From the Dish: The CIA Forces A Constitutional Crisis

Andrew Sullivan comments on the recent revelations that the CIA spied on the Senate Intelligence Committee when it was investigating allegations that the CIA used torture during the Iraq War during the Bush Administration.

He spends a good deal of time on the address made by the current chair Dianne Feinstein on the floor of the Senate as well as on whether this rises to the level of a constitutional crisis. By investigating Congress, the executive branch has used its power - in a manner not authorized by the Constitution - to check the legislature. Surveillance seems close to violating constitutional limits on the ability of the executive to arrest members of Congress while its in session.

Here are some posts worth walking through:

- Yes, The CIA Spied On Congress.
- The CIA Forces A Constitutional Crisis.
- The CIA Forces A Constitutional Crisis, Ctd
- Dissents Of The Day 

President Obama annouced rules related to targetted killings and drones

A guick description by the NYT:

In a widely anticipated speech at the National Defense University, Mr. Obama offered his most expansive defense of the drone war he has waged since taking office, but he signaled that he planned to wind down the strikes, which have stirred controversy at home and abroad. He referred obliquely to a new secret order imposing a higher standard on authorizing such attacks and shifting responsibility more from the C.I.A. to the military.

Beyond that, Mr. Obama proposed the creation of a secret court or some other independent body that would have to sign off on strikes in the future. He also called on Congress to revise the authorization of force it passed in the aftermath of Sept. 11 to reflect the changing nature of the war on terrorism. And he renewed his moribund effort to close the prison at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, by saying that he would lift a moratorium on transferring scores of detainees to Yemen.

Taken together, the president’s words and deeds added up to an effort to move the country away from the perpetual war on terrorism envisioned by his predecessor, George W. Bush, toward a more limited campaign against particular groups that would eventually be curtailed even if the threat of terrorism could never be eliminated.

Andrew Sullivan has a compilation of reactions to the speech here.

And Foreign Policy offers a clift notes guide to four key points made in the speech.

1 - A location in the US will be found to try Guantanamo detainees.
2 - A process will begin to determine how to oversee drone strikes , like involving the creation of a special court.
3 - Drones strikes will be carried out by the military, not the CIA.
4 - The War on Terror will end, someday.

The many faces of John Brennan

He does look like the kind of guy you want heading the CIA.







Here he's being a softy:

Obama announces new Defense Secretary and CIA Director

No big surprise. Chuck Hagel for Defense; John Brennan for CIA.

Story in NYT - commentary and background to follow.

Bureaucratic Drift and the CIA

When we begin - in 2302 - to look at the executive branch, we will note the concept of bureaucratic drift, which refers to the tendency of the mission of an agency to shift gradually over time from what it was originally intended to do, to what the agency - or the president - would prefer it to do.

Here are a couple of stories which show hos the CIA has been transformed since 9/11 "from an intelligence-collection and -analysis operation into a shadow military force."

- An Army in the Shadows

- CIA shifts focus to killing targets.