National Security

National

Michael Hayden: Blame Intel Agencies, Not White House, For Getting Iraq Wrong

3:36pm February 23, 2016

The former NSA chief said the intelligence agencies were convinced that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction. Hayden discusses his role in an interview with NPR's Robert Siegel.

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President Obama, flanked by Vice President Biden (left) and Defense Secretary Ashton Carter, delivers a statement on the Guantanamo Bay detention camp on Tuesday in the Roosevelt Room of the White House.

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Obama Says Guantanamo Prison Doesn't Help U.S. Security, 'It Undermines It'

2:21pm February 23, 2016

by NPR Staff

The president calls the facility in Cuba "a stain on our broader record." The administration's plan to close the prison isn't expected to go very far in Congress.

Obama Proposes Guantanamo-Shutdown Plan

12:23pm February 23, 2016

by Phil Ewing

David Greene speaks with National Security Editor Phil Ewing about the proposal President Obama delivered to Congress for closing the detention center at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

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A U.S. Air Force MQ-1B Predator unmanned aerial vehicle, carrying a Hellfire missile, lands at a secret air base after flying a mission in the Persian Gulf region on Jan. 7.

Report: Obama Administration Makes 'No Progress' On Drone Program Transparency

12:01am February 23, 2016

by Carrie Johnson

A new report concludes the White House needs to do more to increase transparency and accountability of targeted killing operations in the waning months of the Obama administration.

People attend the Apple keynote at the Flint Center for the Performing Arts in September 2014 in Cupertino, Calif.

The Seeds Of Apple's Standoff With DOJ May Have Been Sown In Brooklyn

8:22pm February 22, 2016

by Joel Rose

Apple is opposing an FBI request to defeat the security on the San Bernardino shooter's phone — but it's not the first time Apple has opposed such an order. A 2015 case may hint at what's to come.

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FBI Director James Comey Urges Apple To End iPhone Standoff In Open Letter

4:24pm February 22, 2016

by Laura Sydell

In an open letter regarding the standoff with Apple, FBI Director James Comey said the tension between privacy and security should not be resolved by "corporations that sell stuff for a living."

Navigation aboard the guided-missile destroyer USS Stout is done by computer, as is the case on many other ships. The U.S. Navy now wants more of its officers proficient in celestial navigation.

U.S. Navy Brings Back Navigation By The Stars For Officers

1:23pm February 22, 2016

by Geoff Brumfiel

A decade after phasing out celestial navigation from its academy courses, the U.S. Navy has restarted that formal training. The shift comes at a time of growing anxiety over possible threats to GPS.

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National

Is Unlocking An iPhone Essential To The San Bernardino Shooting Probe?

7:30am February 22, 2016

Steve Inskeep talks to Philip Mudd, a former CIA counterintelligence official and a senior FBI intelligence adviser, about efforts to force Apple to break the encryption on a shooter's iPhone.

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Average Mohamed is using cartoons to counter the extremist message of groups like ISIS.

Taking On The Appeal Of ISIS, With Cartoons

10:19am February 21, 2016

"We need an average guy espousing the values of majority Muslims," says the creator of Average Mohamed, a cartoon that's spreading an anti-ISIS message.

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National

Home Of Revolutionary War's First Shots Wants To Ban Assault Weapons

10:18am February 21, 2016

by Arun Rath

Residents of Lexington, Mass., want to lead the fight against rampant gun violence.