(update below) Two blasts from explosive devices occurred at the finish line of the Boston Marathon yesterday killing at least three people and wounding well over a hundred people. Medical teams reportedly carried out ten amputations. Ball bearings were being removed from injured. The serious wounds look like injuries one receives in a war zone. [...]

In a significant ruling, the military judge in the case of Pfc. Bradley Manning has denied a motion by his defense to preclude evidence that Osama bin Laden and Al Qaeda “received” copies of information published by WikiLeaks. Judge Army Col. Denise Lind wholly rejected the arguments the defense had made that evidence involving receipt [...]

The soldier the United States military is prosecuting for releasing classified information to WikiLeaks, Pfc. Bradley Manning, faces twenty-two charges. The most significant charge, which carries the potential of life in prison without parole if he is convicted, is the “aiding the enemy” charge. Military prosecutors would like to present evidence that Al Qaeda leader [...]

President Barack Obama delivered his “State of the Union” address on Tuesday night. And though he suggested there may be minimal reductions to wartime spending, he jingoistically declared, “We will maintain the best military the world has ever known.” The speech renewed the US government’s commitment to a permanent war on terrorism. While it signaled [...]

A poll by the The Hill has found that a majority of “likely voters” think President Barack Obama has been the same or worse than Bush when it comes to “balancing national security with protecting civil liberties.” The results from 1,000 “likely voters” showed 37% considered Obama to have been worse. Fifteen percent said he [...]

(update below) President Barack Obama delivered his inaugural address for his second term. It was a veritable stew of historical quotes from American history laced with several nods to progressive positions and achievements. It acknowledged past struggles launched by US citizens for equality and justice but mostly lacked a vision for what Obama hoped to [...]

The Oscar-nominated film Zero Dark Thirty depicting the hunt for Osama bin Laden opened everywhere in the United States this weekend. Coincidentally, the date it opened was also the eleventh year anniversary of the opening of the Guantanamo Bay prison. Much has been written about the film throughout the past month, particularly how it shows [...]

(update below) In a process where the military judge can allow facts to be introduced into evidence for trial which are well known or can be proven, the government asked the judge to take notice of multiple pieces of evidence that show how the government intends to tie Manning’s alleged leaks to aiding terrorism. Al [...]

On Christmas Eve, a US drone attacked a vehicle and killed at least two suspected al Qaeda militants in the southern Bayda province of Yemen. The attack happened in the early evening in the country. It was believed a “mid-level al Qaeda Yemeni operative,” Abdel-Raouf Naseeb, was one of the men killed. It was the [...]

This past week, the Justice Department announced that HSBC Bank had agreed to forfeit $1.256 billion and “enter a deferred prosecution agreement” for engaging in money laundering that involved the financing of drug cartels and groups with ties to terrorism. The agreement indicated there would be no criminal prosecution. Not one bank executive or lower-level [...]