Today's Headlines and Commentary

U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley said on Sunday that the Security Council has no options left to contain North Korea’s nuclear program. Trump administration officials escalated their rhetoric against North Korea and warned that the U.S. would resort to military force if diplomacy fails, the Washington Post reported. Haley warned that if North Korea continues its nuclear program it “will be destroyed.” National Security Advisor H.R. McMaster supported President Trump’s tweet referring to North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un as “Rocket Man,” and maintained that “all options” remain on the table, CNN reported. Intelligence officials believed according to memos written in 2008 that China initially supplied North Korea with high-powered rocket fuel enabling it to build longer range missiles, but the U.S. never attempted to stop the transfers, the New York Times reported in a special investigation. Memos from the Bush and Obama administrations clearly documented Pyongyang’s pursuit of the rare fuels. It is unclear whether North Korea is still receiving the fuel from outside suppliers or it has developed the capability to manufacture it independently.

At the opening session of the U.N. General Assembly, President Trump said that the U.N. should make reforms to increase its effectiveness, the Post reported. While Trump criticized multilateral institutions such as NATO and the U.N. during the election, at this week’s assembly in New York, he said that the latter institution has the potential to be “great.” He called on other member nations to share more of the financial and military burdens of peacekeeping operations and mentioned that he had a real estate project across the street from the U.N. building.

Russian warplanes struck a U.S.-backed militia group in Syria on Saturday, the Post reported. The U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) said that Russian military forces carried out an airstrike in an area where they knew SDF troops were operating. The SDF and the Russian-backed Syrian government forces are separated by only two miles in the region surrounding Deir al-Zour, the Wall Street Journal reported. In recent weeks, the SDF and their majority-Kurdish militia forces moved into the areas east of the Euphrates River to block Russian-backed forces from crossing the river and seizing the rich oil fields to the east. In the wake of the airstrike, the U.S. and Russian militaries announced they would expand the use an existing communications channel to relay information about the battlefield in Deir al-Zour, the Post also reported. Washington and Moscow will more closely share information about their air operations and the locations of their allied forces through the channel between their militaries that was established in 2015 to deconflict air operations.

On Monday, Iraq’s Supreme Court temporarily suspended the Kurdistan Regional Government’s (KRG) planned referendum on independence, according to the AP. The Court said it was suspending the referendum, currently scheduled for September 25, until it could rule definitively on the vote’s constitutionality. It is unclear whether the KRG will obey the ruling. Iraq’s Prime Minister warned on Saturday that if the referendum results in violence, Baghdad will intervene with military force, the New York Times reported. The KRG has maintained on several instances that it will retaliate if the Iraqi military or Shiite militias enter the regional capital of Kirkuk. The White House urged on Friday for the Kurds to cancel the referendum and enter into dialogue with Baghdad.

Facebook turned over extensive account and advertising records to the Special Counsel probe regarding Russian online influence activities during the 2016 election, the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday. While Facebook representatives shared details on the $100,000 worth of ads purchased by accounts linked to Russia with Congressional investigators, the scope and level of detail of the information furnished to Special Counsel Mueller’s team may indicate that Mueller obtained a search warrant for the data. Facebook has so far refused to share such extensive information with Congressional investigators and the public to avoid disrupting the Special Counsel investigation and because the data may be protected under the Electronic Communications Privacy Act. Congressional investigators are considering calling Facebook representatives to testify and respond to subpoenas for the records, although according to Facebook’s policies, the subpoenas would only allow access to limited information compared to a search warrant.

President Trump’s lawyer, Ty Cobb, criticized White House Counsel Don McGahn for privately expressing reticence about providing documents to Justice Department and Congressional investigators, the New York Times reported. A reported discovered the friction within the President’s legal team when overhearing Cobb at a D.C. restaurant complaining about McGahn’s management of records requests from investigators. In a statement, Cobb praised McGahn as an “exceptional professional.” A separate report found that White House officials are struggling to pay the legal fees as the investigation continues, according to the Journal. Aides have liquidated savings accounts, and some, including former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn, have set up legal defense funds.

National Security Advisor H.R. McMaster denied reports that the U.S. is considering a proposal to cancel its withdrawal from the Paris Climate Change accord, Politico reported. McMaster called a story in Wall Street Journal that reported on an E.U. climate official who said U.S. diplomats at a climate summit in Montreal had made a compromise to stay in the pact and reduce U.S. commitments to lower emissions as “false.” In an interview on Sunday, McMaster said that the President will leave the accord but is open to renegotiation.

The United Kingdom reduced its terrorism threat level after British police arrested two men in connection with the Friday bombing of a subway station in London, the Times reported on Sunday. Police arrested a 21-year old man in a London suburb and another 18-year-old man at the Port of Dover, the primary departure point for ferries to France. The Islamic State said it was responsible for the attack, but Home Secretary Amber Rudd said authorities had no evidence to support that claim. Britain reduced its terrorism threat level from “critical,” meaning an attack is imminent, to “severe” after the arrests.

The Philippine military freed a priest captured by Islamic State-linked militants as it moved to take back the city of Marawi from the fighters, the Times reported. Troops rescued Teresito Suganabob while clearing a mosque that militants used amid heavy fighting in the city. Islamic State-inspired militants took the priest hostage along with dozens of others when they attacked the city in May, sparking a violent battle with Philippine armed forces. Since May, hundreds of thousands of residents have fled and the city has been reduced to ruins. The military said that only 40 to 60 militants remain fighting.

ICYMI: This weekend, on Lawfare

Nora Ellingsen explained why Juggalos marched on the National Mall on Saturday.

Joshua Rovner analyzed how the politicization of the intelligence community will affect the Russia investigation and the integrity of national security institutions.

Vanessa Sauter posted the Lawfare Podcast, featuring audio from a Brookings Institution panel event on Cybersecurity in U.S. elections with Susan Hennessey, John Allen, Alex Halderman, Dean Logan, and Michael O’Hanlon.

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