Today’s Headlines and Commentary

On Thursday night, U.S. forces carried out airstrikes against five weapons stores in southern Iraq belonging to the Iranian-backed Iraqi militia Kata’ib Hezbollah weapons stores, retaliating against the militia that is believed to have conducted a rocket attack on Wednesday that killed two Americans and one British soldier, reports the New York Times. It is not known how many militia members, if any, were killed in the airstrikes, according to an American official.

Iraqi religious authorities said today that one of the U.S. airstrikes against the militia group hit an Iraqi civilian airport in the city of Karbala and killed a construction worker, writes Reuters. Iraq condemned the wave of U.S. airstrikes today, saying they could spark further escalation with Iran, according to the Washington Post. Iraq’s president, Berham Salih, described the strikes as a “violation of national sovereignty.”

The U.S. military is bolstering its defenses in the Middle East, the top U.S. general in the region announced today, reports Politico. The U.S. military will continue to operate two aircraft carrier strike groups in the region—the first period of extended dual U.S. carrier operations in the Middle East since 2012—and is moving Patriot missile defense systems into Iraq.

Congress and the White House have closed in on a final agreement on legislation aimed at helping America combat the spread of COVID-19, including paid sick leave, enhanced unemployment benefits and free testing, reports the New York Times. The House plans to vote on the measure today, and it will then go to the Senate, which called off a scheduled recess for next week in anticipation of this compromise agreement.

An Australian government minister tested positive for the novel coronavirus just days after meeting with Ivanka Trump and Attorney General William Barr, according to the Post. A Brazilian official who met with President Trump last weekend tested positive for the virus, writes the Wall Street Journal. White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham said Thursday that Trump and Vice President Pence had “almost no interactions” with the Brazilian official and did not need to be tested for COVID-19.

Sophie Grégoire Trudeau, the wife of Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, has tested positive for the novel coronavirus and will self-isolate for 14 days along with the Prime Minister, reports NPR.

New satellite images of recently created mass graves in the Iranian city of Qom, about 80 miles south of Tehran, suggest that the number of people killed by the virus there is significantly higher than the official figures, according to the Washington Post. Two large trenches, which experts suspect were dug in order to accommodate the rising number of COVID-19 victims, in Qom were visible from space.

Mayor Bill de Blasio declared a state of emergency in New York City on Thursday in response to the novel coronavirus outbreak, reports Politico.

The acting director of national intelligence, Richard Grenell, imposed a hiring freeze and ordered a review of the agency’s staff and mission, a move which some intelligence officers feared was politically motivated, writes the Times. Some current and former officials said they saw the effort as an attempt to oust intelligence officers who disagreed with President Trump, a claim which aides to Mr. Grenell denied in a public statement.

WikiLeaks source Chelsea Manning was released from prison on Thursday on a judge’s order, according to Reuters. The judge rejected a request from Manning to cancel fines that the judge imposed for Manning’s refusal to testify before a grand jury in an ongoing U.S. investigation of WikiLeaks and ordered her to pay fines totaling $256,000.

The Pentagon stated in court filings that it “wishes to reconsider” its decision to award Microsoft its $10 billion Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure cloud computer contract The statement comes in light of Amazon’s lawsuit challenging the decision to award Microsoft, not Amazon, the contract and a judge’s recent comments that Amazon’s case is “likely to succeed,” reports Politico.

Key provisions of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) will expire, at least temporarily, on Sunday after President Trump suggested Thursday that he might veto a bipartisan surveillance bill to extend them, writes the New York Times.

ICYMI: Yesterday on Lawfare

Mark Raymond argued that norms are essential to cyber strategy and cyber governance.

Jon Lindsay argued that cyberspace and nuclear weapons are increasingly entangled in dangerous ways that we do not fully understand.

Erica Borghard discussed how the concept of “defend forward” works to change adversary behavior.

Jen Patja Howell shared the most recent episode of the Lawfare Podcast featuring an interview with Joshua Fattal about fighting disinformation with the Foreign Agents Registration Act.

Elliot Setzer summarized a House Oversight Committee hearing on the government response to coronavirus.

Erica Borghard and Shawn Lonergan argued that cyber-enabled intellectual property theft from the Defense Industrial Base poses an existential threat to U.S. national security.

Bobby Chesney and Steve Vladeck shared the most recent episode of the National Security Law Podcast, discussing FISA reauthorization and COVID-19.

Richard Altieri and Benjamin Della Rocca compiled Lawfare’s biweekly roundup of U.S.-China news.

Elliot Setzer shared day two of House Oversight Committee hearings on the government response to coronavirus.

Steve Stransky analyzed how cyber attackers are exploiting coronavirus fears.

Preston Lim analyzed a recent Canadian Supreme Court decision allowing corporate liability for international law violations.

Elliot Setzer shared a livestream of the House Armed Services Committee hearing on priorities for missile defense and missile defeat programs.

Lester Munson shared the most recent episode of the Fault Lines podcast featuring an interview with George Ingram, a senior fellow in Global Economy and Development at Brookings.

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