Today’s Headlines and Commentary

Two big news items about the battle over access to counsel at Guantanamo Bay that is currently taking place in the D.C. District Court. The New York Times has an editorial arguing that the rules are “neither fair nor constitutional” and that the Obama administration “has taken a regrettable step in undermining the rule of law.” The Washington Post features an op-ed by Baher Azmy of CCR in which he argues much the same thing:

New rules from the Obama Justice Department threaten to return Guantanamo Bay to the legal black hole it was in during the early days of the George W. Bush administration. . . . In other words, far from closing the prison camp as he promised, President Obama is steadily returning Guantanamo to the secretive and hopeless internment camp that he vilified as a candidate.

Wells is at the proceeding as I write this, so stay tuned—I’m sure he will have much more to say. Al Jazeera reports that Mullah Omar has issued a statement on the Taliban’s website claiming success in the group’s summer endeavors to attack NATO troops. Just in case you were wondering what he’s been up to. CNN’s Security Clearance blog informs us that Gen. John Allen has ordered all NATO forces to carry loaded weapons at all times at NATO headquarters to protect against possible “green-on-blue” attacks. Speaking of these attacks, the blog also has this story about the latest one, which killed two U.S. troops. Remember the plot to assassinate the Saudi ambassador to the United States that supposedly had Iranian fingerprints all over it? The Associated Press says that the trial of the accused, Mr. Manssor Arbabsiar, has been postponed until next year because his lawyers need more time to evaluate his mental state. Dan Byman and Natan Sachs of Brookings have this piece in Foreign Affairs about the West Bank’s “extremist settlers” who engage in terrorist activities. The ACLU is suing the FBI for memos on how it uses GPS tracking devices, says the Hill. Wired has a copy of the lawsuit here. Words cannot do justice to today’s Moment of Zen, so just allow me to say this: it is about He Who Must Not Be Named. For more interesting law and security-related articles, follow us on Twitter, visit the Georgetown Center on National Security and the Law’s Security Law Brief, Fordham Law’s Center on National Security’s Morning Brief, and Fordham Law’s Cyber Brief. Email us noteworthy articles we may have missed at wakeman.lawfare@gmail.com and singh.lawfare@gmail.com.