Topic: National Security

Zero Dark Verizon: Why D.C. Hates Leaks Until It Loves Hunting Them Down

AP (Boal)

The Obama administration has investigated more leak than all others combined, and its chase for leakers is straying into madness.

By Connor Simpson

Mar 9, 2013

Republicans Can't Stop Susan Rice from Getting Her National Security Consolation Prize

U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice may get the last laugh. Republicans won't be able to stop her from claiming her consolation prize, which, if a new report proves to be accurate, will be as the head of national security. 

Comments | 3,501 Views

By Dashiell Bennett

Jan 7, 2013

Obama to Nominate John Brennan to Run the CIA

President Obama will reportedly nominate John Brennan, the nation's current head of counterterrorism operations, to replace David Petraeus as the new director of the Central Intelligence Agency

Comments | 3,966 Views

By Rebecca Greenfield

Dec 13, 2012

There's a New Super-Database of Your Information to Hunt Underwear Bombs

Well, this is pretty terrifying: A little known agency called the National Counterterrorism Center has a big ole database of civilian information that it can use to monitor innocent people for suspicious behavior, without probable cause.

Comments | 1,466 Views

By Esther Zuckerman

Nov 12, 2012

Five Best Green Stories

Climate Change Puts Panda Population at Risk; Why Trees Fall

Discovery News on pandas, Grist on for-profit local food, Scientific American on falling trees, Politico on how climate change threatens national security, The Guardian on sea ice. 

Comments | 375 Views

By John Hudson

Nov 1, 2012

Six Weeks Later, There Are Still Plenty of Sensitive U.S. Documents Lying Around in Benghazi

It's been more than six weeks since the U.S. compound in Benghazi was attacked, but reporters are still turning up sensitive U.S. documents lying about the wreckage.

Comments | 2,571 Views

By John Hudson

Oct 30, 2012

Pentagon Denies Fox News Benghazi Report

Following a pair of denials by the CIA and the National Security Council to a Fox News story published Friday, the Pentagon has come under scrutiny for its response to the assault on the U.S. compound in Benghazi. However, in a statement to The Atlantic Wire, a senior defense official says the Pentagon never denied requests for military intervention in Benghazi. 

Comments | 9,351 Views

By John Hudson

Oct 26, 2012

CIA Denies Calling Off Backup in Benghazi

Here's something that could alter the discussion on the attacks in Benghazi: According to Fox News national security correspondent Jennifer Griffin, CIA operators on the scene repeatedly transmitted requests for military backup but were denied by U.S. officials.

Comments | 11,715 Views

By John Hudson

Oct 24, 2012

How the White House 'Kill List' Became the White House 'Disposition Matrix'

It sounds like the ultimate Washington euphemism but it's the name White House officials are moving toward: The secret list the president uses to order drone strikes on unsuspecting militants is being re-vamped under the name "disposition matrix."

Comments | 2,166 Views

By John Hudson

Oct 15, 2012

Massive Prison Break Frees 120 Inmates in Libya

For a country that already has a problem with roving outlaws, this is the last thing you want to have happen.

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By John Hudson

Oct 15, 2012

How Navy SEAL Matt Bissonnette Won the Bin Laden Book Competition

We may know a little more about why former Navy SEAL author Matt Bisonnette rushed to publish his memoir No Easy Day before receiving Pentagon approval: to get his book out before Mark Bowden published his own big Osama bin Laden raid book. 

Comments | 18,962 Views

By John Hudson

Oct 10, 2012

Watch the House Brawl Over Intelligence Failures in Libya

It's the most anticipated House hearing in weeks and will likely provide the Romney campaign with talking points for the rest of the presidential race.

Comments | 1,938 Views

By John Hudson

Oct 9, 2012

Satellite Images of the CIA's Secret Bin Laden Training Facility

One of the reasons U.S. Navy SEALs were able to so skillfully execute the raid on Osama bin Laden's compound last year was a CIA training facility in North Carolina that mirrored the architecture of bin Laden's actual compound in Pakistan.

