CIA

Iran’s Got Our Drone: Distraction or Disaster?

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=vorWHmk38yE]

Let’s say you’re outside walking around when you’re hit in the head by an iPhone that falls from the sky. Just how lucky are you? Pretty darn lucky, especially if you were trying to bring it down. But now that you’ve got it, how much can you learn from it? …

al Qaeda’s al-Awlaki Reportedly Killed in Yemen

The top English-speaking member of al Qaeda — New Mexican-born Anwar al-Awlaki — was killed Friday, the Yemen government announced, a death quickly confirmed by U.S. officials. It’s yet another key indication that Defense Secretary Leon Panetta’s recent claim that the defeat of al Qaeda is “within reach” may be getting …

“How Did the U.S. Military Retool Itself Post-9/11?”

In the decade after 9/11, just how much did the U.S. military have to recalibrate to fight the wars it found itself launching in Afghanistan and, 18 months later, in Iraq? This week, on Command Post, we discuss the retooling of the American armed forces with Eric Schmitt of the New York Times — co-author of Counterstrike: The Untold

Taking Stock: The U.S. Military a Decade After 9/11

The 10th anniversary of 9/11 closes in on us this week. Try as you might, you will not be able to avoid it. Amid the pathos and bathos, it’s time to take a knee and conduct a map check.

Just to cut to the chase: you can’t argue with success, and on 9/12 most Americans were petrified a second wave of attacks was likely. It hasn’t …

Counterstrike: A Post-9/11 Report Card

There is a flood of 9/11 books now coming onto the market, but Counterstrike: The Untold Story of America’s Secret Campaign Against Al Qaeda by Eric Schmitt and Thom Shanker of the New York Times should be atop the list of anyone curious about how the U.S. government has grappled with the challenges posed by al Qaeda.

Both authors …

Chinese Reportedly Get Peek at Secret SEAL Chopper

Pakistan has let the Chinese study — and take samples from — the stealthy MH-60 helicopter used by Navy SEALs in their raid that killed Osama bin Laden May 2, the London-based Financial Times reported Monday:

“The US now has information that Pakistan, particularly the ISI, gave access to the Chinese military to the downed

Reporters Want Petraeus to Be President Real Bad

The most dangerous place in Washington is between (insert name of politician here) and a camera. That’s the tired joke about politicians trying to keep themselves in the news.

The same could be said about Gen. David Petraeus. He is on the cover of Newsweek this week, in yet another profile that couldn’t be more glowing if Petraeus …

Predatory Surveillance?

The Tehran Times quotes Ali Aqazadeh-Dafsari, a member of the Iranian parliament, saying Tuesday that Iran shot down a U.S. drone over the Fordo nuclear site near Qom. He didn’t say when the shootdown allegedly happened and — critically — no photographic evidence has yet been produced. Look for the U.S. to deny the charges — which …

Fighting Words

Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta didn’t waste anytime on his first overseas trip to declare al Qaeda all but washed up:

We’re within reach of strategically defeating al Qaeda…

Don’t Get “Inspired” by al-Qaeda, Because We Might Kill You

Are you feeling “inspired to take action in furtherance of the goals of al-Qaeda —the organization and the ideology—including by engaging in violence regardless of whether such violence is targeted at the United States, its citizens, or its interests?”

Well, look out. We might kill you.

Droning On To a New Way of War

So the U.S. government — if not the military, then the CIA — is now using drones to kill suspected terrorists in at least six different countries — Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Pakistan, Somalia and Yemen. Congress — the entity charged with declaring war, according to the Constitution — has basically green-lighted only the attacks …

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