Today's Headlines and Commentary

One Buford Rogers of Montevideo, Minnesota, has been arrested for plotting a terrorist attack. The gentleman was found with “Molotov cocktails, suspected pipe bombs and firearms” and is affiliated with an anti-government group known as the Black Snake Militia. The Associated Press has the story. Julian E. Barnes of the Wall Street Journal and David E. Sanger of the New York Times report that the Pentagon has directly accused the Chinese government and military of cyber espionage in its annual report to Congress entitled Military and Security Developments Involving the People’s Republic of China. Here is Paul’s post saying duh. Tamerlan Tsarnaev’s uncle cannot find a cemetery willing to accept his nephew’s body for burial, reports the Times. The Times also tells us that American officials investigating the Boston bombings are working closely with their Russian counterparts, and hoping that the current level of cooperation will spell future collaboration on all things counterterrorism. A Bloomberg editorial argues that U.S. drone strikes are counterproductive to Yemen’s future, and that the U.S. and Gulf States can do far more to keep Yemen from becoming a failed state. BBC Business Daily interviews Abraham Karem, the man who invented the Predator drone in his basement. Drones of the domestic variety are also getting a bad rap these days.  Kevin Robillard of Politico reports on the efforts of states lawmakers to restrict drone use:

Lawmakers have introduced 85 pieces of legislation in 39 states this year relating to drones, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. Most aim to protect citizens from intrusive “spying” from the skies. Many would do that by requiring police agencies to get a warrant before deploying a drone, while allowing exceptions for life-endangering situations. Other legislation is more specific — a Minnesota measure would protect farmers from agricultural officials with an eye in the sky, while another would ban attaching weapons to drones.

Dr. James Hamblin, the Atlantic’s Health editor, has a disconcerting piece about what it really means to force feed people. Adrian Chen of Gawker discusses a recently-unclassified CIA memo, obtained through a FOIA request, that reveals just how much the Agency influenced the narrative of Zero Dark Thirty. Speaking of secrecy, the AP reports that military judge Col. Denise Lind has ordered a closed hearing tomorrow at Fort Meade to serve as a “practice run.” She faces a decision about how to handle the presentation of classified evidence, and how much of Pfc. Bradley Manning’s trial should be held behind closed doors. Much ado about Benghazi: George Hicks, deputy chief of mission at the U.S. embassy in Libya, who is set to testify tomorrow before Congress, will say that U.S. Special Operations forces were told to stand down while the attack on the U.S. mission in Benghazi raged. Ernesto Londoño of the Post reports on the partial testimony that was released ahead of Hicks’s appearance. Mark Thompson of TIME offers thoughts on the matter. The Times interviewed Gen. Joseph Dunford, the new ISAF commander and successor to Gen. John Allen about the endgame in Afghanistan. What distinguishes him, according to Alissa J. Rubin and Matthew Rosenberg, is that “[h]e offered a far more positive take on the prospects for this country than many longtime Western officials here, and a less critical one than many of his predecessors had offered.” And, Terry Cline of the Columbus Dispatch reports on a kerfuffle involving---yes, this is true---a drone and Lady Justice: it’s Today’s Moment of Zen. For more interesting law and security-related articles, follow us on Twitter and check out the Lawfare News Feed, visit the Georgetown Center on National Security and the Law’s Security Law Brief,  Syracuse’s Institute for National Security & Counterterrorism’s newsroll, and Fordham Law’s Center on National Security’s Morning Brief and Cyber Brief. Email Raffaela Wakeman and Ritika Singh noteworthy articles to include, visit the Lawfare Events Calendar for upcoming national security events, and check out relevant job openings at the Lawfare Job Board.