On February 27, 2010, “President Obama has signed a one-year extension of several provisions in the main U.S. counterterrorism law, the Patriot Act. Provisions in the measure would have expired on Sunday [February 28, 2010] without Obama’s signature Saturday. The act, which was adopted in the weeks after the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks, expands […]
2/26/2010
“The Iraqi military will reinstate 20,000 Saddam Hussein-era army officers who were dismissed from their posts after the 2003 US-led invasion for serving under the former dictator, an Iraqi defence spokesman said today [February 26, 2010].” – Marc Santora, “Iraq to Reinstate 20,000 Saddam-era Army Officers,” Associated Press, Feb. 26, 2010 […]
2/22/2010
“Pakistani authorities have captured Mullah Abdul Kabir, a member of the [Taliban] group’s inner circle and a leading military commander against American forces in eastern Afghanistan, according to a Pakistani intelligence official. …Mullah Kabir is a member of the Quetta Shura, the small group of leaders who direct the Taliban’s operations and who report to […]
2/19/2010
“…in February [19] 2010, the Office of Professional Responsibility of the Department of Justice (DOJ) concluded that the two lawyers responsible for authorizing the most egregious memoranda authorizing such ‘enhanced interrogation’ techniques which amount to torture, namely [Deputy Chief of the Office of Legal Counsel] John Yoo and [Assistant Attorney General] Jay Bybee, were found […]
2/19/2010
“In [February 19] 2010, after an exhaustive investigation, the Justice Department and the FBI concluded that Dr. Bruce Ivins, a U.S. government scientist who committed suicide in [July 29] 2008, had executed the [October 2001] anthrax attack alone.” – George W. Bush, Decision Points, Page 158 […]
2/15/2010
“Between September 11, 2001 and April 1, 2010, it is believed that nearly 800 persons had been detained at Guantanamo Bay (official Department of Defense reports put the total at 660, while a variety of outside media and human rights organizations report a much higher population). As of February 2010, 189 remain. The 600 or […]
2/15/2010
“The Taliban’s top military commander was captured several days ago [February 2010] in Karachi, Pakistan, in a secret joint operation by Pakistani and American intelligence forces, according to American government officials. The commander, Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, is an Afghan described by American officials as the most significant Taliban figure to be detained since the […]
2/14/2010
In an interview on This Week on February 14, 2010, former Vice President Dick Cheney said: ” ‘I think, in fact, the situation with respect to al Qaeda to say that, you know, that was a big attack we had on 9/11, but it’s not likely again, I just think that’s dead wrong. …I think […]
2/14/2010
In an interview on This Week on February 14, 2010, former Vice President Dick “Cheney strongly defended waterboarding, the enhanced interrogation technique assailed by [President] Obama and what many consider to be torture. ‘I was a big supporter of waterboarding. I was a big supporter of the enhanced interrogation techniques,’ he said. Cheney added that […]
2/11/2010
“A newly released U.S. diplomatic cable discloses the existence of previously undisclosed participants in the Sept. 11, 2001, plot: a group of Qatari men who conducted surveillance of targets in New York and the Washington area before leaving the United States on the eve of the attacks. The three men flew into the United States […]