Today's Headlines and Commentary

Certain segments of the Lawfare readership--and they know who they are--have been clamoring for a roundup solely dedicated to analysis of the legality of the targeted killing of Anwar Al-Aulaqi, so I will be doing that in the next few days. Although it requires a subscription to the Wall Street Journal, I'm still going to recommend reading Michael B. Mukasey's op-ed in today's edition concerning what we might have been able to learn from Anwar Al-Aulaqi if he had been captured, not killed. David Ignatius' Washington Post column notes the beginnings of a military strategy for the use of drones in the killing of Al-Aulaqi. Ben posted earlier on the silence of the usually vocal New York Times editorial page on national security law. It isn't possible to link to articles that don't exist. Scott Shane at the Times dissects Obama's announcement on Friday about the death of Al-Aulaqi, noting the absence of "drone" and "C.I.A." in his remarks. Donna Cassata at the AP writes on continued Congressional (from Republicans and a few Democrats) resistance toward the Obama administration's plan to ultimately close Guantanamo and its current policy to stop transferring terror suspects to Guantanamo. The administration's latest concern involves provisions in the NDAA that would require law enforcement to hand over custody of Al Qaeda suspects to the U.S. military, which Bobby posted about yesterday. Bobby linked to this Josh Gerstein article about Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's stalling of consideration of that legislation in the Senate over the issue. Yesterday, I linked to the arraignment order for al-Nashiri, who will be tried in a military commission. As it turns out, Judge Pohl, the judge in this case, assigned himself to it and chose October 26th as the arraignment date to allow the close-circuit feed at Fort Meade to be set up in advance of the proceedings. Carol Rosenberg at the Miami Herald has the scoop. For those who just can't get enough of the profiles of Brigadier General Mark Martins, check out Hugo Dixon's article in Reuters. Late Tuesday, Iraq's leaders announced that any troops remaining in Iraq in 2012 and beyond won't be granted immunity from Iraqi law. Tim Arango and Michael S. Schmidt at the New York Times cover the announcement. Michael Hayden urged Congress on Tuesday to allow the NSA to monitor public networks to help prevent cybersecurity attacks. Kim Zetter at Wired reported on his remarks (which I can't find online). At the same hearing for the House Select Intelligence Committee, Rep. Mike Rogers called for a response to the cyber-attacks against the U.S. by Chinese hackers. Ellen Nakashima at the Post has this coverage. Joseph Margulies has this op-ed in the Miami Herald entitled "Trapped in Guantanamo." The Economist's Gulliver blog (which focuses on business travel) notes the trial of the underwear bomber Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab. This Times article by Alissa Rubin discusses the strategic shift by the Taliban toward intimidation tactics, like pressuring cell phone carriers to turn off their signal towers at 8PM. For more interesting law and security-related articles, follow us on Twitter and visit the Georgetown Center on National Security and the Law's Security Law Brief. Email me noteworthy articles that I may have missed at wakeman.lawfare@gmail.com.