U.S. government officials insist that their secret surveillance techniques are so valuable in fighting "terrorism” that they must be kept completely in the dark – along with the American people. This alleged imperative has justified even lying to Congress, as ex-CIA analyst Ray McGovern observes.

By Ray McGovern

The name card at the Senate hearing read, "Hon. General Keith B. Alexander,” but layering on the ... Read more »

by Heidi Moore

Less than ten years ago, if a Wall Street trader wanted to find a sucker to buy bad mortgages, he knew where to find him: often, sitting in an office in a German landesbank in a small city, looking for a risky bets that would make him a killing. The bank lost $6.2bn during the debacle that became known as the 'London Whale' trading scandal. Photograph: Justin Sullivan/ ... Read more »

For 10 years, Paul Harris has been the Observer’s US reporter. He reflects on the President’s progress from soaring rhetoric to scandal

It is all too easy to look back on some moments in the past and claim their significance was obvious at the time. That it was clear – even as the event unfolded and you frantically scribbled details down in a notebook – that you were witnessing a historic moment.

Certainly that was the case when Barack Obama gave the keynote address at the 2004 Boston convention that anointed John Kerry as the champion of a Democratic party frantic to defeat George W Bush. Obama – then a state senator from Illinois – delivered one of the finest speeches in modern times. His oratory lit up that dull Boston shin ... Read more »