Today's Headlines and Commentary

Let's start with an NDAA update: As Bobby reported last night, the House passed the conference version of the NDAA. For the Congress nerds among us, the motion to recommit the bill failed in a 183-234 vote. Sixteen Congressmen and women did not vote, and all but one Democrat voted in favor of recommitting the bill. The final passage was 283-136, with the Democrats split 93-93 (excluding those who did not vote, of course) in the roll call, and 14 members of Congress not voting. Read Pete Kasperowicz' download from the vote over at The Hill. The Express Tribune shares the utterly shocking news that Human Rights Watch is condemning Obama's decision not to veto the bill. Andrew Cohen at The Atlantic, meanwhile, gives his thoughts on the administration's decision. Over at Wired's Threat Level blog, Ryan Singel notes the presence of a provision in the NDAA giving the DOD the power to conduct offensive operations in cyberspace. You can read Bobby's comments on this provision here. Also included in the NDAA was a provision freezing some aid to Pakistan, the AFP reports. C-SPAN tells me that the Senate will vote on the bill around 4PM today. This must-read article by Ben Weiser over at the New York Times follows the case of Mohamed Ibrahim Ahmed, who has been indicted for providing material support to Al Shabab in Somalia. His lawyer most recently filed a motion to suppress statements that the U.S. government says were made after he voluntarily waived his Miranda rights (which Ahmed disputes). Weiser writes:

The hearing on the defense motion, which began on Thursday, has provided an unusually revealing look at how American officials are carefully navigating through a kind of hybrid version of Miranda, first trying to get intelligence through “dirty,” or un-Mirandized, interviews and then having different “clean team” interrogators read the same suspects their rights in the hopes that they will waive them and continue to talk.

You can read Ahmed's indictment here. With drones falling from the sky so often, one has to wonder whether they're really all that they're cracked up to be. Al Jazeera's Rosalind Jordan reports on why drones will be a growing part of the U.S. arsenal, while Adam Entous and Julian Barnes of the Wall Street Journal (caution: paywall) report on U.S. efforts to proliferate the use of drones among its NATO allies. Speaking of drones, Leon Panetta isn't going to let up on Iran. Jeremy Herb over at DefCon Hill reports that the U.S. will "absolutely" continue its drone campaign in Iran. The AP  updates us on the trial of Private Bradley Manning (courtesy of the Politico). Be sure to watch this very effective--even if one disagrees with it--Ron Paul campaign ad, courtesy of the Daily Kos. In a "totally, totally hypothetical," Herman Cain would pick the Secretary of Defense as his preferred Cabinet position, reports MJ Lee at the Politico. Message to the other GOP presidential candidates: Beware the price of an endorsement by Cain. Jeffrey Gettleman over at the New York Times writes about the Shabab in Somalia and their Twitter storm. Over at TIME's Battleland blog, Mark Thompson shares this Next Media Animation video mocking the lost drone incident. Last week I shared this video of Nasser Al-Aulaqi who issued a statement clarifying what he said in the video. You can read it in full on CNN.com. Here is a key snippet:

For years, my son gave lectures on Islam and how Muslims in the West can abide by their faith and live in accordance with the laws of Western societies.  He also criticized U.S. foreign policy and called for justice for victims of unlawful wars and other abuses.  These aspects of his sermons were important and true.  A media outlet recently misunderstood me to be endorsing violence, but that was not what I intended, nor is that what I have ever endorsed. I continue to believe that my son was illegally killed and deprived of his due process rights.  I also don’t understand how anyone can justify the use of a missile against my 16-year-old grandson and his young friends.

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 as well as the Fordham Law Center on National Security’s Morning Brief. Feel free to email us noteworthy articles we may have missed at wakeman.lawfare@gmail.com and singh.lawfare@gmail.com.