Today's Headlines and Commentary

Secretary Clinton said as much yesterday, but it's now official: the U.S. has confirmed that Al Qaeda is linked to the attack in Bengazi. Here's the Washington Post story. And over in Libya, the lack of security is what's keeping the FBI from beginning its investigation of the attack. Here's the New York Times on what a senior American law enforcement official is calling "a cavalcade of obstacles." Congress is turning up the heat on Obama for more information about the attack, and it seems to be a bipartisan effort---really. The Hill reports. Tunisian President Moncef Marzouki has this op-ed in the New York Times assuring the world that the Arab Spring isn't turning into an anti-Western movement. The Kenyan military successfully forced Al Shebab out of the Somali port of Kismayu, but it remains to be seen exactly how strong the African Union's hold on the town is, writes Sudarsan Radhavan of the Post. Jeffrey Gettleman of the New York Times also wrote about the news. Well that was fast. U.S. and Afghan forces are working together again, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs General Martin Dempsey said yesterday. Here's a Post story on the announcement by SecDef Panetta. And the U.S. has seized in Afghanistan enough ammonium nitrate fertilizer (the primary explosive used by the Taliban in their bombs) to make 30,000-50,000 IEDs. Greg Jaffe's story in the Post comes courtesy of an anonymous senior U.S. official relying on sensitive intelligence. Over in Iraq, militants attacked a prison near Tikrit killing 15 police officers and releasing more than 80 prisoners. The Iraqis were able to take back the prison, which holds convicted terrorists with ties to Al Qaeda in Iraq. Duraid Adnan of the New York Times reports. The Pakistani newspaper Dawn has this story on Pakistan's Foreign Minister's comments at the Asia Society yesterday on the drone campaign. Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani said: “What the drones are trying to achieve, we may not disagree. We do not disagree. If they’re going for terrorists---we do not disagree.... But we have to find ways which are lawful, which are legal.” Here's the video of the event: Chairman of the Joint Chiefs General Martin Dempsey had to cancel his trip to Pakistan because of the continuing outrage over the anti-Islam video, writes Carlo Munoz of The Hill. The man who created the video, by the way, was arrested for violating terms of his probation, writes Brooks Barnes of the Times. Add Senator Mikulski to the list of members of Congress supporting the White House in its decision to issue an executive order on cybersecurity policy. The Hill's Brendan Sasso writes on her letter that was recently released. Gabor Rona of Human Rights First writes in Jurist on the 2nd Circuit's upcoming hearing on the Hedges decision. The ACLU just got one of its many FOIA requests fulfilled, this time on warrantless surveillance programs between 2009 and 2011. Brendan Sasso writes on the ACLU's finding that monitoring increased 60 percent in that time period. For more interesting law and security-related articles, follow us on Twitter, visit the Georgetown Center on National Security and the Law’s Security Law Brief, Fordham Law’s Center on National Security’s Morning Brief, and Fordham Law’s Cyber Brief. Email us noteworthy articles we may have missed at wakeman.lawfare@gmail.com and singh.lawfare@gmail.com, and check out the Lawfare Events Calendar for upcoming national security events.