War on Terrorism
Former Bush CIA Directors Publish Huge Pro-Torture Editorial to Cover Their Guilty Asses
This issue is one of those cases where no matter how much contrary evidence you produce -- no matter how unimpeachable your sources are, the other side will simply plug their ears, sing "la-la-la-not-listening!" then regurgitate the same response over and over. In this case, ...read more
New Risks from 9/11 War Act
By Ivan Eland A move is afoot in Congress to change the 2001 law that kicked off what became the “war on terror” (although the Obama administration has dropped the now politically incorrect term). The administration, however, opposes changing the statute, because, as one ...read more
10 Examples of Bush and the Republicans Using Government Power to Target Critics
They say two wrongs don't make a right, but ignoring one of those wrongs while vilifying the other is intellectually dishonest and violently hypocritical, among other things. And certainly that's the case surrounding news that the IRS targeted tea party groups as a means of ...read more
Alex Jones' Latest: Obama is the Leader of Al-Qaida
Remember the days when there were three television networks, you could fill up your gas tank for $15 and Guy Fieri was just a homophobic, talentless, annoyingly "stoked" tween named "Guy Ferry" rather than a homophobic, talentless, annoyingly "stoked" television mogul? Ah yes, ...read more
Greenwald: 'Drone Apologists' and 'Democratic Partisans' Are Racists
Glenn Greenwald's ongoing crusade against anyone who dares to see nuance in the debate over targeted killings and the war on terrorism has risen to a not-so-surprising new level. Namely, Americans who oppose targeted killings of American citizens on American soil today, but who ...read more
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The Most Terrifying Drone Ever! Run Away!
When I began the day, I promised myself I wasn't going to write about drones or Glenn Greenwald or the war on terrorism again, but after I read a tweet he posted today I simply couldn't help myself. In fact, I started an entirely different post today until the following tweet ...read more
An Under-the-Radar Victory for Due Process in the War on Terror
As I'm sure you're aware by now, the usual suspects are engaged in a group freakout over the president's lack of consideration for civil liberties in the war on terrorism so much so that some, like David Sirota and Glenn Greenwald, have aligned themselves with crackpot ...read more
My Continuing Adventures in the Drone Debate
Over the weekend, I spent several hours debating the overlapping topics of drones, the war on terror, Eric Holder, Rand Paul and, yes, semantics with Glenn Greenwald on Twitter. Not shockingly, several of my closest friends wondered out loud why on Earth I would engage in such ...read more
Mr. Paul Goes to Washington
He may not be Mr. Smith but Senator Rand Paul did exactly what I like to see Senators do, he executed an old school filibuster. Sorry, Bob Cesca but I read the Eric Holder letter and to be honest, I think Paul has a point. Here's the actual letter. The language that started ...read more
Drone Danger: Making War Too Easy
U.S. Marine uses the optic lens on his M4 carbine to scan the area in the Kajak district of Afghanistan’s Helmand province on Feb. 8, 2013. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Kowshon Ye) By Ivan Eland Although so far, President Barack Obama seems to have less warlike ...read more
Locking In the Abuses of War
President George W. Bush. By Lawrence Davidson In the halls of Congress and confines of the Oval Office, the perception is that the U.S. is at war with an enemy called al-Qaeda. Is this actually the case or is the claim an exaggerated piece of propaganda that has conveniently ...read more
I Evidently Have to Scream 'Baby Killer!' or I'm an Obamabot
The harshest critics of my column, "No, President Obama Is Not 'Worse Than Bush' on National Security," posted both here at The Daily Banter and on The Huffington Post, were anti-Obama screechers to my left (I evidently have a left) and the most common refrain was that I'm an ...read more
Obama Defends Drone Program in Google Hangout
The Daily Banter Headline Grab (from the Yahoo! News): President Barack Obama defended his administration’s use of drones to target and assassinate Americans overseas believed to be working with terrorists, insisting the government is following the law on what it can and ...read more
Assessing the Laws of the Drone Wars
President Barack Obama and Defense Secretary (and former CIA Director) Leon Panetta review troops at Joint Base Myer-Henderson in Arlington, Virginia, Feb. 8, 2013. (White House Photo by Pete Souza) By Dennis J. Bernstein New disclosures regarding President Barack Obama’s use ...read more
No, Obama Is Not 'Worse Than Bush' on National Security
Just when I thought it was safe to carry on a conversation on the left about various Obama administration policies, the phrases "same as Bush" or "worse than Bush" have skulked back into popular use thanks to the leaked Office of Legal Counsel white paper on the targeted killing ...read more
A Chance to Debate the ‘War on Terror’
White House counterterrorism adviser John Brennan (upper right) and other senior U.S. national security officials watch the progress of the Special Forces raid that killed al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden on May 1, 2011. (White House photo) By Paul R. Pillar John Brennan, ...read more
CIA Director Nominee Defends Drones, Targeted Killing of Americans
The Daily Banter Headline Grab. From AP: CIA Director-designate John Brennan strongly defended anti-terror attacks by unmanned drones Thursday under close questioning at a protest-disrupted confirmation hearing. On a second controversial topic, he said that after reading a ...read more
How Secrecy Corrodes Democracy
President Barack Obama meeting in the Oval Office with two of his speechwriters on Feb. 5, 2013. (White House photo by Pete Souza) By Robert Parry The United States is a nation foundering in a vast sea of secrets, with government officials showing little regard for the ...read more
There's Evidently No Room for Nuance on Drones
They say if you move far enough to the left, you end up on the right. As such, throughout the last four or five years I've witnessed this phenomenon on way too many occasions, the most recent one being yesterday's reactions to the article I wrote about the Justice Department's ...read more
It's Time to End the War or Regulate the Drones
Contrary to what some readers might think, I haven't categorically supported President Obama's predator drone program. I haven't furiously opposed it either because, honestly, I haven't necessarily believed drones are the dystopian Killbots they're made out to be by the loudest ...read more
The Depressing ‘Zero Dark Thirty’
By Robert Parry When I watched the get-bin-Laden movie Zero Dark Thirty at a theater just outside Washington D.C., I was struck by how silent the audience was from beginning to end with almost no reaction to the climatic killing of the terrorist leader or to the film’s lame ...read more
The Moral Challenge of ‘Kill Lists’
Counterterrorism adviser John Brennan (upper right) in iconic photo of President Barack Obama’s national security team monitoring the May 1, 2011, raid that killed al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden. (White House photo) By Ray McGovern In an extraordinary article in the New ...read more
‘Kill List’ Rule Book Coming Soon to the White House Situation Room
The Daily Banter Headline Grab. From AP: The White House "kill list"--a regularly updated chart showing the world's most wanted terrorists used by President Barack Obama during kill or capture debates--may soon be getting a rule book to go with it. According to the New York ...read more
Idealism and Spiking the Bin Laden Football
By Bob Cesca: You might have noticed how the Democrats last week weren't afraid to ballyhoo the Obama administration's tenacious pursuit and killing of Osama Bin Laden. This pivotal event in the president's first term represented what could be the beginning of a major shift in ...read more