Comments | 388,156 Views

By John Hudson

Oct 9, 2012

North Korea: Oh Yeah? Our Missiles Can Hit Continental U.S.

North Korea finally broke its silence on the U.S. agreement to allow South Korea to produce missiles capable of targeting all of North Korea and the announcement is vintage Pyongyang.

Comments | 1,391 Views

By John Hudson

Oct 8, 2012

Meet the Whistleblower Pressing the White House on Diplomatic Security in Libya

The State Department insists it didn't cut corners on security in the run-up to the deadly Sept. 11 terrorist attack in Benghazi, but a former U.S. security official in Libya is doing his best to torpedo those claims.

Comments | 960 Views

By Connor Simpson

Oct 5, 2012

FBI Needed Libya's Permission to Investigate the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi

Despite journalists and witnesses simply walking into the U.S. consulate for weeks now, the FBI didn't conduct an on-site investigation until today because of 'security concerns.' They also needed Libya's permission and an extensive military escort before they could go in. 

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By John Hudson

Oct 4, 2012

This Is How Easy It Is to Enter the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi

Yesterday, The Washington Post reported that a trove of sensitive U.S. documents have been lying in plain sight at the U.S. consulate in Benghazi for almost a month. Today, the Post itself has become part of the story: How the heck did they get inside the consulate?

Comments | 1,034 Views

By John Hudson

Oct 4, 2012

Reports: Fewer Guards at Benghazi Consulate as Threats Increased

It doesn't seem to make much sense: At the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, the State Department reduced the number of security guards on the ground just as reports of security threats at the compound increased dramatically accoridng to two new reports by CBS News reporter Sharyl Attkisson and Daily Beast reporter Eli Lake

Comments | 440 Views

By John Hudson

Oct 3, 2012

Obama Would Have Put Bin Laden on Trial If He Were Captured

In a report that's frankly difficult to believe, Vanity Fair says President Obama intended to put Osama bin Laden on trial in federal court if the Al Qaeda leader had survived the Abbottabad raid last May.

Comments | 2,583 Views

By John Hudson

Oct 3, 2012

Homeland Security Data Centers Produce 'Predominantly Useless Information'

Imagine having all the downsides of Big Brother, but with none of the benefits:  That's what you get with the Department of Homeland Security's vast network of "fusion" centers, according to a damning new report by the Senate's bipartisan Subcommittee on Investigations.

Comments | 3,769 Views

By Connor Simpson

Oct 2, 2012

Obama Is Reviewing Names of the Libyan Militants Who Killed Our Ambassador

U.S. intelligence officials are putting the final touches on reports about the militants suspected to be involved in the attack on the Libyan embassy that killed Ambassador Christopher Stevens and three others.  

Comments | 417 Views

By John Hudson

Oct 2, 2012

U.S. Plans in Afghanistan Are Falling Apart

It's a grim morning of news from the Afghan war. While hopes are fading for a peace deal with the Taliban, deadly "insider" attacks threaten to force an early retreat of NATO forces before 2014. 

Comments | 1,207 Views

By Adam Clark Estes

Sep 30, 2012

A False Sense of Security Doomed Benghazi Consulate Workers

A lot went wrong at the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi on September 11, but according to new interviews with the staff, the staff should've been better prepared.

Comments | 1,489 Views

By Connor Simpson

Sep 30, 2012

Latest 'Insider' Attack Marks 2,000th U.S. Death in Afghan War

There was yet another green-on-blue attack in Afghanistan on Sunday in which two Americans and three Afghans were killed. The death of a U.S. soldier brings the total number of troop deaths in the Afghan war to over 2,000. 

Comments | 1,581 Views

By Connor Simpson

Sep 29, 2012

Yemen's President Thinks Drones Are Smarter than Humans

Yemen's president is so in love with the fleet of drones the U.S. uses in his country that he thinks they're more advanced than the human brain. 

Comments | 2,743 Views

By John Hudson

Sep 28, 2012

Israel's Plan to Destroy Iran's Nuclear Program Looks Nothing Like News Graphics

For years, cable news analysts have used fancy graphics to map out the blueprint of an Israeli strike on Iran's nuclear facilities. Turns, they may have been forecasting the wrong scenario.

