ON THE FIGHT
Three sailors have been kidnapped off the Nigerian coast by pirates. Two of the three being held hostage are Russian nationals.
Malian nationals have begun turning on the remaining militants living and operating amongst them.
POTOMAC TWO-STEP
The new Blackwater, Academi, in a bid to shed their checkered past, has partnered with and hired a former attorney general of the United States to reassure investors and clients that they are adhering to human rights laws and exhibiting respect for the rule of law.
Senator Lindsey Graham is threatening to block the confirmation votes for both John Brennan and Chuck Hagel until he gets the information he’s demanding from the White House.
The Senate Armed Service Committee is taking a sharp, partisan turn for the worse, bucking its self-professed bipartisan mission.
ON SECRECY – OR LACK THEREOF
Former Secretary of Defense Robert Gates seems to feel to that the drone program(s), while useful, could benefit from additional oversight — although he stopped short of endorsing calls for a separate national security or targeted killing court, in the same vein as the FISA court.
The Chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence is of a different mind when it comes to oversight of the drone program(s) — namely, that is sufficiently accountable.
Robert Caruso is a veteran of the United States Navy, and has worked for the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction, Business Transformation Agency and the Office of the Secretary of Defense.
