Today's Headlines and Commentary

Five American special operations soldiers and at least one Afghan service member were killed Monday night by friendly fire. In Southern Afghanistan's Zabul province, militants had attacked U.S. troops, who were patrolling in advance of the upcoming presidential runoff election.  The American soldiers apparently had called in air support, which struck their position. Now the Department of Defense is looking into the accident's possible causes; the New York Times and Washington Post have more. Pakistan has seen two terror attacks in less than a week. Following up on coverage of Sunday's Taliban raid on Karachi's Jinnah International Airport, Al Jazeera announces that Monday afternoon, flights briefly resumed. An article in the Guardian indicates that the airport's ineffective bomb detectors may have enabled ten militants to enter the building initially.  Defense News suggested that the Sunday attack might portend a “‘wave of attacks’ by the Pakistani Taliban.” That seems prescient enough: today, Karachi again suffered an insurgent attack, this time at an airport training facility. The New York Times has more details about this developing story. Violence also has overtaken Iraq. Its prime minister declared a state of emergency, following an assault on the city of Mosul by the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS).  Per Al Jazeera and the Washington Post, insurgents reportedly captured Mosul, a regional capital and Iraq's second largest city, and then released 1,400 prisoners from city jails. Yesterday, the Obama administration briefed members of the House of Representatives on the decision to release five Taliban Guantanamo detainees in exchange for Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl. Politico writes that House Republicans remain unconvinced. Chris Edelson of the Hill considers the administration’s decision to label Bergdahl’s situation as an emergency (and not to give lawmakers a heads-up, in advance), citing Jack's statements about the NDAA's congressional notice requirements. From the Post, news of surveillance litigation: the NSA recently argued in proceedings before a federal district court that it would be “too complex” and “burdensome” to preserve data collected under section 702 of the FISA Amendments Act.  Deputy Director Richard Ledgett warned that, if the NSA was required to maintain the information regarding “Americans’ telephone and Internet activities,” the surveillance agency might "have to shut down all systems and databases that contain Section 702 information,” causing a grave risk to national security. In Syria, President Bashar al-Assad proclaimed on Monday a "general amnesty” for all past crimes, except “acts of terrorism.” Previous amnesties have not amounted to much.  But the Times reports that some are more hopeful now, given the timing of Assad's latest decree. Apropos, the U.S. continues to supply rebel groups opposed to the Assad regime, though in a fashion that rankles Abdelilah al-Bashir, Chief of Staff of the Free Syrian Army’s Supreme Military Council, or "SMC." Bashir believes that, in providing munitions directly to individual rebel units---and in bypassing the SMC, which nominally commands rebels from exile---the U.S. also could be responsible for turning the units' leaders into Somalia-style warlords. According to Reuters, Bashir wants the SMC to be in charge of distributing American supplies. The United States continues to negotiate with Iran over the latter's nuclear program, in pursuit of a final agreement. According to Reuters, Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi indicated that an earlier, interim deal may need to be extended by six months. Interestingly (and contrary to skepticism voiced by other Israeli officials) Brigadier-General Itai Brun, the chief analyst for Israeli military intelligence, noted that Iran has been adhering to the interim arrangement. Reuters has that story, too. Jennifer Rubin has a Washington Post piece.  In it she proposes areas of focus for the House Foreign Affairs Committee’s upcoming hearing on Iran negotiations. In an exclusive interview with Time, Petro Poroshenko, Ukraine's newly inaugurated president, declared that he is going to have to work with Russia to ensure his country’s security and stability. Still, he hopes to build up Ukraine’s military and economy, in order to guarantee the nation’s future sovereignty. Over the weekend, in an effort to prove its commitment to Ukraine and other European allies, the U.S. deployed two B-2 Spirit stealth bombers from Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri to RAF Fairford, an air base in Britain. The Hill has more. Meanwhile, Jeff Burdette of the Small Wars Journal considers American counterterrorism strategy and concludes that U.S. policymakers are giving too much credit to poverty as a cause of terrorism. Now to Libya, where political chaos continues. Al Jazeera writes that the Supreme Constitutional Court invalidated the recent election of Ahmed Maetig as prime minister. Both Maetig and the Libyan Parliament have said they will comply with the ruling. BBC News has more on the story. Members of the Israeli Parliament elected Reuven Rivlin as the country’s next president.  Rivlin beat out rival Meir Sheetrit. BBC News reports. Two expert reports add context to the recent indictment of five members of the Chinese army for acts of cyber espionage. According to the first, which was authored jointly by Intel Security and the Center for Strategic and International Studies, cybercrime costs the global economy between $375 billion and $575 billion annually. The U.S. incurs about $100 billion of this cost. The bad-enough-already figures unfortunately are bound to increase, according to the report; Politico and the Post have more details. The Times also shares news of our second cybercrime report---this one released by CrowdStrike, and specifically focused on attempts by Chinese officials to obtain foreign military and trade secrets. The Post also reports on Apple’s newly released iOS 8 operating system. This new technology will make it harder for retailers to track consumers as they shop. Sarah Kreps has a new study in Research and Politics, considering public opinion toward drones. 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