Comments | 2,473 Views

By John Hudson

Sep 28, 2012

Libya Attack Is Still Too Dangerous to Investigate

It's been 17 days since the deadly attacks on a U.S. consulate in Benghazi and the scene of the crime is still too dangerous for a proper FBI investigation.

Comments | 345 Views

By John Hudson

Sep 27, 2012

Why the Afghan Surge Was a Failure in One Chart

When the U.S. troop surge wound down in Afghanistan last week, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta slapped a positive gloss on the operation, saying it succeeded in "reversing the Taliban momentum." While some anti-war critics questioned that outlook, one of the most damning assessments of the surge's efficacy now comes in the form of a chart by NATO itself.

Comments | 1,601 Views

By John Hudson

Sep 27, 2012

343 People Killed in a Single Day in Syria

As world leaders deadlock over what to do about Syria at the United Nations summit in New York, the war-torn country has experienced one of the bloodiest days of its 18-month civil war.

Comments | 172 Views

By John Hudson

Sep 26, 2012

U.S. Isn't Waiting for Pakistan's Permission on Drone Strikes

The Obama administration has soothed concerns about its Predator drone program by assuring that foreign governments give "full consent" before drones drop Hellfire missiles on unsuspecting targets on their territory. Turns out, though, that's not always the case.

Comments | 2,582 Views

By John Hudson

Sep 25, 2012

Pentagon: Don't Tweet About the Former SEAL's Bin Laden Book

While the Pentagon is still mulling over whether to prosecute Navy SEAL author Matt Bissonnette, it is sure about one thing: it doesn't want any of its employees tweeting about that guy's best-selling book.

Comments | 971 Views

By John Hudson

Sep 25, 2012

Chinese Naval Power in One Chart

China is making big headlines today, on our site and in newspapers, for the launch of its first aircraft carrier, the Liaoning. But to add some perspective to China's latest military gain, we've updated a chart to reflect the new naval status quo.

Comments | 3,661 Views

By Alexander Abad-Santos

Sep 25, 2012

Study Claims Drones Haven't Made Americans Any Safer

A new study by law professors at Stanford and New York University found that drones strikes have killed far more civilians in Pakistan than the U.S. has acknowledged and that the program has a "damaging and counterproductive effect."

Comments | 528 Views

By John Hudson

Sep 24, 2012

U.N. to Ahmadinejad: Watch Your Mouth

It will likely be Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's last big speech on the international stage this week, and United Nations organizers are terrified he's going to go out with a bang.

Comments | 1,002 Views

By John Hudson

Sep 21, 2012

The U.S. Suffered Its Worst Airpower Loss Since Vietnam Last Week and No One Really Noticed

The Taliban attack on an air base in southern Afghanistan on Friday drew coverage for the way the insurgents cloaked themselves in U.S. army uniforms to gain a tactical advantage, but few have taken note of the historical proportions of the damage inflicted.

Comments | 136,534 Views

By John Hudson

Sep 21, 2012

The Troop Surge in Afghanistan Is Officially Over

It never lived up to the renown of the Iraq War troop surge, and now it's officially over.

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By John Hudson

Sep 19, 2012

Leon Panetta Is Very Happy About This Commemorative Plate

Some people struggle to act grateful for symbolic gifts from friends or colleagues. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta is not one of those people. 

Comments | 1,894 Views

By John Hudson

Sep 14, 2012

The Most Controversial Cuts the White House Unveiled Today

After months of foot-dragging, the White House finally announced how it would implement the mandatory spending cuts to defense and domestic spending Republicans and Democrats agreed to last year, but that no one — not Congressional Democrats, Republicans, or the White House — wants to see go in effect.

Comments | 4,181 Views

By Connor Simpson

Sep 14, 2012

What Would Romney Do About Libya?

If Mitt Romney was the President, how would he handle what's happening in the Middle East right now? If you listen to his staff, it's unlikely the attack would have happened at all. 

