A high court in Pakistan has found that United States drone strikes carried out in Pakistan by the CIA are war crimes, which are “absolutely illegal” and a “blatant violation” of Pakistan’s state sovereignty. The decision comes in a lawsuit filed by the Foundation for Fundamental Rights (FFR), a legal charity in Islamabad, which sued [...]

CIA director John Brennan has appointed someone to fill the position of National Clandestine Service (NCS) director. The individual, however, is apparently going to keep his undercover status. First, a key aspect of this news is the fact that the person appointed is not the woman, who had been serving as the acting director of [...]

Ten human rights groups have sent a letter to President Barack Obama on “shared concerns” related to the “targeted killing” policies of his administration. The letter also makes recommendations the Obama administration can take to make policies accountable and transparent. The organizations call for the public disclosure of “targeted killing standards and criteria.” They urge [...]

United States government officials like now-CIA director John Brennan have asserted individuals must be a “legitimate target under the law” in order to be targeted and killed. However, top secret intelligence reports indicate “drone strikes in Pakistan over a four-year period didn’t adhere” to such a standard. From McClatchy‘s Jonathan Landay, who happens to be one [...]

The United States Senate confirmed John Brennan, who served as President Barack Obama’s counterterrorism adviser and was a key architect of the Obama administration’s secret drone policy, to the position of CIA director today. The confirmation came a day after Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) mounted a more-than-twelve-hour filibuster on the Senate floor. Paul held up [...]

A “rule book” for drones that the administration of President Barack Obama has been developing is reportedly near completion, according to the Washington Post. Unnamed US officials told the newspaper the CIA is set to benefit from a “major exemption” that would allow them to continue conducting CIA drone operations without having to follow the rules. But [...]

Members of militant groups in Pakistan may not be able to do much to prevent the United States from launching drone strikes in Pakistan, but, as the New York Times‘ Declan Walsh reports, militants conduct witch hunts against people they suspect of being informers and often torture them before shooting, hanging or beheading them. From Walsh’s [...]

The British High Court has refused to review whether intelligence agencies in the United Kingdom have been involved in passing on information that has been used by the CIA to carry out drone attacks.The Pakistani man, Noor Khan, whose father was killed by a US drone strike, intends to appeal the decision. On March 17, 2011, [...]

Eighty-eight journalists and forty-seven citizen journalists were killed in 2012, according to a report by Reporters Without Borders (RSF). The press freedom group noted this was the deadliest year since it began keeping track of journalist deaths in 1995. By the numbers, the rate of journalist deaths went up 33%. Eight hundred and seventy-nine journalists [...]

One hour and a half was the time the two campaigns agreed upon for the foreign policy debate. They had a moderator, Bob Schieffer, who would ask all questions from the point of view that America is justified in whatever it does so long as it does it. When and how to do it would [...]