Today's Headlines and Commentary

Civil strife and bloody violence rage on in Iraq. NPR reports that the country has “slipped into chaos” and that support for Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has all but vanished. New York Times reporting backs up that characterization of the current situation in Iraq, explaining that the reinvigorated Sunni militias threaten the future of the country. Another Times article examines the ethnically-charged violence that has overtaken Iraq. The Washington Post recounts the massacre of Shiite villagers in Taza, which was ransacked by Sunni fighters affiliated with the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) last week. Over the past two days, 40 people from the area have been confirmed dead, though many more are still missing. Many of the residents of the village, and those surrounding it, have resettled to Kirkuk, which is under Kurdish control. According to a Time piece, the U.N. announced that at least 1,075 Iraqis have been killed in the month of June. Secretary of State John Kerry traveled to the Kurdish regional capital, Erbil, this morning where he met with Masou Barzani, the Kurdish president. The Times reports that Kerry was imploring the Kurdish leadership to set aside any demands for an independent state and to work together to help form a new, viable Iraqi government.  However, Kurdish president Masoud Barzani expressed some hesitation to the idea, saying, “We are facing a new reality and a new Iraq.” The Post and the Hill also cover Kerry’s meeting in Erbil. The AP informs us that the United States was able to secure legal protections, akin to legal immunity, for the American military advisers deploying to Iraq.  The U.S. had tried---and failed---to secure such a deal three years ago for American forces that were then deployed in the county. Jack linked to Eli Lake and Josh Rogin's piece in the Daily Beast on this subject. No particular surprise here: The results of a Huffington Post and YouGov poll are in, and nearly 70% of Americans oppose sending U.S. troops to fight in Iraq. The U.S. continues to weigh its options in Iraq: According to an ABC News report, Secretary Kerry indicated that, with or without an agreement between the U.S. and the Iraqi government, President Obama “may make a decision at any point in time” to engage in targeted strikes. The Hill shares a Defense Department release, which notes that funding for operations in Iraq will come from money allocated to U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) rather than the Pentagon’s wartime account. Mujib Mashal of the Atlantic sat down with Afghan president Hamid Karzai in April. The Atlantic released most of the transcript of the interview, along with Mashal’s full piece, After Karzai. The interview is fascinating, particularly this section, in which Karzai describes his take on the war in Afghanistan, and what it was like when American forces came to Afghanistan:

No, I never saw a war. The Taliban left without a fight. But then the Americans—I was in Kabul, without access to the country in the initial days, and without the tools of governance, which are still very weak—they went around with thugs from our own country, the militias they employed and themselves, and forced the Taliban back into taking guns. And Pakistan was willing, and ready to use the opportunity. So a war was created in Afghanistan—there was no war, there is no war, and I would never agree to be at war in my own country. I would never be a commander in chief fighting a war among my own people. No. I am happy I wasn’t, and I will not be.

Meanwhile, Afghanistan is still waiting for the results of its recent presidential election. Yesterday, Jane covered the fraud and corruption scandal that has marred the election, leading to the ultimate resignation of the country’s chief electoral officer. Today, the Business Standard reports that the United Nations will step in to broker a solution to the political crisis. The UN will hold talks between presidential candidate Abdullah Abdullah and Afghanistan's election authority. President Obama, in an interview that aired on MSNBC yesterday, detailed his worries that Afghanistan might, like Iraq, be plagued by violence after U.S. troops withdraw from the country. The Hill explains that, despite this admonition, Obama was clear in stating that he does not plan to shift his policy on U.S. troop withdrawal from Afghanistan, even as Iraq continues to descend into chaos: “Keep in mind that our goal in Afghanistan was to decapitate al Qaeda, which had carried out 9/11. That has been accomplished. Now Afghanistan is a sovereign country that is going to have to deal with its own security.” A suicide bomb was detonated near a café in Lebanon’s capital, Beirut, last night. The BBC covers the explosion, explaining that it is still unclear how many individuals were wounded, and if any, other than the suicide bomber, were killed. As we’ve covered already here, the Second Circuit released the previously classified Office of Legal Counsel memo justifying the drone strike that killed Anwar al-Awlaki, an American citizen. The AP has the story. The Times Editorial Board weighs in on the issue, and isn’t particularly impressed with the justification given: “…the memo turns out to be a slapdash pastiche of legal theories---some based on obscure interpretations of British and Israeli law---that was clearly tailored to the desired result. Jameel Jaffer, deputy director of the ACLU writes, over at the Guardian, that the release of the memo is a “victory for transparency,” but that the American public still does not have enough information over the government’s wider drone policies. He’s also not too pleased that about a third of the released memo was redecated. Email the Roundup Team noteworthy law and security-related articles to include, and follow us on Twitter and Facebook for additional commentary on these issues. Sign up to receive Lawfare in your inbox. Visit our Events Calendar to learn about upcoming national security events, and check out relevant job openings on our Job Board.