Free Talk Live

In testimony before the House Intelligence Committee today, National Intelligence Director Dennis Blair told representatives that American citizens can be assassinated by the US government when they are oveseas.

New York Rep. Peter King has exploited the hysteria surrounding the Wikileaks case to introduce legislation to make it illegal to publish the names of American intelligence sources who provide information to the US military or intelligence community, according to Homeland Security Today.

Many San Francisco residents were calling for Police Chief George Gascón to be relieved of his position for his uniquely bumbling slurs against the city's Arab community. Today he's meeting with members of the Arab American community to smooth things over, but Gascón's desire to reinstitute a controversial intelligence unit that would spy on the citizens of San Francisco has many wondering if he hasn't tipped his hand and revealed more Draconian prejudices.

Congress is considering monumental new legislation that would grant the president–and all presidents after him–sweeping new power to make war almost anywhere and everywhere. The proposed legislation would allow a president to use military force wherever terrorism suspects are present in the world, regardless of whether there has been any harm to U.S. citizens, or any attack on the United States, or any imminent threat of an attack. The legislation is broad enough to permit a president to use military force within the United States and against American citizens.

Law enforcement intelligence-processing fusion centers have long come under attack for spying on Americans. The Arkansas director wanted to clarify the truth: centers only spies on some Americans – those who appear to be a threat to the government.

The breakthrough was enormous, says the former official, and soon afterward the agency pulled the shade down tight on the project, even within the intelligence community and Congress. “Only the chairman and vice chairman and the two staff directors of each intelligence committee were told about it,” he says. The reason? “They were thinking that this computing breakthrough was going to give them the ability to crack current public encryption.”

"U.S. Intelligence has hired social scientists to mine the vast resources of the Internet

A confidential Justice Department memo concludes that the U.S. government can order the killing of American citizens if they are believed to be “senior operational leaders” of al-Qaida or “an associated force” -- even if there is no intelligence indicating they are engaged in an active plot to attack the U.S.

QUEBEC -- Starting in December, passengers on Canadian airlines flying to, from or even over the United States without ever landing there, will only be allowed to board the aircraft once the U.S. Department of Homeland Security has determined they are not terrorists.

Secure Flight, the newest weapon in the U.S. war on terrorism, gives the United States unprecedented power about who can board planes that fly over U.S. airspace -- even if the flights originate and land in Canada.