On Saturday, February 27th, President Obama signed a one-year extension of the three expiring sections of the USA PATRIOT Act. These sections are Section 215 (the so-called “library records” provision), Section 206 (involving “roving wiretaps”), and Section 207 (the so-called “lone-wolf” provision). Last week, both the House and Senate voted to extend the sections without […]
Alleged American Terrorists Make Torture Claim
By Jonathan Abrams, NSJ Staff Editor - Five American Muslims who were detained in Pakistan on suspicion of terrorism have alleged torture by American and Pakistani authorities. The men, all from the Washington, DC area, were detained in December shortly after arriving in Pakistan. The Pakistani government has accused them of plotting terrorist attacks in […]
NSJ Analysis: FBI Closes Amerithrax Investigation; Harvard Poll Questions Public’s Preparedness for Anthrax Attack
In September and October of 2001, an anonymous source dropped a white powder containing deadly anthrax into the mail. The attack killed five people; threatened the safety of Congress, the media, and the public at large; and rekindled the fears still raw from the September 11th attacks. The FBI ultimately focused on Bruce Ivins as […]
NSJ Analysis: Cyber Vulnerabilities and the Possibility of “Cyberdeterrence”
By John Cella — The intrusion by unidentified Chinese hackers into Google’s networks in January is likely not an isolated incident, but part of the growing trend of state-sponsored acts of cyberwarfare. While Google is a private corporation, attacks against it and other American corporations have significant national security implications. Beyond the private harms inflicted […]
Rules vs. Standards on the Battlefield
By John Thorlin, NSJ Staff Editor - Assassinating foreign leaders outside of an ongoing armed conflict is of questionable legality, even if doing so would prevent a broader war. Humanitarian interventions such as the NATO bombings in Kosovo-acts deliberately aimed at saving lives-are prohibited by the laws of war, which do not differentiate between the […]
NSJ Analysis: Increasing Use of Unmanned Drones Raises Data Security Issues
As part of the continuing war in Afghanistan, the United States has made extensive use of unmanned Predator drones to carry out reconnaissance as well as armed strikes. On Monday The New York Times reported that a U.S. drone killed three militants in North Waziristan, and on Friday CNN reported that a Haqqani network commander […]