Today's Headlines and Commentary

Raffaela Wakeman
Monday, January 30, 2012, 10:58 AM
Eric Schmitt and Michael Schmidt write in the New York Times that the drones keeping watch in Iraq are less than welcome these days, despite their being operated by the State Department, not the military. The Jerusalem Post reports that Israel's Heron TP, its most advanced drone, crashed during a test flight when one of its wing's broke off. Matthe

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Eric Schmitt and Michael Schmidt write in the New York Times that the drones keeping watch in Iraq are less than welcome these days, despite their being operated by the State Department, not the military. The Jerusalem Post reports that Israel's Heron TP, its most advanced drone, crashed during a test flight when one of its wing's broke off. Matthew Wald reported in the Times over the weekend on the excruciatingly slow process involved in requesting government data through FOIA. On the heels of the DOD's budget cuts, Joshua Foust at the Atlantic opines on the implications of a "drones-first" defense policy, and W.J. Hennigan discusses the DOD's plan to continue relying on the U-2, rather than opting for a wholesale upgrade of its surveillance fleet at the LA Times. The AP reported late last week that the NYPD announced that a CIA officer who has been working for the NYPD's top intelligence officer will be leaving in April. Somali pirates captured in early January are in some sort of "legal limbo," writes the New York Times' C.J. Chivers. It's unclear where they should be prosecuted. Two men accused of plotting to attack the Danish Newspaper that published caricatures of the Prophet Mohammed have been found gulty. The AP (courtesy of NPR) covers the story. For more interesting law and security-related articles, follow us on Twitter, visit the Georgetown Center on National Security and the Law’s Security Law Brief, Fordham Law’s Center on National Security’s Morning Brief, and Fordham Law’s Cyber Brief. Email us noteworthy articles we may have missed at wakeman.lawfare@gmail.com and singh.lawfare@gmail.com.

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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