Comments | 7,670 Views

By Connor Simpson

Sep 13, 2012

State Department Denies Having Advanced Warning of an Attack

Amid the belief that the attack in Benghazi was the work of premeditated terrorists, there's a report from the British newspaper The Independent saying the State Department had advance warning of an attack and decided not to do anything. A Department rep. called it "absolutely wrong."

Comments | 2,327 Views

By John Hudson

Sep 10, 2012

Second Charity Refuses Donations from Navy SEAL Author

A second charity is refusing to accept donations from former Navy SEAL Matt Bissonnette, author of the bestelling book No Easy Day about the mission to kill Osama bin Laden, The Atlantic Wire has confirmed.

Comments | 22,089 Views

By John Hudson

Aug 31, 2012

Pentagon Threatens Legal Action Against Navy SEAL Author and Publisher

The Defense Department threw down the gauntlet last night, telling former Navy SEAL author Matt Bissonnette he's in "material breach" of his agreements not to disclose military secrets with his book, No Easy Day, and, as a result, the Pentagon is considering legal action against him.

Comments | 1,724 Views

By John Hudson

Aug 30, 2012

Soldiers Turned Terrorists Will Face the Death Penalty

The three Georgia-based Army soldiers accused of killing a young couple and plotting to assassinate President Obama are getting the book thrown at them. 

Comments | 10,248 Views

By John Hudson

Aug 29, 2012

Lawyers: Former SEAL Author Is Almost Certainly Facing Legal Trouble

The publisher and author of No Easy Day, an upcoming tell-all on the mission to kill Osama bin Laden, promised the book doesn't reveal classified information. But government privacy lawyers speaking with The Atlantic Wire say the book almost certainly does. 

Comments | 12,808 Views

By John Hudson

Aug 28, 2012

CIA Emails Reveal Winners and Losers of National Security Access

For everyone who didn't get special access to information about the Osama bin Laden raid, today was a little bit discouraging as new e-mails revealed CIA officials gushing over Hollywood filmakers at the expense of trained reporters and documentarians.

Comments | 10,492 Views

By John Hudson

Aug 27, 2012

Prosecutors: U.S. Soldiers Plotted to Kill President Obama

In a disturbing report out of Georgia, prosecutors say four U.S. soldiers plotted to overthrow the government and assassinate President Obama.

Comments | 166,175 Views

By John Hudson

Aug 27, 2012

The Document That Might Spell Trouble for Ex-Navy SEAL Author

If ex-Navy SEAL Matt Bissonnette discloses classified information in his upcoming tell-all on the mission to kill Osama bin Laden, he could be subject to criminal prosecution under the Espionage Act, as we noted earlier. But even if he doesn't divulge any secrets, he's still got major legal problems.

Comments | 12,850 Views

By John Hudson

Aug 24, 2012

Jihadist Websites Target Navy SEAL Author

It only took one day for Fox News to identify the ex-Navy SEAL responsible for a new book on the death of Osama bin Laden. It took even less time for Al Qaeda-affiliated websites to begin distributing his name and image while calling for his "destruction."

Comments | 15,075 Views

By John Hudson

Aug 21, 2012

Neo-Nazis Are Using the Army as a Training Camp

White supremacists aren't the type of people you want to train to be unstoppable fighting machines, but that doesn't mean they're not signing up for the call of duty.

Comments | 2,867 Views

By Jen Doll

Aug 21, 2012

Claim: Hillary Clinton Convinced Obama to Go After Bin Laden

Investigative journalist Richard Miniter has a new book out today, Leading From Behind: The Reluctant President and the Advisors Who Decide for Him, in which he claims Barack Obama is "fully vetted" for the first time in history. He also claims Obama has been heavily influenced in his decision-making by women.

Comments | 1,379 Views

By John Hudson

Aug 17, 2012

Why Do Afghan Police Keep Killing U.S. Troops?

This year, U.S. troops in Afghanistan are dying at a rate of one per day thanks in part to the dramatic escalation of Afghan security forces turning their weapons on U.S. allies in so-called green-on-blue attacks.

Comments | 2,151 Views

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