Today's Headlines and Commentary

Raffaela Wakeman
Wednesday, June 29, 2011, 10:37 AM
In connection with Harold Koh's testimony regarding American intervention in Libya yesterday--which Bobby discussed here and here--NPR's Carrie Johnson reported on Koh's path to his current views here. The New York Times' Jennifer Steinhauer, meanwhile, 

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In connection with Harold Koh's testimony regarding American intervention in Libya yesterday--which Bobby discussed here and here--NPR's Carrie Johnson reported on Koh's path to his current views here. The New York Times' Jennifer Steinhauer, meanwhile, reports on the Senate Foreign Relation Committee's successful vote authorizing American intervention in Libya (it passed 14-to-5), as well as on Koh's testimony before the committee. Eric Posner and Adrian Vermeule have this article in Slate arguing that Obama's controversial decision to ignore the Office of Legal Counsel's advice about Libya is not necessarily all that controversial. In a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing, Vice Admiral William McRaven, who helped lead the bin Laden raid, affirmed that there is not an established protocol for handling terrorist suspects, although he also confirmed that the Obama administration does not plan on sending any suspects to Guantanamo Bay. Read the Washington Post's coverage here and the Wall Street Journal's analysis here. The Washington Post's Paul Kane writes about the close relationship between Senators John Kerry and John McCain, which has recently come into focus as a result of their partnership on intervention in Libya. For the graphic novel fans among you, a comic book depiction of the raid that resulted in bin Laden's death is to be released by a retired Marine Captain and his wife. The Miami Herald reports that the most recent detainee who committed suicide was categorized by the Pentagon as an "indefinite detainee," the designation given by the Obama administration to 48 of those still held at Guantanamo. For more news and analysis links, see Today’s Terrorism News over at the CenterLine.

Raffaela Wakeman is a Senior Director at In-Q-Tel. She started her career at the Brookings Institution, where she spent five years conducting research on national security, election reform, and Congress. During this time she was also the Associate Editor of Lawfare. From there, Raffaela practiced law at the U.S. Department of Defense for four years, advising her clients on privacy and surveillance law, cybersecurity, and foreign liaison relationships. She departed DoD in 2019 to join the Majority Staff of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, where she oversaw the Intelligence Community’s science and technology portfolios, cybersecurity, and surveillance activities. She left HPSCI in May 2021 to join IQT. Raffaela received her BS and MS in Political Science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 2009 and her law degree from Georgetown University Law Center in 2015, where she was recognized for her commitment to public service with the Joyce Chiang Memorial Award. While at the Department of Defense, she was the inaugural recipient of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence’s General Counsel Award for exhibiting the highest standards of leadership, professional conduct, and integrity.

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