Today's Headlines and Commentary

The Afghan government is sending thousands of troops to Kunduz province in an effort to stem a large Taliban offensive in the province, the Times reports. The Afghan Taliban’s assault in Kunduz, which began on Friday, reportedly surrounded an entire Afghan battalion along with the province’s capital city. The Taliban’s offensive is bolstered by foreign fighters that, according to the Afghan government, are flooding into northern Afghanistan by way of Pakistan, where a military operation against extremists is putting renewed pressure on local groups. Reuters adds that the U.S. military has sent fighter jets to the province, though their mission there remains unclear; a military spokesman explained that the planes had not dropped any munitions in their flights. The Times reveals, however, that despite the official end to the U.S. combat mission in the country, the U.S. military is “regularly conducting” airstrikes against insurgents across Afghanistan. Moreover, the military is routinely sending Special Operations forces into combat, obfuscating their direct combat missions as “training and advising.” These raids, the Times writes, “have in practice stretched or broken the parameters publicly described by the White House.” After firing warning shots across its bow, Iranian troops boarded a Marshall Islands-flagged ship yesterday in the Strait of Hormuz, Reuters reports. While Saudi-owned Al Arabiya initially reported that 34 U.S. soldiers were on board the ship, the Pentagon said there were no U.S. citizens aboard. The company operating the ship said that there were 24 crew members aboard, mostly from eastern Europe and Asia. The Wall Street Journal adds that the operating company, Rickmers Shipmanagement, reported this morning that it had made contact with the crewmembers, who appeared to be in good condition. In response, the United States is sending a Navy destroyer to the Strait of Hormuz, a move that comes amid growing worries that Iran is increasing its harassment of commercial ships in the Strait, the Wall Street Journal notes. Just last week, four Iranian patrol boats tried to make contact with and then encircle a U.S.-flagged ship in the Persian Gulf. Indeed, one U.S. official said that Iran may have mistaken the ship it boarded yesterday for a U.S. ship: “They were going after a U.S. vessel. That is what they wanted.” The Times writes that American officials were quick to downplay the importance of the incident in relation to ongoing nuclear negotiations with Iran. But the Hill reports that members of Congress both for and against a deal with Iran expressed concern about the incident, though those against the deal generally attributed to it much greater significance. But while the incident’s impact on the prospects for a nuclear deal remain unclear, an attempt by one U.S. senator to make the deal tougher to conclude has failed. Politico reports that an amendment that would have treated the Iran review bill as a treaty failed in the Senate. The proposal, offered by Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI), was shot down by a bipartisan vote of 39-57. In a floor speech, Sen. Johnson railed against the current Iran review bill: “We have turned advise and consent on its head. We have lowered the threshold to what advise and consent means as it relates to this Iran deal.” Whatever the opinion in the U.S. Congress of the emerging Iran deal and the country itself, the E.U.’s top foreign policy official yesterday indicated an openness to a peace-making role for Iran throughout the Middle East. Speaking before a meeting with Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, Federica Mogherini said that she hoped the conclusion of a nuclear deal with Iran would allow Iran to play a “major but positive role” in the conflicts throughout the Middle East, especially Syria.The Times has more. The remarks come as the durability of the Assad regime in Syria, long supported by Iran, appears more and more in question. The Times explains that the Syrian army has suffered a string of defeats at the hands of insurgents, and is now struggling to replace fallen soldiers on the front lines as even pro-Assad families refuse to send their sons into battle. As a result, the government is relying more heavily on Syrian and foreign militias, especially Iran-backed Hezbollah, to support its campaign against insurgents. Despite being hit by Saudi-led airstrikes, Houthi rebels pushed further into the southern Yemeni city of Aden overnight, Reuters reports, killing 12 civilians along the way. And in the capital of Sanaa, at least seven airstrikes hit one of the country’s last usable airports. The Times reports that the airstrikes may have crippled the airport, which has served as a major transit point for global aid shipments into the country. Elsewhere