Today’s Headlines and Commentary
The Associated Press is reporting that Harvard University has evacuated its campus after unconfirmed reports of explosives in four of its buildings--"out of an abundance of caution." Yale University issued a similar statement just weeks ago to announce a door-to-door search of its campus after an anonymous tipster reported a gunman.
Today marks a daylong, closed hearing before Army Col. James L. Pohl in the 9/11 case.
Published by The Lawfare Institute
in Cooperation With
The Associated Press is reporting that Harvard University has evacuated its campus after unconfirmed reports of explosives in four of its buildings--"out of an abundance of caution." Yale University issued a similar statement just weeks ago to announce a door-to-door search of its campus after an anonymous tipster reported a gunman.
Today marks a daylong, closed hearing before Army Col. James L. Pohl in the 9/11 case. There's a long list of motions under consideration, including a sealed prosecution motion so secret that it remains unnamed on the docket. Carol Rosenberg reports for the Miami Herald.
The Times of India reports that Afghan President Hamid Karzai expressed satisfaction with India's role in Afghanistan's reconstruction during his four-day trip to India. The U.S., on the other hand, remains in Karzai's doghouse for playing what Karzai is casting as a game of brinkmanship, notes Bloomberg.
Australia has withdrawn that last of its combat troops in Afghanistan and closed its main military base, marking an end to its 12-year mission in the country, says the BBC.
Ernesto Londoño of the Washington Post describes how deadlock over the security pact is increasing the anxiety of ordinary Afghans.
One-way, outbound flights have become the backbone of the beleaguered Afghan travel industry. Real estate prices are plunging along with faith in the future. In one of the most dramatic signs of worry, the nation’s currency has lost value month after month this year as Afghans stock up on dollars and euros.
At least three members of Pakistan's Bomb Disposal Unit are dead after a roadside bomb detonated near their vehicle in Peshawar. The AP reports.
Gen. Joseph F. Dunford Jr., the U.S. commander of NATO's International Security Assistance Force, is in Pakistan to meet the country's new Chief of Army Staff, Gen. Raheel Sharif, and to discuss "matters of mutual interest," writes Dawn.
Saudi Prince Turki al-Faisal, former intelligence chief of Saudi Arabia, criticized the Obama administration yesterday for its Middle East indecision, particularly the President's refusal to intervene in the Syrian civil war with military strikes. Here is the New York Times; here is the Wall Street Journal.
Israeli and Lebanese soldiers exchanged fire along the border late Sunday; liaison officials from both armies are expected to meet on Monday with representatives from the UN peacekeeping force in southern Lebanon to investigate. The BBC has the story.
Momentum toward splitting U.S. Cyber Command and NSA has proven short-lived. Despite recommendations of an external review panel, "the administration has decided that keeping the positions of NSA Director and Cyber Command commander together as one, dual-hatted position is the most effective approach to accomplishing both agencies’ missions," in the words of White House spokeswoman Caitlin Hayden. Here is Ellen Nakashima of the Post.
In an interview with CBS News, NSA official Richard Ledgett said he believes the controversial idea of offering Edward Snowden amnesty in exchange for the remaining documents is "worth having a conversation about." Spencer Ackerman reports for the Guardian. And on Saturday, Mark Mazzetti and Michael Schmidt of the NY Times cited senior government officials who say that the government may never know the full extent of the Snowden leaks.
Why worry about NSA when Ikea is hiring private investigators to tail its employees? France is in an uproar in the wake of revelations that French company executives have been ordering personal investigations of hundreds of people over the course of a decade. Nicola Clark reports for the NY Times. The Times is also reporting that the investigations were not limited to company employees.
Over at Foreign Policy, Gordon Lubold labels U.S. defense secretary Chuck Hagel the Pentagon's "invisible man." The premise:
Hagel's contributions thus far seem mostly to fall in the behind-the-scenes category, more circumspect than courageous, and that style is at odds with a department that some believe needs a take-no-prisoners strongman of a manager.
Where is Robert Levinson, the American who disappeared in 2007 while on a secret CIA mission to Iran? Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) suggested yesterday that the CIA was hiding details about the case from Congress. The initial Associated Press story about Levinson is making the rounds; the AP has also published the findings from its investigation here. Meanwhile, David Kenner of Foreign Policy reminds us that the Levinson debacle is only one example of a botched CIA operations. Read his rundown of five others.
According to the AP, the Chinese newspaper Global Times is reporting that a U.S. Navy guided missile cruiser almost collided with a Chinese warship, after harassing a Chinese fleet.
North Korean President Kim Jong Un made headlines last week when he executed his uncle Jang Song Taek, who was at one time thought to be the second most powerful man in the country. But, the story went, the latter eventually betrayed North Korea by leasing land to China. Bad move, writes Shen Dingli at the FP. Patrick M. Cronin of Politico says Kim's Hamlet move "locks Kim into a reign of terror, with consequences that threaten the security of the entire region." The Economist observes that by killing his own kin, Kim has broken with tradition and unveiled fractured leadership. Sen. McCain appeared on CBS's "Face the Nation" yesterday and called for China to rein in Kim, notes the Hill. The execution appears to have unnerved South Korean President Park Geun-hye, who has ordered the military and police to exercise extra vigilance along the western sea border in case Pyongyang attempts "provocations."
Sure you want to open that email from your boss? Google's decision to automatically display images in Gmail messages means senders can track when their messages are being read. Here is Michael Mimoso of Threat Post with the privacy and security implications of the change.
Google confirmed on Friday that it has acquired the robotics engineering company Boston Dynamics, famous for designing mobile humanoid robots for the Pentagon. That's the eighth robotic company Google has acquired in the last six months. Here is the New York Times; here is an entertaining gif from Gizmodo.
And to end with the visually inexplicable: Gizmodo offers you videos of heavy military trucks being dumped out of flying planes at night.
Email the Roundup Team noteworthy law and security-related articles to include, and follow us on Twitter and Facebook for additional commentary on these issues. Sign up to receive Lawfare in your inbox. Visit our Events Calendar to learn about upcoming national security events, and check out relevant job openings on our Job Board.
Jane Chong is former deputy managing editor of Lawfare. She served as a law clerk on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit and is a graduate of Yale Law School and Duke University.
