Today's Headlines and Commentary

FBI Director James Comey acknowledged that his agency may have lost the chance to extract data from the iPhone belonging to one of the San Bernardino attackers. During a hearing before the House Judiciary Committee yesterday, Director Comey stated, “There was a mistake made in the 24 hours after the attack.” Shortly after the attack in California, the FBI ordered the iCloud password be reset. The New York Times writes that FBI personnel believed that by resetting the password they could obtain access to information stored on the phone. However, the change did the exact opposite by locking out investigators and eliminating means of unlocking the data.

During the same hearing on Capitol Hill, Director Comey also told members of Congress that a final court ruling that would force Apple to provide the FBI with data from the iPhone would be “potentially precedential” in similar cases where the Bureau might request cooperation from technology companies. Reuters reports that this statement by the FBI Director was slightly different than his remarks from last week where he indicated that unlocking the iPhone was “unlikely to be a trailblazer” for setting precedent.

The Wall Street Journal tells us that Attorney General Loretta Lynch is disappointed by a federal judge’s ruling that the government cannot compel Apple to help extract information from a locked iPhone. In a separate case from the San Bernardino controversy, Judge James Orenstein rejected the Justice Department’s argument that the All Writs Act, a 1789 law, allows prosecutors the authority to compel Apple to provide access to an iPhone seized during a drug investigation. The iPhone in issue runs an operating system for which Apple retains the capacity to extract the data in question. The ruling provided Apple with its biggest win to date in the ongoing feud with the FBI.

However, Wired’s Kim Zetter outlines how the federal government could get into iPhones without Apple’s help. Read that report here.

U.S. Special Operations forces have captured the first suspected Islamic State operative in Northern Iraq as part of the secretive targeting team led by the U.S. Army’s Delta Force. According to the New York Times, the Special Operations forces are expected to apprehend and interrogate more Islamic State operatives in the coming months that will usher in “a new and potentially fraught phase in the fight against the extremist Sunni militant group.” Additionally, the Times writes that “the Pentagon is now faced with the prospect of detaining a larger group of captives and potentially reprising some of the darkest images of the war in Iraq, particularly the abuses at Abu Ghraib prison.”

Elsewhere, four Islamic State suicide bombers disguised as soldiers attacked an Iraqi military headquarters in Haditha yesterday, killing eight army officers including a local commander. The Associated Press reports that one of the suicide bombers struck the military compound’s gate and, as soldiers gathered to help the victims the three other bombers detonated their explosives.

The United Nations is now aiming to start the next round of the Syrian peace talks on March 9. The decision to delay will allow the “cessation of hostilities” implemented since Saturday to take hold. Reuters shares that U.N. Syria envoy Staffan de Mistura stated, “We are delaying it to the afternoon of March 9 for logistical and technical reasons and also for the ceasefire to better settle down.”

In other news, Israel is accusing the Syrian government of using chemical weapons against civilians since the implementation of the cessation of hostilities last weekend. The Jerusalem Post tells us that Israel’s defense minister, Moshe Ya’alon, stated during a news conference that, “The Syrians used military grade chemical weapons and lately have been using materials, chlorine, against civilians...dropping barrels of chlorine on civilians.” He did not provide any further details on his claim.

The New York Times reports that Jordanian security forces killed several Islamist militants during “one of the largest sweeps against sleeper cells of sympathizers of hard-line Islamist groups in recent years.” The manhunt involved hundreds of troops in Jordan’s northern city of Irbid. The Times writes that Jordan did not confirm the targets’ identities, but indicated that security forces killed a number of “fugitive outlaws.” One Jordanian police officer was killed during the counterterrorism operation.

Over in Pakistan, two local employees of the U.S. consulate in Peshawar were killed by an IED yesterday. Secretary of State John Kerry announced the news during a countering violent extremism event stating, “An IED exploded and several were lost; a few of the soldiers who were there to guard them also.” The New York Times tells us that Jamaat-e-Ahrar, a faction of the Pakistani Taliban, claimed responsibility for the attack.

Today, U.S. Army General John Nicholson took command of U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan. The Associated Press writes that Nicholson now takes command of around 13,000 international troops, including 9,000 Americans, in Afghanistan as the Afghan Taliban are extending their reach to previously peaceful areas.

Speaking of the Taliban, the insurgent group claimed credit for an insider police attack yesterday. The Chicago Tribune shares that an Afghan police officer shot and killed four of his colleagues at a checkpoint between the Kandahar and Uruzgan provinces. Another 11 officers who were in charge of manning the checkpoint when the shooting happened are still missing.

Reuters reports that Afghan security forces killed four suicide bombers who attempted to target the Indian consulate in Jalalabad today. One suicide bomber detonated a car bomb near the consulate while the remaining attackers were killed before entering the location. Two people were killed and 19 were wounded in the attack. There was no immediate claim of responsibility.

Russia’s foreign minister has called for negotiations on a new international treaty to counter the threat of chemical warfare by terrorists. Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov stated, “Chemical terrorism is emerging not as an abstract threat but a grave reality of our time.” Read the rest from the New York Times.

