Antiwar.com Newsletter | February 8, 2013

Antiwar.com Newsletter | February 8, 2013

IN THIS ISSUE

  • Top News
  • Opinion and analysis

This week’s top news:

Brennan Placates Congress on Torture, Drones in Confirmation Hearings: The Senate confirmation hearings on Thursday for John Brennan, President Obama’s nominee to be the next Director of the Central Intelligence Agency, focused primarily on CIA torture and drones, as Brennan heads to inevitable approval.

Leaked Justice Department Memo Reveals Legal Case for Targeted Killings of US Citizens: The US government can order the killing of American citizens even when there is no active intelligence accusing them of carrying out a specific terrorist attack, according to a confidential Justice Department legal memo obtained by NBC News.

CIA Using Secret Drone Base in Saudi Arabia for Two Years: The US news media has known about the base’s existence since September 2011 when it was used to assassinate American citizen and suspected al-Qaeda member Anwar al-Awlaki, but did not disclose the information because of an “informal arrangement” with the Obama administration to keep it secret.

Pentagon Wanted to Arm Syrian Rebels: Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta and Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Martin Dempsey were in favor of the plan last year put forth by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and former CIA Director David Petraeus to arm the Syrian opposition, a plan that was rejected by the White House.

Israel: No Change in Settlement Policy: Speculation has been growing that the Obama Administration would pressure Israel to make some sort of concession to the Palestinians to restart peace talks, though the White House has made it clear that will not be the case.

Afghan Corruption Soars: Bribes Twice as Much as Tax Revenue: Afghanistan’s near-legendary levels of corruption continue to worsen, with the latest UN report putting the bribery industry at $3.9 billion, twice what the Afghan government actually collects in above-the-table revenue.

Opinion and Analysis:

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