In the News: Jun-18

Gates: Civilian deaths strategic problem in war - 18 Jun 2009 at 2:43pm - WASHINGTON -- Defense Secretary Robert Gates says the accidental killing of civilians in Afghanistan has become one of the military's greatest strategic problems in the faltering war.

It's also a moral/ethical problem. In the Pentagon, strategics trumps ethics? There's also the one-person's-accidental-killing-is-another-person's-collateral-damage factor, and perhaps that's what Gates is really talking about. In a sense, it's unfortunate to use the term "accidental killing" at all, because for each civilian death, someone -- somewhere between the commander in chief and the person who pulled the trigger -- has deemed the risk acceptable.

House Dems want to expand secret briefings - 18 Jun 2009 at 2:01pm - WASHINGTON -- House Democrats are pushing for a big increase in the number of lawmakers who hear briefings on the nation's most sensitive intelligence operations, from the current "Gang of Eight" to about 40.

Report: US not doing enough against gun smuggling - 18 Jun 2009 at 1:16pm - WASHINGTON - Two federal agencies are being faulted for not coordinating their efforts against border gunrunners, a failure one lawmaker says made it easier for Mexican drug cartels to smuggle illegal weapons from the United States.

ISPs must help police snoop on internet under new bill - 18 Jun 2009 at 1:03pm - Internet service providers would have to make it possible for police and intelligence officers to intercept online communications and get personal information about subscribers under bills tabled Thursday.

Court finds convicts have no right to test DNA - 18 Jun 2009 at 10:49am - WASHINGTON -- The Supreme Court said Thursday that convicts have no constitutional right to test DNA evidence in hopes of proving their innocence long after they were found guilty of a crime.

Number of VA claims poised to hit 1 million - 18 Jun 2009 at 8:46am - WASHINGTON -- This isn't the same as getting a free duffel bag for being the millionth person to go through the turnstiles: The Veterans Affairs Department appears poised to have hit the 1 million milestone on claims it still hasn't processed.

Thought for the day:
Pity is the virtue of the law, and none but tyrants use it cruelly. -William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616)