In East Asia, China seized a disputed atoll off the coast of the Philippines in the South China Sea today and denied Filipino fisherman access to the waters. According to TIME, the Chinese ships now effectively control Quirino Atoll, also known as Jackson Atoll, which is a spot heavily frequented by Filipino fishermen from the Palawan province and other parts of the country. Chinese ships allegedly chased local fishermen from the area last week.

The atoll’s seizure by China comes as Secretary of Defense Ash Carter warned China against its aggressive actions in the South China Sea. During a speech in San Francisco yesterday, Secretary Carter stated, “China must not pursue militarization in the South China Sea. Specific actions will have specific consequences.” Reuters tells us that these consequences would include the United States’ increased deployments to the Asia-Pacific region and a plan that would spend $425 million through 2020 to pay for more exercises and training with regional countries.

The United Nations Security Council unanimously adopted heavy sanctions against North Korea today in response the DPRK’s recent nuclear weapon test and subsequent satellite launch. The Washington Post describes the sanctions as “some of the strongest measures ever used to pressure Pyongyang to abandon its nuclear weapons program.” Read the rest by the Post here.

The Wall Street Journal reports that Germany’s Federal Cartel Office is investigating whether Facebook is abusing its dominance as a social network to collect personal information. The investigation is the latest in a set of challenges to the social network’s privacy policies. The Journal writes, “privacy advocates argue that a handful of companies, including Facebook, are leveraging their ubiquity to amass data on hundreds of millions of people, trampling privacy laws and stifling competitors in the online ad market.” The Journal has more.

Want to get paid to hack the Pentagon? Defense News shares that the Pentagon is now launching a new program that will invite hackers to target Department of Defense websites for potential financial rewards. The “bug bounty” program is the first in the nation, which will involve DoD selecting a group of hackers to “do as much damage as possible.” The cyber security initiative will begin in April.

Speaking of cyber security, Defense One reports that Secretary of Defense Ash Carter “acknowledged that the Pentagon is as reliant on encryption and other technologies as anyone.” Following reports that the U.S. military is now employing cyber attacks against the Islamic State to limit their ability to control its forces in Syria; DoD cannot risk the same weapons being used against them. Adding to his comments, Carter also touched on the encryption debate dominating headlines and indicated that encryption is essential to data security.

Yesterday, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence released a new batch of documents collected during the raid that killed Osama bin Laden in 2011. The Washington Post tells us that the bin Laden “spent his final years engaged in a futile struggle to present his terror network from unraveling and embracing the brutal tactics that have since become the signatures of the Islamic State.” Read the rest from the Post here. Also, bin Laden was apparently paranoid that his wife had a tracker embedded in her tooth. Read that story from the Hill.

In the latest Guantanamo Bay news, the Hill reports that Representative Mac Thornberry (R-TX), Chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, signaled that an annual defense policy bill could include a provision that would block the Obama administration’s attempts to hand over GTMO back to Cuba. Representative Ted Yoho (R-FL) suggested the policy during the committee’s annual “Member Day,” when lawmakers not serving on the Armed Services Committee may suggest what they would like to see added to the National Defense Authorization Act.

In space news, NASA Astronaut Scott Kelly has returned to Earth after a year in space. Welcome back!

Super Tuesday-ed out? How well did your candidate do? With the 2016 election season in full swing, be sure to check out where all of the candidates stand on national security issues from the Council on Foreign Relations. Oh, and speaking of national security issues and presidential candidates, Lawfare’s Ben Wittes outlines why Donald Trump is a national security threat.

Parting Shot: Terrorist attacks seem like one of the least predictable events, right? Not necessarily now. The Washington Post tells us that new research shows that terror attacks may not be as unpredictable as we think. According to math and terrorism experts, terrorist attacks often follow a general pattern that can be modeled and predicted using math. Yes, you read that right.

ICYMI: Yesterday, on Lawfare

Robert Chesney provided another Apple vs. FBI primer. This FAQ format focuses on Magistrate Judge Orenstein’s ruling that Apple does not have to provide assistance to the FBI to unlock an iPhone.

Ian Brown, Vivek Krishnamurthy, and Peter Swire argued that U.S. efforts to reform MLATs must occur in tandem with reform efforts in Europe and globally.

Ben Wittes wondered what Estonia could do if the San Bernardino shooter were an Estonian digital resident (like himself) and had encrypted communications. Naturally, Ben tweeted at Estonia’s president to ask, and Estonia’s president tweeted back at him.

Paul Rosenzweig flagged the Chertoff Group’s executive summary of its new white paper entitled “The Ground Truth About Encryption and the Consequences of Extraordinary Access.”

Shane Reeves and Winston Williams asserted that it is time for a national security expert on the Supreme Court.

Susan Hennessey and Ben Wittes shared their questions for Apple and also provided a link to the House Judiciary Committee’s hearing on encryption and “going dark” matters.

Charlie Dunlap was disappointed and puzzled with the Stimson Center’s grading of the Obama administration’s drone policy.

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