in the country, the Saudi-led coalition airdropped arms to tribal and Islamist militias fighting the Houthis near Taiz. Responding to the turmoil both abroad and at home, Saudi Arabia arrested 93 people this week suspected of ties to terrorist groups and Saudi Arabia’s King Salman tweaked the monarchy’s line of succession. Reuters reports that the king made Interior Minister Mohammed bin Nayef, who has especially close ties with U.S. officials, crown prince. The Associated Press adds that Nayef is known for his role as Saudi Arabia’s counterterrorism czar. The king also made his son, the country’s defense minister, deputy crown prince. The Nigerian government is claiming that its military has rescued 200 girls and 93 women from a Boko Haram stronghold in northeast Nigeria, the AP reports. But despite being pushed back by a multinational force, the Times notes, the militant group remains deadly. Indeed, details of another mass killing by the group emerged even as the women and girls were rescued. In Ukraine, officials fear that Russia is preparing a large-scale attack on the country, the Wall Street Journal reports. European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker shared the leaders’ fears after returning from a summit in Kiev, but warned against letting “self-fulfilling prophecies” take hold. However, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe has indicated that there indeed has been a recent increase in violence in eastern Ukraine. According to Philippine media, a new defense agreement between the Philippines and the United States will allow the U.S. military to use at least eight Filipino bases for rotational deployments, Military Times reveals. The Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement looks to be a key feature of the U.S. ‘Pivot to Asia’, and would allow the U.S. to use two bases near the hotly contested islands in the South China Sea. Yesterday, a bipartisan group of lawmakers  in both the House and Senate reintroduced the USA Freedom Act, a bill aimed at restricting the NSA’s practice of collecting the phone records of Americans in bulk. The Washington Post explains that the introduction of the bill comes as the provision of the USA PATRIOT Act that authorizes this bulk collection --- Section 215 --- faces a June 1 sunset. But the Guardian writes that the bill faces a difficult battle for passage: on the one side, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and Intelligence Committee Chairman Richard Burr (R-NC) have introduced a clean Section 215 reauthorization bill; on the other side, civil libertarians prefer the simple expiration of Section 215 to the compromises codified in the Freedom Act. The Hill reports that Senate Armed Services Chairman John McCain (R-AZ) plans to propose legislation that would move the U.S. targeted killing program from CIA to Defense Department control. Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, McCain said, “It’s what the president announced. It needs to be done. We’ll be looking at some kind of legislation on the defense authorization bill to see that that accelerates.” However, Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Richard Burr (R-NC) signalled that he would likely oppose the measure, noting that because the United States does not have public permission to operate in Pakistan, the program, at least in that country, would need to remain covert. The role of Federal agencies in hostage situations grows ever more murky. Today, the Wall Street Journal reports that the FBI helped facilitate a $250,000 ransom for Warren Weinstein, a U.S. citizen killed in a drone strike while held hostage by al Qaeda in Pakistan. According to U.S. officials, the FBI vetted a Pakistani middleman who transported the money and also provided other intelligence, encouraging the family that the ransom was the best chance to win Weinstein's release. This support, which is in contradiction with official U.S. policy, is likely to only add to the confusion as to how the U.S. government handles hostage crises. And in the Atlantic, David Rodhe argues that another reform is perhaps even more important: the United States must end the practice of signature strikes, whether they occur in areas of active hostilities or not. Parting Shot: Wired brings us the untold story of “The Rise and Fall of Silk Road.”

ICYMI: Yesterday, on Lawfare

Last night, Carrie Cordero linked us to the both the Senate and House text of the new USA Freedom Act. Jack shared his thoughts on why skeptical Republicans are trying to sink the Iran Review bill and make it easier for the president to implement the Iran deal. Jack also opined on the continuing erosion of the norms against publishing classified information and what it meals for the intelligence community. 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.