Today's Headlines and Commentary

Guantanamo Birthday festivities continue with this National Law Journal opinion piece penned by Major Todd E. Pierce (who is assigned to the Office of the Chief Defense Counsel), and this PBS Newshour episode. There's a lot else going on today too: The military attorneys who are representing Gitmo detainees have been instructed by Marine Corps. Col. Jeffrey Colwell, the chief military defense counsel in the detention center, not to comply with Guatnanamo commander Rear Adm. David Woods' order to sign an agreement to permit attorney-client privileged communications to be inspected for contraband. Peter Finn has the story at the Washington Post, and Josh Gerstein over at the Politico also writes about the "showdown" here. The ACLU leaked Col. Colwell's email with his instruction as well. Speaking of leaks, Wikileaks/Bradley Manning watch: The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces denied without comment a petition by Julian Assange and Wikileaks requesting a permanent seat at all court proceedings in Manning's case. In addition, Assange and Wikileaks had also requested to have a lawyer with an appropriate security clearance sit in on classified sessions. Josh Gerstein keeps us all informed. This petition was previously denied by the Army Court of Criminal Appeals. Next stop? You guessed it: the Supreme Court--if they decide to keep pushing. Julie Tate at the Post shares the news there's been an addition to the 'Free Bradley Manning' paraphernelia in D.C.: a large billboard conveniently placed on the route from D.C. to Fort Meade. The U.S. is resuming peace talks with the Taliban, reports Karen DeYoung at the Washington Post, a trio at the New York Times, and the Wall Street Journal. The AP (courtesy of USA Today) notes that Secretary of State Clinton seemed to acknowledge that the U.S. is considering transferring Guantanamo detainees in order to build trust with the organization, but hadn't made any decision on it. Will that exchange work if the U.S. Marines continue urinating on Taliban corpses? Graham Bowley at the New York Times reports that the Taliban says that it won't affect negotiations. Kevin Sieff and Craig Whitlock at the Washington Post, meanwhile, tell us that SecDef Panetta has already announced an investigation into the incident. A lawsuit has been filed in the Northern District of California by the Electronic Frontier Foundation against the DOT and FAA under FOIA. Josh Smith at Government Executive reports on the filing, as does Kashmir Hill at Forbes. The Wall Street Journal's Evan Perez has this (subscribers only) article on the Kuwaiti government's efforts to get two of its citizens transferred from Guantanamo to a U.S. facility in Kuwait. The Crown Prosecution Service and Scotland Yard released a joint statement indicating there would be an investigation into allegations of extraordinary rendition of suspects in Libya, while British officials also announced that the two UK officers accused of participating in these alleged actions wouldn't face criminal charges. Alan Cowell and John F. Burns at the Times have the story. Fresh Air on NPR interviewed Matthew Aid, the author of Intel Wars, in which he argues that the intelligence community is crippled by "overlapping jurisdictions, bureaucratic policies, and a glut of data." Larry Neumeister of the AP (courtesy of the Miami Herald)  tells us that Judge George B. Daniels has dismissed a construction company founded by Osama bin Laden's father as a defendent in lawsuits brought by survivors, victims' families, and insurance carriers. The lawsuits alleged that the Binladen Group provided material support to the terrorists. The U.S. is calling for Iran to free Amir Mirzaei Hekmati, who was sentenced to death for being an American spy. MJ Lee at the Politico reports on the request. Walter Pincus in the Post reviews the Marines' update for its "Afghanistan, Operational Culture for Deploying Personnel," which was leaked last week by Public Intelligence. Volume 3, Issue 1 of the Harvard National Security Journal is now available. 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.