Former CIA spokesman Kent Harrington runs down the history of warnings from the intelligence community about pandemics. There were quite a few. Presidents Clinton, Bush and Obama paid attention. The intelligence community first raised the alert immediately after President Barack Obama took office in January 2009, when then-DNI Dennis Blair testified that, “The most pressing...
Category: Countries
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The Problem With the Assange’s Extradition
With all the threats to civil liberties sprouting in America, the extradition trial of Julian Assange in London may seem a lesser priority. The United States is seeking to extradite Assange to the United States to face charges under the Espionage Act. But whatever you think of Assange, his indictment is an escalation of the...
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Peace Data and Prigozhin’s Service to Putin
Some journalists on the left like Aaron Mate and Dan Lazare tell me that the charges of Russian interference in U.S. politics are a “hoax” or “don’t really matter.” While I share their opposition to a new Cold War with Russia, that does not require averting one’s eyes from the record of Yevgeny Prigozhin, international...
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RIP: Kevin Zeese, Upbeat Progressive Activist
I was saddened to read in CounterPunch.org that Kevin Zeese had passed. Kevin was a constant, energetic presence in Washington DC area politics at the local, state and national levels. What I liked most about him was his hearty laugh, his spontaneous enthusiasm for radical politics and his genuine tolerance for differences of opinion. We...
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SpyTalk: How Chinese Intelligence Penetrated the CIA
In SpyTalk, a new email newsletter, veteran journalist Jeff Stein leads off with a report on the recent indictment of Alexander Ma, a former CIA officer who allegedly spied for China’s Ministry of State Security, and a relative who allegedly helped him. The secrets the two Ma’s spilled included the identity of five CIA agents,...