With the inauguration of Iran’s new president, Hassan Rouhani, the United States should take a more flexible approach toward Tehran to increase the chances of a successful resolution of the latter’s nuclear programme, according to a new report by the Brussels-based...
Data-gate Shows We’re On the Cusp
It’s a small detail, in the general scheme of things, but one indicative of a troubling recent trend: when Congress voted on reauthorization of the Patriot Act, in 2011, the administration sent summaries [.pdf] to the House intelligence committee describing – without...
Burdensome Airport Security: Pay the Government for Relief?
For air travelers tired of the ever-worsening burden of airport security, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is widening to all U.S. citizens the eligibility of its prescreening process, called PreCheck. Americans, who recently have had their phone...
Random Bombings, Gunfire Leave 34 Dead in Iraq
Various attacks left at least 34 dead and 40 wounded across Iraq today. The violence even touched Iraqi Kurdistan when mortars fell on a home. Five people were killed and 14 more were wounded when a car bomb blasted worshippers exiting a Shi'ite mosque in Madaen....
Is Afghanistan a Dead Man Walking?
Brad Pitt’s most successful box office film to date is about a man’s race against time to save the world from zombies. He does this by putting together clues or "crumbs" left behind to puzzle together how the planet was overrun by the undead, and what he has...
Northern and Eastern Iraq Attacks: 45 Dead, 127 Wounded
Why Are We at War in Yemen?
Most Americans are probably unaware that over the past two weeks the US has launched at least eight drone attacks in Yemen, in which dozens have been killed. It is the largest US escalation of attacks on Yemen in more than a decade. The US claims that everyone killed...
The Noose Tightens
In its response to Edward Snowden’s revelations about the nature and extent of NSA spying on Americans, the Obama administration has by this time gone through all the stages of grief: denial, reluctant acknowledgment, and – finally – acceptance of the reality that the...
The Art of Deception: A Necessary Skill for Intelligence Officials
As more and more becomes known about blanket spying by the National Security Agency, one thing is becoming increasingly apparent. Government officials are deliberately and repeatedly misleading Congress and the US public in a concerted effort to conceal as much as...


