“Without discussing or confirming any specific action, [CIA] operations are, of course, designed from the very start to be lawful and are subject to close oversight within our government,“ CIA spokeswoman Paula Weiss told the Daily Report Friday. She was responding to the newly released report by Philip Alston, the UN’s point man on extrajudicial executions, which was highly critical of CIA Predator and Reaper drone attacks on suspected terrorists in Pakistan. “Those are facts,” Weiss added, “the accountability is real, and so is the fidelity to American policy.” (For more on the controversy, see Friday’s column, with an entry on Alston’s claims that “targeted killings” undermine international law and can lack accountability if abused.)
Advancements in commercial space technology could make President Donald Trump’s proposed “Golden Dome” missile defense network far more likely to succeed than the failed “Star Wars” strategic umbrella initiative of the 1980s, U.S. Space Command’s top general said May 22....