Southwest, Mountain West, the Pacific Northwest and the South are quite different from that of the Northeast and its cities.  

In the present Supreme Court, Kennedy and Breyer were raised in California. Thomas has deep roots in the South.  The rest are Northeasterners.  Do other Americans not have the right to be judged by people less alien in culture than some of the incumbents?

There should be more regional and cultural balance on the Supreme Court.  pl 

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/16/fashion/16noticed.html