Today's Headlines and Commentary

Abu Khattala, the man suspected of playing a key role in the September 2012 attack in Benghazi, is scheduled to appear in a Washington, D.C. district court for a detention hearing this morning. The prosecution is fighting for pretrial detention, arguing “[t]here is no condition or combination of conditions that will reasonably assure the defendant’s appearance in court and assure the safety of any person and the community."  The New York Times explains that Abu Khatalla has allegedly confirmed his involvement in the assault and, as such, should not be released before the trial, as he still poses a threat to American security. The Washington Post has more details. As the Iraqi government remains in a state of relative chaos, the Post reports that the “skies are getting crowded” over Iraq. As President Obama tries to limit the number of American troops sent to the country, more and more aircraft are flying over Iraq, making the air traffic pretty busy. Consistent with this is the other recent news, over at The Hill, that the Pentagon is sending attack helicopters to Iraq. Meanwhile, C.J. Chivers of the Times reports that some Iraqi soldiers who retreated from combat against insurgents did so not out of cowardice, but instead because their superiors acted incompetently.  One Iraqi army brigade was "eager to fight but [] undermined by high commanders who failed to provide border forces with water and food, causing the brigade to abandon positions in the searing desert heat." Prior to joining the U.S. Army, now-Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl lead an interesting, and at times seemingly contradictory life---into which military investigators  and the Times are now looking. Yesterday, Tara mentioned recent Israeli strikes on sites in the Gaza Strip, understood to be retaliation for the murder of three Israeli teenagers. Today, the Times breaks the disturbing news that the body of an Arab teenager was found in an East Jerusalem neighborhood. The boy is thought to have been targeted as a “revenge killing.” The AP reports that North Korea fired two short-range projectiles into waters off of the country’s east coast yesterday. The move is seen as a show of protest, as Chinese president Xi Jingping arrives in Seoul, South Korea today for talks on North Korea’s nuclear program. Violence once again plagues Ukraine after the ending of a cease-fire between supporters of the Ukraine government and separatist rebels. At the same time, talks between the two sides in Kiev also seemed to be on the brink of collapse. The Hill informs us that Secretary of State John Kerry is trying his best to make the two sides come to the negotiating table, but isn’t having much luck. As Wells pointed out last night, The Privacy and Civil Liberties oversight board released a report on NSA surveillance activities under FISA Section 702. The panel justifies, under law, the targeting of foreign citizens, stating:

The Board also concludes that the core of the Section 702 program — acquiring the communications of specifically targeted foreign persons who are located outside the United States, upon a belief that those persons are likely to communicate foreign intelligence, using specific communications identifiers, subject to FISA court–approved targeting rules and multiple layers of oversight — fits within the “totality of the circumstances” standard for reasonableness under the Fourth Amendment, as that standard has been defined by the courts to date.

The Post has more on the report. The FAA recently released new rules on UAVs. BoingBoing takes a closer look at those rules, and explains that even small, toy UAVs are now technically classed as illegal drones. The Wall Street Journal has an interesting insight into the U.S. military’s recruitment woes: apparently, 71% of American 17-to-24-year-olds are ineligible to serve in the military, due to things like medical conditions, past felony charges, or a failure to pass the military’s aptitude test. And, for a short while, we had a new Secretary of Defense yesterday: Fans of the U.S. men’s soccer team, who were defeated by Belgium in yesterday’s thrilling Round-of-16 match, honored goalkeeper Tim Howard by editing the Secretary of Defense’s Wikipedia page. The edit was taken down soon thereafter. 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.