Transparency
421 Articles
Making Sense of the Allegations that U.S. Military Struck a Mosque in Syria
There are now two very different competing pictures about whether the United States mistakenly struck a mosque in Syria on the night of March 16, 2017. On one view, based on three…
San Francisco Sets an Example of How to Resist Surveillance in Trump Era
The San Francisco Police Department (SFPD) suspended its participation in the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF) last month. JTTFs are counterterrorism-focused intelligence-sharing…
Whistleblower Retaliation: A Governmental Accountability and National Security Crisis
The role of an Inspector General (IG) office in a federal agency or department is to root out waste, fraud, and abuse, and where necessary refer criminal conduct to the Justice…
Correcting the Record—Further Thoughts on the Intelligence Report on Civilian Casualties
In an exchange of posts over the past few weeks about the most recent casualty figures released by the Director of National Intelligence for theaters outside areas of active hostilities,…
The Recent Ground Raid in Yemen–What the Public is Entitled to Know
We know now that last Sunday’s ground operation in Yemen (also discussed here, here, and here) against an alleged Al Qaida in the Arab Peninsula (AQAP) target resulted in tragic…
Bureaucrats are “the Program”
The citizens of Washington, D.C. are used to having their city constantly disparaged and civil servants from around the DMV (DC, Maryland and Virginia) ably endure the endless…
Rare U.S. Military Acknowledgment of Civilian Casualties in Yemen—Concerns about transparency persist
In a rare acknowledgment, the U.S. military admitted last night that civilians, including children, “were likely killed” in the commando raid in Yemen on Sunday. This acknowledgment…
Trump’s First Drone Strikes: How to Measure His Approach to Transparency and Accountability
The first drone strikes under President Donald Trump were reportedly launched just a day after his inauguration. According to the New York Times, 17 people were killed in three…
Why the Cartwright Pardon is More Important Than the Manning Commutation
Today’s news of President Obama’s decision to commute most of the rest of Chelsea Manning’s 35-year prison sentence has received (and will receive) significant…
The Office of Special Counsel’s Oversight Role in National Security: A Home for Whistleblowers
To function efficiently and effectively, the government must promote whistleblowing by its employees. This is especially true in the national and homeland security contexts, where…
The Drone Memos Offers a Critique of Obama Administration’s ‘Shortsighted’ Policies on Targeted Killing
There are a lot of books about drones. In addition to fictionalized accounts of drone use and technical manuals, numerous policy books have been written that describe drone technology,…
US-led Coalition Needs to Improve ‘Opaque, Ad Hoc’ Process for Reporting Civilian Casualties, New Report Says
President Barack Obama’s July 2016 Executive Order on Civilian Casualties has improved U.S. monitoring and reporting of civilian casualties caused by its airstrikes, but far…