In early February, a Department of Justice Office of Legal Council White Paper that summarized the White House’s legal reasoning for the war on terrorism leaked to the public. While the White Paper limited its discussion to why the White House can order lethal strikes against American citizens, it also contains some worrying hints about how […]
middle east

Dim prospects for drone accountability
Last week, John O. Brennan, President Obama’s nominee for director of the CIA, faced some tough questions from the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence. Arguably one of the most interesting was posed by Committee Chairwoman Sen. Diane Feinstein (D-CA), who suggested during her opening comments that it might be time for the drones program to […]

Inside Obama’s presidency
Watch Inside Obama’s Presidency on PBS. See more from FRONTLINE. Related content: View more on drone strikes under the Obama administration. Drone strikes in Pakistan Reporting from Pakistan, Need to Know investigates the impact U.S. drone attacks are having on citizens in targeted areas. Interview with Pir Zubair Shah Anchor Scott Simon interviews Pir Zubair […]

A hollow victory: The slow unraveling of Libya
There’s been a months-long string of horrifying stories coming out of Libya that seems to merit mostly shrugs. Joshua Foust asks: What is going on?

Anthony Shadid on the status of Christians in the Middle East
Ray Suarez interviews New York Times correspondent Anthony Shadid, who offers his perspective on the status of Christians throughout the Middle East.