intelligence

Obama's Intelligence Director Says Qaddafi Could Win, Gets in Trouble

Jim Newell · 03/10/11 05:25PM

President Obama's Director of National Intelligence, James Clapper, was called to testify before the Senate Armed Services Committee today, and stupidly tried to give an honest assessment of difficult foreign policy situations in response to questions asking for that. Now he's in big trouble, or at least Lindsey Graham wants him to resign.

Key Iraq War Source Admits He Made It All Up

Jim Newell · 02/15/11 05:41PM

Rafid Ahmed Alwan al-Janabi, an Iraqi defector under Saddam Hussein whose claims about the former dictator's mobile biological weapons programs were used heavily in the Bush Administration's public case for war, has an interesting story to tell everyone. The source, who, under the alias "Curveball" in intelligence reports, provided a foundation for Secretary of State Colin Powell's famous speech to the United Nations a month before the Iraq invasion, admits that he just made it up to get Hussein out of power.

Your Guide to Canada's Favorite Anti-American Primetime Dramas

Adrian Chen · 12/01/10 10:27PM

A diplomatic cable released today by Wikileaks reveals that Canadian television has some major beef with America. We obviously have to bomb Canada now. But first, read this guide to Canada's favorite America-bashing entertainment.

Are Dogs Smarter Than Cats?

Max Read · 11/23/10 03:24AM

According to new research, dogs' brains have grown larger at a faster rate than cats' brains, apparently because dogs live in large social groups. Does this mean that dogs are smarter than cats?

Stupid People.

Andrew Belonsky · 08/27/09 05:15AM

Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools' Career and Technical Education Department spells education "eduction." Yes, seriously.

Meet the Man Who Started the War in Iraq

ian spiegelman · 06/22/08 09:47AM

Rafid Ahmed Alwan (left), the Iraqi refugee code-named "Curveball" whose nonsense reports about Saddam Hussein's mobile bio weapons labs to German Intelligence officers helped pave the way for invasion, is speaking publicly for the first time. And he's pissed. "'For what I've done, I should be treated like a king,' he said outside a cramped, low-rent apartment he shares with his family [somewhere in Germany]. Instead, the Iraqi informant [...] has flipped burgers at McDonald's and Burger King, washed dishes in a Chinese restaurant and baked pretzels in an all-night bakery. He also has faced withering international scorn for peddling discredited intelligence that helped spur an invasion of his native country. Now, in his first public comments, the 41-year-old engineer from Baghdad complains that the CIA and other spy agencies are blaming him for their mistakes."