political intelligence

Slate: the actual NIE assessment
NYT: offers the cliffs-notes version: intercepted complaints about a killed weapons program
NYT: not everyone on board with the latest conclusions
WP: of all people, Bolton points out that intel is political
"The real differences between the NIEs are not in the hard data but in the psychological assessment of the mullahs' motives and objectives."

Slate: synopsis of the Supreme Court Guatanamo hearing
"...it's clear (PDF) that the legal proceedings set up at Gitmo in the wake of Rasul, the so-called Combatant Status Review Tribunals (PDF), mostly give prisoners the "right" to be tried by a judge who answers to the military; the "right" to be tried with evidence obtained by torture; the "right" to be presumed a terrorist from the outset; the "right" to be tried without a lawyer present; and the "right" to be tried with evidence that's sloppy, inaccurate, and classified.

If those are rights, ladle me up some of them wrongs."

Gdn: Congress pushing for waterboarding ban

Ind: rendition and resistance in turn-of-the-(previous)-century Foreign Office
"The reaction of the Foreign Office mandarins was a little more robust than its attitude a century later when the CIA was allegedly landing aircraft in Britain with hooded and drugged prisoners on board on their way to secret prisons in eastern Europe and the Middle East. The then Foreign Secretary, Sir Edward Grey, who copiously annotated Henry's dispatches in red ink, asked for assurances that Yang would not be further mistreated if he was handed over, though he also made clear that fostering good relations with Japan was his priority."

Slate: Iraqis returning from Syria (but not other places)
LAT: officers resisting scaling down troop presence in Iraq
NYT: Secdef saying no to redeployment of Marines from Iraq to Afghanistan
NYT: meanwhile, insurgents redeploy to Mosul

Gdn: Communist party in West Bengal criticized at home, supported abroad, for policies and the use of violence last month against villagers
BBC: on 15th anniversary of mosque destruction, security tight in Ayodhya, India

LAT: division of labor within the Mexican drug trade
"Although "cartel" suggests that one group controls all aspects of the drug trade, drugs are actually shipped through the region thanks to alliances among local and regional crime groups.

When deals between groups are broken, violence ensues..."

Gdn: China goes after gangs

LAT: ICC goes after Sudanese leaders for Darfur violence

LAT: court convicts 14 Abu Sayyaf rebels in the Philippines for kidnapping in 2001
Atlantic: here's a good back story on the group, and the rescue operation (subscription required)

NYT: changes among Chavistas - referendum loss opens up possibility of internal dissent

Gdn: Mugabe gives annual address, blames Britain and West for economic problems

BBC: French consider reparations for harkis, Algerians who collaborated with the colonial regime and had to flee after independence, or suffer punishment at home

Slate: what can (US) police officers get on you?

Slate: in light of the teddy bear scandal in Sudan, some clarification on who can be named Mohammed. plus, who's named Jesus, and how names can be tricky for state bureaucracies

Cleveland Free Times: (not quite) breaking up criminal networks in Cleveland, 79 years ago