Today's Headlines and Commentary

Raffaela Wakeman
Monday, October 3, 2011, 10:34 AM
NPR's Investigations Unit reports that five inmates who were convicted in terrorism cases in the U.S.
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NPR's Investigations Unit reports that five inmates who were convicted in terrorism cases in the U.S. have been relocated to 'Guantanamo North,' detention centers in the Midwest where their conversations are constantly monitored.

The Economist's Clausewitz blog calls the death of Al-Aulaqi "a crippling blow."

The trial of the underwear bomber, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, is set to begin Tuesday in Detroit, notes Matthew Dolan at the Wall Street Journal.

The Washington Post editorialized the killing of Al-Aulaqi over the weekend, but the New York Times has been peculiarly silent on the matter so far. Al-Aulaqi's death has highlighted the shift in American military strategy to using drones, reports Scott Shane and Thom Shanker at the New York Times. It has also reignited the debate over whether targeting and killing U.S. citizens is legal under the rules of war, or whether it violates U.S. or international laws. Carol Williams at the LA Times writes on this debate, CNN's Michael Martinez does as well, while Andrew Cohen at The Atlantic ponders the question of where the judicial branch is on the topic.

The Justice Department wrote a secret memorandum authorizing the targeted killing of Al-Aulaqi, reported Peter Finn over the weekend at the Washington Post. Jack just posted on this here, while Ben's post over the weekend is here.

A detention hearing for Rezwan Ferdaus is scheduled for this afternoon, reports CNN's Wire Staff.

A New York Times editorial over the weekend discusses the recently released F.B.I. files which include the memo explaining that individuals who are cleared of any links to terrorism in court may remain on the list if there is a "reasonable suspicion" that they do have links to terrorists.

John Bellinger has an op-ed in the Post today on the question of whether drone strikes will become Obama's own Guantanamo, as he noted this morning on the blog.

Judge Beryl Howell has allowed a lawsuit to move forward that alleges that the Department of State ignores a FOIA requirement to provide estimates of how long it will take to complete requests, writes Josh Gerstein at the Politico.

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Raffaela Wakeman

Raffaela Wakeman

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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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