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An article forthcoming in the journal IEEE Security & Privacy says that the Bush administration’s wiretapping program could be used as a weapon by terrorists if they are able to hack into or infiltrate the system. By concentrating so much information in so few locations, the administration’s program, if breached, could give potential attackers the ability to exploit the U.S.’s intelligence capabilities against itself. “When you build a system to spy on yourself,” the article states, “you entail an awesome risk.” (ABC’s The Blotter)

Taliban attacks in Afghanistan are surging by 20-33%, according to statistics from the multinational International Stabilization Force. General Carlos Branco, the spokesman for NATO in Afghanistan admitted that violence against international troops and the Afghan government is rising, but asserts that the use of suicide bombs indicates the desperation of the Taliban. (The Guardian Unlimited)

Last week was bleak for representative Tom Cole (R-OK), who serves as chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC). Five House Republicans announced that they will not seek re-election (bringing the total count in this cycle to 28) and Cole was forced to announce “irregularities in our financial audit process” that may include “fraud.” (The Hill)

A study from the Iraqi Family Health Survey Study Group in collaboration with the World Health Organization reports that 155,000 Iraqis have died from the violence in Iraq since the U.S.-led invasion in 2003. Iraq also has at least 1.5 million widows (as a result of many women losing their husbands in war-related violence). Though the widows are eligible to receive about $40 a month from the government, this is barely enough to survive or care for a family and the agency that provides the aid is considered to be corrupt. (McClathcy)

Zalmay Khalilzad, the American Ambassador to the United Nations, believes that Iran gained geopolitical strength as a direct result of the U.S.-led invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq. Khalilzad jokes, “I used to tease the (Iranian) ambassador that we have done so much for you in Iraq and Afghanistan, the least you can do is to be helpful to this effort. Otherwise, one day you will get a big bill.” (AP)

Susan Baker Manning, a lawyer for Guantanamo Bay detainees, believes that the “sun is about to shine at Guantánamo.” If a recent federal appeals court decision stands, the government will be forced to turn over almost all of the information it has collected on Guantanamo Bay detainees. The decision also enables detainee lawyers to press forward with 180 appeals that challenge the detainees’ status (as conferred by military tribunals) as unlawful enemy combatants. (New York Times)

The Pentagon’s proposed budget for 2009, as adjusted for inflation, will reach the highest level since World War II. And the budget does not even include supplemental spending on the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, or nuclear weapons. Bush will leave office after having increased “baseline military spending” by 30%. (New York Times)

The second trial for six of the seven men accused of plotting to destroy the Sears Tower building in Chicago began last week. The prosecution and the defense appear to be sticking largely to the same arguments made in the first trial, which resulted in a hung jury for six of the defendants and an acquittal for the seventh. (New York Times)

A report recently filed by Rep. Charles Rangel (D-NY) indicates that Rangel’s PAC received last August more than $10,000 in contributions bundled by indicted fundraiser Norman Hsu. Rangel’s PAC donated the money to the Boys Choir of Harlem in September. (CQ Politics)

In 2006, after Gary Dodds, who was then a candidate in the Democratic primary for a New Hampshire Congressional seat, went missing for over a day after a car crash, police were suspicious of his story. Now Dodds is on trial for charges including falsifying physical evidence and causing a false public alarm, and last week two doctors who examined Dodds after the crash testified that his condition was not consistent with what they were expecting from his story. (Concord Monitor)

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