National Correspondent, Los Angeles Times
Washington correspondent for the Los Angeles Times, covering national security and intelligence, and author of Curveball: Spies, Lies and the Con Man Who Caused a War
PROFILE
Bob Drogin
Guest
FROM Bob Drogin
To the Point
Opposition Closes In on Libyan Capital On a Libyan TV station today, Colonel Moammar Gadhafi blamed bloody violence on "hallucinogenic" drugs given young people by Osama bin Laden. Meantime, with half the country's coastal cities now in the hands of protesters, his mercenary and irregular forces are fighting back. Correspondent Bob Drogin is in Cairo for the Los Angeles Times .
To the Point
Libyan Uprising Expands Despite Kadafi Vow The eastern portion of Libya, including Benghazi, the nation’s second-largest city, anti-government protesters have claimed control. Now, it appears they’ve taken the western city of Misurata, just 75 miles from Muammar Gadafi’s stronghold—the capitol city of Tripoli.
To the Point
A Second Look at Curveball President Bush and former Secretary of State Collin Powell told the world that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction , including mobile factories for germ warfare. When it turned out to be untrue, the CIA blamed an informant. Now, the man code-named Curveball has gone public, claiming he's not a liar. Today's Los Angeles Times reveals that he is Rafid Ahmed Alwan, who fled his native Iraq to avoid arrest. Applying for asylum in Germany, he told the German intelligence service he'd run a secret Iraqi program to produce biological weapons.
To the Point
Iran's Nuclear Program on Hold The consensus of all 16 of America's intelligence agencies is that Iran halted its nuclear weapons program in 2003. The latest National Intelligence Estimate says that the program remains on hold. Bob Drogin reports on intelligence for the Los Angeles Times .
Recommended
To the Point
Who's to blame for the opioid crisis? Some of the lawyers who took on Big Tobacco are now going after Big Pharma. It’s all about the deadly epidemic of opioid use. Are the drug companies to blame? What about the users? Later, on today’s Talking Point: making sense of Britain’s upset election.
To the Point
Trump plays scolder-in-chief with NATO allies At the opening of NATO’s dramatic new headquarters in Brussels today, President Trump acknowledged that Article 5 — promising that “an attack on one nation is an attack on all” -- has only been invoked one time: in the aftermath of September 11. But the President failed to provide what 27 other Alliance members have been waiting for: a re-commitment by America’s new leader to Article 5. Instead, they got a scolding.
To the Point
Replacing Obamacare: Now you see it… now you don’t As the Senate deliberates replacing Obmacare, health coverage for millions of people is at stake. There've been no public hearings, and a draft measure won't be made public. Is the House version so unpopular that that Senate is hiding a version that looks much the same?