Today's Headlines and Commentary

Raffaela Wakeman
Monday, August 8, 2011, 10:50 AM
Sneek Peak: The New York Times this weekend published this adaptation of Eric Schmitt's and Thom Shanker's forthcoming book, "Counterstrike: The Untold Story of America's Secret Campaign Against Al Qaeda." Time has this analysis of the intersection between drug trafficking and terrorism, reporting on the increasingly large role the DEA has taken on in co

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Sneek Peak: The New York Times this weekend published this adaptation of Eric Schmitt's and Thom Shanker's forthcoming book, "Counterstrike: The Untold Story of America's Secret Campaign Against Al Qaeda." Time has this analysis of the intersection between drug trafficking and terrorism, reporting on the increasingly large role the DEA has taken on in counterterrorism. Harold Koh is going through a moral 'flip-flop,' according to Paul Starobin of the Times. Ben offered his thoughts, over the weekend on the piece. In this aggregation of reports of waterboarding-like tortures at Guantanamo, Jeffrey Kaye mounts an attack against Donald Rumsfeld's claims that the U.S. military never used waterboarding in interrogations--though he doesn't offer any examples of the military's using waterboarding, but refers to the repeated use of water in interrogations instead. Guantanamo's youngest (at the age of 15) captive, Omar Khadr, has fired his Canadian lawyers (he was born in Toronto). Carol Rosenberg at the Miami Herald reports. Battleland blog's Mark Benjamin writes on the Global Hawk, the next-gen drone that was profiled in the Times last week. Charlie Savage at the Times picks up on a passage in Judge Leonie M. Brinkema's opinion in James Risen's case suggesting that a journalist who receives, without authorization or clearance, classified information could be charged with a felony under the Espionage Act. Jack posted on this last week. Amnesty International's YouTube channel posted a satirical video which suggests that President Obama endorses torture. The Independent's Adam Sherwin reports. Follow us on Twitter for interesting law and security-related articles.

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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