Glenn Greenwald's Blog, page 37

Donald Trump’s “Ban Muslims” Proposal Is Wildly Dangerous But Not Far Outside the U.S. Mainstream

(updated below — Update II)

Hours aftera new poll revealed that he’s trailing Ted Cruz in Iowa, GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump issued a statement advocating “a total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States until our representatives can figure out what’s going on.” His spokesperson later clarified that this exclusioneven includes Muslim-American citizens who are currently outside the U.S. On first glance,it seems accurateto view this, in the words of The Guardian,...

U.S. First Shields Its Torturers and War Criminals From Prosecution, Now Officially Honors Them

As vice president, Dick Cheney was a prime architect of the worldwide torture regime implemented by the U.S. government (which extended far beyond waterboarding), as well as the invasion and destruction of Iraq, which caused the deaths of at least 500,000people and more likely over a million. As such, he is one of the planet’s most notorious war criminals.

President Obama made the decision in early 2009 to block the Justice Department from criminally investigating andprosecuting Cheney and hi...

Court Ruling Against Chicago Sheriff Proves Thuggish Anti-WikiLeaks Blockade Was Unconstitutional

The 7thCircuit Court of Appeals in Chicago issued an excellent written rulingon Mondaythat has broad implications for rights of free speech and political activism in the U.S. The court ruledthat Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart violated the First Amendment rights of Backpage.com, an online classified ad site, by pressuring Visa and MasterCard to prohibit payments to the site on the ground that the sheriff dislikes some of the site’s “adult” (i.e. sex) ads, which he believes promote prostitution....

Let’s Not Whitewash George W. Bush’s Actual, Heinous Record on Muslims in the U.S.

The New York Times this morning has an op-ed by Al Jazeera host Mehdi Hasan, whom I regard as one of the world’s best television journalists. Its primary point is one that has been recently promoted by others such as MSNBC’s Chris Hayes: namely, that in the wake of 9/11, George W. Bush diligently avoided, and even forcefully rejected, the anti-Muslim bigotry and animusnow prevalent in the 2016 GOP primary race. Titled “Why I Miss George W. Bush,” Hasan’s op-ed argues that Bush and his top adv...

What Foreign Policy “Debate” Means on “Face the Nation”

CBS’Face the Nation is the most-watched Sunday morningnews television show in the U.S., attracting roughly 3 million viewers each week. On this Sunday morning, the show is focused on foreign policy, as it interviews Ben Carson, Jeb Bush and Lindsey Graham on the issues of ISIS and refugees. As it always does, the program has assembled a panel of “experts” to discuss those matters; one of them, Jeffrey Goldberg, proudly announced its composition this morning:

I'll be on @FaceTheNation this mor...

CNN Punished Its Own Journalist for Fulfilling a Core Duty of Journalism

CNN yesterday suspended itsglobal affairs correspondent, Elise Labott, for two weeks for the crime of posting a tweet critical of the House vote to ban Syrian refugees. Whether by compulsion or choice, she then groveled in apology. This is the original tweet along with her subsequent expression of repentance:

Everyone, It was wrong of me to editorialize. My tweet was inappropriate and disrespectful. I sincerely apologize.

— Elise Labott (@eliselabottcnn) November 20, 2015

This all happened a...

Overwhelmed NSA Surprised to Discover Its Own Surveillance “Goldmine” on Venezuela’s Oil Executives

A TOP-SECRET NATIONAL SECURITY AGENCY DOCUMENT, dated 2011, describes how, by “sheer luck,” an analyst was able to access the communications of top officials of Venezuela’s state-owned oil company, Petróleos de Venezuela.

Beyond the issue of spying on a business, the document highlightsa significantflawinmass surveillance programs: how indiscriminatecollection can blind rather than illuminate. It also illustrates the technical and bureaucratic ease with which NSA analysts are able to accessth...

NYT Editorial Slams “Disgraceful” CIA Exploitation of Paris Attacks, But Submissive Media Role Is Key

A truly superb New York Timeseditorialthis morning mercilessly shamesthe despicable effort by U.S. government officials to shamelessly exploit the Paris attacks to advance long-standing agendas. Focused on the publiccampaign of the CIA to manipulate post-Paris public emotionsto demonize transparency and privacy and to demand still-greater surveillance powers for themselves, theNYTeditorsbegin:

It’s a wretched yet predictable ritual after each new terrorist attack: Certain politicians and gove...

Film Shows Chilling Climate for Muslims in Post-Hebdo France

Yesterday, theNew York Times published an article that was deeply alarming from the headline to the last line: “After Paris Attacks, a Darker Mood Toward Islam Emerges in France.” It describes how the relationship between France and “its Muslim community” is now “tipping toward outright distrust, even hostility” in the aftermathof last Friday’sviolence.It highlightsthe fear experienced byFrench Muslims as they enduregovernment vows of radical domestic crackdowns, a growing far-right anti-Musl...

Stock Prices of Weapons Manufacturers Soaring Since Paris Attack

The Paris attacks took place on Friday night. Since then, France’s president has vowed “war” on ISIS and today significantly escalatedthe country’sbombing campaign in Syria (France has been bombing ISIS in Iraq since last January, and began bombing the groupin Syria in September).

Already this morning, asAaron Cantúnoticed, the stocks of the leading weapons manufacturers — what is usually referred to as the “defense industry” — have soared:

Also enjoying a fantastic day so far is...