As part of a plan to further ramp up its spying operations worldwide, the Pentagon today announced the creation of another spying unit named the Defense Clandestine Service (DCS). - With the military’s other spying units focusing on spying in places where the military is actually involved, the DCS focus will be on spying in nations that the US isn’t currently attacking or occupying. This seemingly puts it in direct competition with the CIA, but officials say that the goal will be for the DCS to work closely with the CIA, particularly in places like Iran where the US military doesn’t have an official presence. Officials say that the DCS creation is part of a major overhaul of all military spying, but declined to offer any specifics on what exactly is being overhauled, insisting that was a secret.

Russia Today: New US spy service targets China and Iran
SF Gate: Military may spend $1 billion on satellite program

About two dozen people have been killed in attacks by the Yemeni army and US assassination drones in southern and eastern Yemen. - The Yemeni Defense Ministry said on Monday that the army shelled "suspected militants" in the southern province of Abyan. The attack occurred near the city of Loder late on Sunday, killing 13 people. At least three others were killed in an airstrike on several vehicles in a remote desert region in the eastern province of Marib, the Yemeni Defense Ministry said. Also on Sunday, a strike by a US assassination drone killed three people in the southern province of Shabwa. Local sources said that four more people lost their lives when a Yemeni jet attacked their vehicles in Loder. About 275 people have been killed in fighting and airstrikes in southern Yemen over the past two weeks.

As our petition states:

It is hard to conceive of a more profound constitutional violation than the torture of a U.S. citizen on U.S. soil. With the court of appeals' holding that Mr. Padilla's claims of torture — and those of any future victim of similar abuses — are nonjusticiable, our legal system has arrived at the bottom of the slippery slope.

The petition filed by Mr. Padilla and his mother, Estela Lebron, offers the Court — and the country — a critical opportunity to vindicate our laws and our values. If the Court once again averts its eyes from the terrible things that were done to prisoners in our name, it may be a long time before we have another such opportunity.

Raw Story: Mother of tortured U.S. citizen appeals case to Supreme Court

Turkey has refused to allow Israel to take part in a NATO summit next month because the Jewish state has not apologized for the 2010 killing of Turkish activists in a raid on a ship taking aid to Palestinians, a Turkish official said on Monday. - Relations between the regional powers deteriorated sharply after Israeli commandos raided the Mavi Marmara aid vessel in May 2010 to enforce a naval blockade of the Gaza Strip and killed nine Turks in clashes with activists. Last September, Turkey expelled Israel's envoy and froze military cooperation after a U.N. report on the raid failed to prompt an apology from Israel.

Though the overall terms of the agreement remain a closely guarded secret, the Pentagon today confirmed that the deal that will keep US troops in Afghanistan through 2024 does not include any guarantees of specific funding for Afghan forces. - Afghan President Hamid Karzai had initially demanded a minimum of $2 billion per year in guaranteed funding for the pact to go through. US officials have said they plan to spend considerably more than that but didn’t want it in writing. The reason for that is clear and administration officials have been upfront about it. Any financial pledges would make the deal to commit to another decade of occupation subject to Congressional oversight, and the administration had no interest in bringing the deal before Congress for a vote, particularly with the war so overwhelmingly unpopular.

Patrick Martin: US makes a pact with its Afghan puppet

Army major's despair at our 'pointless war': Senior officer's damning emails reveal plummeting morale at heart of Afghan campaign that has cost 409 British lives - They are stark words that reveal the despair of our forces fighting in Afghanistan. Emails sent to a former military chaplain paint a damning picture of sinking morale among Servicemen who feel the human cost of the conflict can no longer be justified. Dr Peter Lee, a university lecturer who spent seven years as an RAF padre, has released the emails to highlight the extent of disillusionment within the ranks. The correspondence includes two emails sent by a major on the brink of a fresh deployment to the region. He likens the prospect to 'being put on for the last two minutes of a lost game' of rugby.

The Navy on Thursday initiated dismissal proceedings against two Marines from a squad that killed 24 unarmed Iraqi civilians in 2005, saying they lied to military investigators after the massacre. Navy Secretary Ray Mabus made the decision, and Sgt. Sanick Dela Cruz and Sgt. Humberto Mendoza were notified of the move Thursday, said Lt. Cmdr. Tamara Lawrence, a Navy spokeswoman. The Marine Corps dropped criminal charges against both men in exchange for their testimony at the trial of former Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich, the squad leader and lone Marine convicted in the Haditha killings.

Brian Becker: Haditha massacre: Covering up war crimes in a criminal war
Naomi Spencer: No prison time for Marine charged in Haditha massacre
AWIP: Marine gets three months in jail for massacring two dozen civilians

The Supreme Court is asked to decide if governnment officials can be held accountable for torturing a US citizen - Two of the most under-discussed afflictions in American political life are inter-related: (1) the heinous, inhumane treatment of prisoners on American soil (often, though certainly not exclusively, Muslim political prisoners), and (2) the virtually complete abdication by subservient federal courts in the post-9/11 era of their duty to hold Executive Branch officials accountable for unconstitutional and otherwise illegal acts in the War on Terror context. Those two disgraceful American trends are vividly illustrated by juxtaposing two events, which I happened to be reminded of yesterday while looking for something else; first, from from a January, 27, 2007, article in The Washington Post:

The prime minister of Canada apologized Friday to Maher Arar and agreed to give $9 million in compensation to the Canadian Arab, who was spirited by U.S. agents to Syria and tortured there after being falsely named as a terrorism suspect. Arar, 36, a former computer engineer who was detained while changing planes at a New York airport in 2002 and imprisoned in a Syrian dungeon for 10 months, said after the announcement that he “feels proud as a Canadian”. . . .

Ben Wizner/ACLU: A Question for America About Torture

The UN is to conduct an investigation into the plight of US Native Americans, the first such mission in its history. A UN statement said:

"This will be the first mission to the US by an independent expert designated by the UN human rights council to report on the rights of the indigenous peoples."

The human rights inquiry led by James Anaya, the UN special rapporteur on indigenous peoples, is scheduled to begin on Monday.

Many of the country's estimated 2.7 million Native Americans live in federally recognised tribal areas which are plagued with unemployment, alcoholism, high suicide rates, incest and other social problems.

The UN mission is potentially contentious, with some US conservatives likely to object to international interference in domestic matters. Since being appointed as rapporteur in 2008, Anaya has focused on natives of Central and South America.

The US signed up in 2010 to the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, which establishes minimum basic rights for indigenous people globally.

Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte will tender his resignation to Queen Beatrix on Monday, setting the stage for elections, after the weekend collapse of budget talks, news reports said. The move was expected after the right-wing Freedom Party withdrew its support for the minority coalition government, rejecting calls for additional budget cuts. Strategists said the turmoil threatens the Netherlands' AAA credit rating. Dutch government bond yields jumped, widening the yield premium investors demand to hold Dutch debt over German bunds. The yield on 10-year Dutch government bonds was up 0.06 percentage point at 2.39%, according to electronic trading platform Tradeweb.