Today's Headlines and Commentary

The new Chair of the Council of Economic Advisors, Alan Krueger, challenged the Bush administration's assertion that invading Iraq would reduce world-wide terror, Nancy Scola at the Atlantic writes. Amnesty International continues to lobby for an investigation of Dick Cheney for war crimes, reports the Talk Radio News Service. Strains in the U.S.-Pakistani relationship continue as the CIA pushes forward on its drone strike campaign, which has recently resulted in the death of the no. 2 in Al Qaeda. The Wall Street Journal's Adam Entous and Siobhan Gorman  have the story (subscription required). Jerry Markon at the Washington Post writes about Assistant U.S. Attorney Aloke Chakravarty, who is simultaneously working to build a strong relationship with the Muslim community in Boston and prosecuting Muslim terrorists. Over at the New York Times, Somini Sengupta reports that hackers targeting people in Iran recently posed as Google to intercept communications meant for the search giant. In other cybersecurity news, Wikileaks as been hacked, says the AP. The 9/11 Commission will be releasing a report today on the status of the Commission's recommendations. The Wall Street Journal (ungated) interviewed co-chair Tom Kean:

"We're better off than we used to be," Mr. Kean said in an interview Tuesday. "But there are glaring gaps." Nine of the 41 recommendations haven't been fully implemented, the report says. They require urgent attention "because the threat from al Qaeda, related terrorist groups, and individual adherents to violent Islamist extremism persists." Among the greatest continuing threats to the U.S., they say, is a pattern of increasing terrorist recruitment of U.S. citizens and residents. They also warn of cyber attacks on critical infrastructure such as electrical, financial and communications systems, saying that defending against such attacks "must be an urgent priority."

NPR also has a story on the upcoming report. Jason Ukman at the Post summarizes the report here, while the full report is available here. And The Onion has two very important stories. The first is on the DHS announcement that it will begin a racial profiling "binge" starting on September 11:

WASHINGTON—Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano announced Thursday that the Transportation Security Administration, the Border Patrol, and all levels of U.S. law enforcement would be engaging in an all-out nationwide racial profiling binge on Sunday, Sept. 11. "If you have curly hair, a beard of any kind, or so much as a hint of a foreign accent, get ready, because you will definitely be interrogated," said Napolitano, cautioning those with surnames longer than five syllables or containing Z's not to even look at a plane that day unless they wanted to spend an extra five hours held up at security. "My advice to anyone with even the slightest amount of melanin in their skin is just to stay inside and wait it out, because we're going to be handing out pat-downs and full-on detentions like there's no tomorrow." Saying the success of the racial profiling spree would rely largely on public vigilance, Napolitano called on Americans to take note of anyone who looked different from themselves and either report such persons to authorities or "just take them down yourself."

The second is this video report on a military tribunal trial of a Predator Drone:

  Predator Drone Court-Martialed For Afghani Civilian Deaths

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