Today’s Headlines and Commentary

The New York Times published findings of an investigation into the details of a 2019 airstrike in Baghuz, Syria, which was one of the largest civilian casualty incidents in the war against the Islamic State. After the Times sent its finding to the military, the U.S. military acknowledged for the first time last week it may have significantly underreported the number of civilian deaths in the attack. The U.S. Central Command, which oversaw the air war in Syria, said 80 people were killed in the airstrikes, and that it could not determine whether 60 of those individuals were civilians. Air Force lawyer Lt. Col. Dean Korsak said he believed he had witnessed Task Force 9, which was in charge of ground operations in Syria, may have committed possible war crimes, but commanders did not take action. Some officials allege that the task force systemically circumvented the procedures for safeguarding civilians, and Karsak believes the unit intentionally entered false strike log entries,“clearly seeking to cover up the incidents.” While civilian observers who came to the area a day after the strike reported seeing piles of dead women and children, coalition forces appeared to have bulldozed the blast site four days later.

World leaders came to an agreement at COP26 on Saturday in a climate deal that was met with disappointment from world leaders and activists after delegates from China and India proposed edits to weaken a key provision to phase out fossil fuels, says the Washington Post. While the original text called for a “phase out” of fossil fuels, the final agreement was changed to refer only to a “phase-down.” The agreement does not achieve the central goal from the 2015 Paris accord to limit Earth’s warming to 1.5 degrees celsius. Economist and climate expert Jeffrey Sachs attributed the main failure of COP26 to financing, saying “[t]he rich countries couldn’t even come up with the meager $100 billion per year after 12 years of promising, and that with a world economy that is now $100 trillion per year.”

Russia dispatched paratroopers to Belarus Friday near the Poland-Belarus border, where thousands of migrants trying to reach Poland are camped in deplorable conditions, writes CNN. The Russian government has defended its ally, Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko, for his handling of the border crisis. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen called the border crisis “[a]n authoritarian regime [trying] to destabilize its democratic neighbors.”

Longtime Trump ally Steve Bannon surrendered to federal authorities and was taken into custody Monday morning, reports AP News. Bannon faces contempt charges after refusing to comply with a subpoena to appear before the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.

American journalist Danny Fenster, who was detained for more than five months in military-ruled Myanmar and was facing a sentence of 11 years of hard labor, was released from prison, according to Politico. Fenster was released during New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson’s recent visit to Myanmar and “face-to-face negotiations” with Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, the country’s ruler.

Austria’s government on Monday imposed a lockdown on people who are not fully vaccinated against the coronavirus during the worst surge in infections the country has faced since the pandemic started, says the New York Times. The move is believed to be one of the first national lockdowns directed at the unvaccinated.

Sculptor Jens Galschiot asked Hong Kong authorities for immunity from a national security law so he can transport a statue that honors those killed at the Tiananmen Square protests back to Denmark, according to the Hill. The $1.4 million statue, called the “Pillar of Shame,” was loaned to the now-disbanded Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements. The national security law has been used to silence pro-democracy voices in Hong Kong.

ICYMI: This Weekend on Lawfare

Thomas Juneau and Stephanie Carvin lay out the security challenges facing Canada and suggest how the country could improve its intelligence services.

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