Today's Headlines and Commentary

A U.S. airstrike mistakenly targeted a police outpost in Afghanistan, killing at least a dozen members of Afghan security forces, according to a spokesman for the Afghan governor of the Logar Province, reports the New York Times. The strike came amid intense fighting between the Taliban and Afghan government forces on Tuesday. The Afghan spokesperson said that the government had called for U.S. support, but a misunderstanding led the planes to mistakenly target the outpost.. A spokesperson for U.S. forces in Afghanistan confirmed the strike, but said that reports of Afghan fatalities are still under investigation.

Russia sent a memo to the chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff proposing cooperation between the U.S. and Russia in Syria, according to Reuters reporters who saw a copy of the memo. The proposal was sent by the chief of the Russian military’s General Staff and outlines a plan for Washington to help fund the reconstruction of areas now under the control of President Bashar al-Assad. Gen. Joseph Dunford’s office declined to comment on the memo.

The Syrian government accused Israel of assassinating a high-level Syrian rocket scientist on Aug. 4, reports the Washington Post. Aziz Asbar was killed when an explosive device targeted his car. Asbar was the research director at Syria’s Scientific Studies and Research Center, a facility has been tied by intelligence agencies to Syria’s chemical weapons program. Israel denied the allegations.

National security adviser John Bolton reported that North Korea has not taken any of the steps “necessary to denuclearize,” says the Post. During an interview with Fox News, Bolton said that the United States will continue to pressure Pyongyang until it upholds the promises made by Kim Jong Un during his meeting with President Trump in June.

Facebook denied allegations that it asked banks to provide information on users’ financial transactions, says BBC. The tech company’s statement followed a Wall Street Journal article that claimed Facebook had approached a number of banks to request access to users’ account information. The tech company said that although some users had allowed the messenger app to access their financial data, that information was never used for advertising purposes.

The Pentagon ordered all military personnel to stop using geolocation services on all personal and work-related devices, according to Defense One. The deputy defense secretary said in a memo to top Pentagon officials that the GPS capabilities on these devices pose “unintended security consequences and increased risks to the joint force and mission.”

ICYMI: Yesterday on Lawfare

Elena Chachko and Amichai Cohen explained the amendment to the Israeli Supreme Court’s jurisdiction over West Bank cases.

Tehilla Shwartz Altshuler and Rachel Aridor-Hershkovitz outlined potential implications if a proposed social-media censorship bill passes in Israel.

Bob Bauer explored the consequences of President Trump’s latest trump tower tweet for his legal defense.

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