Today's Headlines and Commentary
Craig Whitlock had a significant piece in the Washington Post over the weekend detailing the expanded use of surveillance drones outside of declared combat zones.
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Craig Whitlock had a significant piece in the Washington Post over the weekend detailing the expanded use of surveillance drones outside of declared combat zones. Check it out, and take a peek at the Post's map of "hot spots" where the drones roam.
We learn from Huffington Post that members of the human rights group Reprieve are hunger striking in solidarity with GTMO detainees.
Bobby already noted the news that the GTMO Periodic Review Board will once begin reviewing the detention of 71 of the detention center's residents, but here's Al Jazeera on the subject as well.
On the topic of detention, the Wall Street Journal editorializes on the Second Circuit's decision in Hedges.
Rachael King writes at the Journal about another national security-related victim of sequestration and budget cuts: DHS programming for cybersecurity issues in critical infrastructure.
Meanwhile, the White House is thinking through whether to offer tax incentives to businesses that make strides in cybersecurity. Tony Romm writes at Politico.
Meanwhile, it's not just the U.S. that has concerns about the motives of Chinese company Huawei---the U.K. will be undertaking an investigation of the company's activities in Britain. Here's a Journal story.
It seems that Hill staffers were targeted by Anonymous last week; the hacking group proved it probably has the capability to breach Capitol Hill cyber protections. Here's Jennifer Martinez writing at The Hill.
Pakistan's new government has dispatched a diplomat to try to open up peace talks with the Taliban. Here's a story in the Times by Matthew Rosenberg and Jawad Sukhanyar.
The Journal's Laurence Norman noted the addition of Hezbollah to the European Union's list of terrorist organizations.
The news broke late Friday that the FISC renewed the warrant giving the NSA authority to collect cell phone records; Joby Warrick reports in the Post. The Post's Dana Priest wrote this lengthy piece about the tremendous growth of the NSA since 2001. Key statistic: its workforce has increased by 33 percent.
And in the Senate, Patrick Leahy has proposed legislation that would require law enforcement to receive a warrant prior to accessing online communications---Brendan Sasso explains the nuts and bolts at The Hill.
And if you're feeling the need for some comic relief from all these stories about the NSA, the Duffel Blog has you covered with this important story that begins: "Amid growing public controversy and a slew of high-profile leaks, the National Security Agency announced Monday plans to bring an end to all of its intelligence functions and operations."
For more interesting law and security-related articles, follow us on Twitter, visit the Georgetown Center on National Security and the Law’s Security Law Brief, Syracuse’s Institute for National Security & Counterterrorism’s newsroll and blog, and Fordham Law’s Center on National Security’s Morning Brief and Cyber Brief. Email Raffaela Wakeman and Ritika Singh noteworthy articles to include, visit the Lawfare Events Calendar for upcoming national security events, and check out relevant job openings at the Lawfare Job Board.
Raffaela Wakeman is a Senior Director at In-Q-Tel. She started her career at the Brookings Institution, where she spent five years conducting research on national security, election reform, and Congress. During this time she was also the Associate Editor of Lawfare. From there, Raffaela practiced law at the U.S. Department of Defense for four years, advising her clients on privacy and surveillance law, cybersecurity, and foreign liaison relationships. She departed DoD in 2019 to join the Majority Staff of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, where she oversaw the Intelligence Community’s science and technology portfolios, cybersecurity, and surveillance activities. She left HPSCI in May 2021 to join IQT.
Raffaela received her BS and MS in Political Science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 2009 and her law degree from Georgetown University Law Center in 2015, where she was recognized for her commitment to public service with the Joyce Chiang Memorial Award. While at the Department of Defense, she was the inaugural recipient of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence’s General Counsel Award for exhibiting the highest standards of leadership, professional conduct, and integrity.
