The White House and other pro-surveillance advocates are relying on opaque negotiations that occurred behind closed doors in order to scuttle meaningful surveillance reform.
Continue readingState Secrets Protection Act — Balancing Judicial Review and National Security
By Policy Intern Madeline Magnuson. How courts balance their roles as the arbiter of disputes against the need to protect... View Article
Continue readingContracting Transparency Please
What would you say if the Defense Department outsourced the arming of our allies in Afghanistan to a company run by a serial stalker and a licensed masseur? The New York Times reports that the main supplier of munitions to Afghanistan's fledging military and police forces, AEY, Inc., has been sending 40 year old munitions acquired from former Soviet bloc countries that do not work. AEY, Inc., is headed by Efraim Diveroli, a young man who used his position as a defense contractor to try and weasel his way out of court appearances regarding stalking charges filed against him by a girlfriend who alleged abuse and was nearly convicted of felony battery. The entire story really must be read in total. The AEY story is reminicent of the great movie Lord of War, except the protagonist here, Diveroli, is a bumbling, corrupt fool and not a successful enabler of mass murder like the Nicholas Cage character.
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