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September 21,2011
The National Reconnaissance Office (NRO), the agency which flies America’s spy satellites, celebrated its 50th anniversary this last weekend with a gala at the National Air and Space Museum’s Udvar-Hazy Center near Dulles Airport.
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September 9,2011
On September 11th, 2001 I was a team chief, leading a small group of analysts at the CIA. My part of the Agency did not work on terrorism. Some of us knew a bit about al Qaeda and Osama Bin Laden but as far I know none of my immediate colleagues were aware that the Counterterrorism Center had been issuing dire warnings all summer of a major attack.
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July 5,2011
Osama Bin Laden is dead and that is a very important development that came upon us suddenly but which will reverberate for a long time to come. There was an aspect to the story, however, that came upon us much more gradually but that will also have important long-term implications.
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June 16,2011
March 15, 2011 - Congress recently passed and President Obama signed a one year extension to three controversial provisions of the Patriot Act. These three sections authorized FISA Court -approved roving wiretaps; allowed court-approved seizures of business records of terrorism suspects without their knowledge; and permitted surveillance against non-US citizen “lone wolves,” individuals engaged in terrorism who are not part of a recognized terrorist group.
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June 2,2011
When the US Government charges someone with espionage, people take notice, as well they should. In this time of war, the Espionage Act of 1917 is back in vogue and whistleblowers are likely to find themselves accused of being spies. However, not all charges of espionage are the same, nor are all claims of whistleblowing. It is interesting to compare the case of Tom Drake, a former senior official at the National Security Agency who is facing charges under the Espionage Act of 1917, for—as he sees it—blowing
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February 9,2011
Some senators have started blaming the Intelligence Community for not providing warning of the revolution in Egypt. Senator Dianne Feinstein, for instance, said at a recent hearing “The President, the Secretary of State and the Congress are making policy decisions on Egypt, and those policymakers deserve timely intelligence analysis.”
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