The Daily Muck

Sen. Leahy and the ACLU have something in common: they want to know more about how civilians have died in Iraq. Following on recent anecdotes about trigger-happy Blackwater guards, both are asking that the Pentagon provide evidence to support its claims that civilian killings are on the decline. (The Boston Globe)

SITE Intelligence, a small private intelligence firm that monitors Islamic extremist groups, had a scoop on the latest Osama bin Laden video before its public release. SITE tipped off the Bush administration on the condition that officials not reveal the video until its official Al Qaeda release. But within a few hours of revealing it to the administration, the video had gone viral and ended up on cable news. SITE’s years’-long surveillance operations have been destroyed. (Washington Post)

The Supreme Court will soon decide whether the government can assert a “state secrets” claim as a defense against allegations that the CIA improperly abducted, imprisoned, and tortured a wrongly-identified terrorist. The plaintiff in the case filed suit against George Tenet (then director of the CIA) and several private contractors who took him from his vacation home in Macedonia to a prison camp in Afghanistan. (LA Times)

Newsweek reports that the legal system in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba is in disarray. Since the creation of the military commissions there six years ago, just one detainee has been found guilty as part of a plea deal that guarantees the defendant’s freedom by the end of the year. (Newsweek)

Two’s a trend. The Secret Service is investigating why one of their agents accidentally discharged his firearm, the second time such an event has happened this year. This time there were no injuries (save to the car’s floorboard), but it probably doesn’t help our foreign policy that the firing occurred while the agent was on duty to guard Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. (ABC’s The Blotter)

Giuliani has been the target of a number of murky allegations since he left public office for the private sector. Politico has learned that a prominent Republican and Texas businessman is now suing Giuliani’s firm, alleging that a partner “schemed and conspired to steal $10 million.”

What’s $144 million among friends? The new U.S. embassy in Iraq is set to run a bit over budget, in addition to being completed months behind schedule. Two key buildings are not even expected to be finished before 2009, despite original plans that had the place all done by last month. (Washington Post)