Today's Headlines and Commentary

The violence in Iraq continued over the weekend---and in spades. Sunni Islamist militants claimed that their forces had massacred hundreds of Shiite members of Iraq’s security and army forces. The Wall Street Journal covers that story, including with graphic photos. The U.S. State Department has strongly condemned the claims---that’s over at The Hill. The New York Times has more on the massacre, as well as on the details of the seizure of the city of Tal Afar, west of Mosul, where the militants first took last week. The Washington Post reports that the United States has begun to withdraw embassy staff from Baghdad as the militants continue to gain momentum. Secretary of State John Kerry sat with Katie Couric of Yahoo! News this morning, and said that he was open to the idea of talks with Iran over the current situation in Iraq. The Post covered the developments from Kerry’s interview. While we are all perhaps surprised and confused by the recent crisis in Iraq, it was actually “years in the making.” The Times explains that the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS, also referred to as ISIL---Business Insider clarifies the confusion between the different acronyms) has been growing in Iraq since 2006 and has been waiting for the perfect moment to strike. House Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Rogers spoke to Fox News yesterday, and voiced his worries that ISIS could begin to target the United States. The Hill covers Rogers’ remarks. Other members of Congress are also weighing in on the issue. Politico tells us that Rep. Adam Kizinger has dubbed the conflict a “worst-case scenario” for the United States. Kizinger is an Iraq War veteran, and is urging President Obama to launch airstrikes in Iraq. The Hill covers those remarks, as well as those of Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, who focused on how painful the situation is for those Americans who once fought in Iraq. Daniel Byman, Lawfare's Foreign Policy Editor and a scholar in the Brookings Saban Center for Middle East Policy, has penned an opinion piece for the Post on why there is no clear-cut path for President Obama given the current situation in Iraq. Afghanistan’s presidential election was tainted, but not prevented, by violence this past Saturday. The Journal reports that nearly 70 people were killed in attacks during the election. Al Jazeera explains that many of those targeted in a Taliban-organized roadside attack were poll workers. The AP also reports on the violence, and points out that, despite the violence, 60 percent of eligible voters cast a vote in the election; that translated to more than seven million people. The U.N. Analytical Support and Sanctions Monitoring Team just ahead of Saturday’s election revealed that the U.N. has begun to classify the Taliban as a “criminal enterprise,” rather than a religious group. Reuters has more. The Pakistani government announced yesterday that it will launch a new initiative to combat the Pakistani Taliban, mainly located along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border. The Times reports that the military is engaged in a “comprehensive operation” against the Taliban in North Waziristan, but has not disclosed any details. Reuters also covers those developments. Violence erupted in Benghazi, yesterday. Al Jazeera explains that tensions between forces loyal to the former General Khalifa Haftar and militants came to an inevitable collision, leaving at least four people dead and fourteen wounded. The Times editorial board has a pretty negative view of President Obama’s recently announced counterterrorism policy. It identifies a host of problems with the president’s Counterterrorism Partnership Fund, which would seek to establish a host of partnerships with vulnerable countries to help train security forces to prevent terrorist activity. It questions the effectiveness of the program if it were to be carried out through the Pentagon. Now that Sgt. Bowe Bergdhal is back in the United States, an investigation into his disappearance and eventual capture by the Taliban is set to begin. Reuters reports that the U.S. military has appointed a two-star general to head the investigation. The general’s name has yet to be released. The Post details U.S. efforts to apprehend Edward Snowden, making clear that, up until this point at least, the former NSA contractor has kept one step ahead of U.S. authorities. Interesting details:

Several U.S. officials cited a complication to gathering intelligence on Snowden that could be seen as ironic: the fact that there has been no determination that he is an “agent of a foreign power,” a legal distinction required to make an American citizen a target of espionage overseas. If true, it means that the former CIA employee and National Security Agency contractor, who leaked thousands of classified files to expose what he considered rampant and illegal surveillance of U.S. citizens, is shielded at least to some extent from spying by his former employers. Snowden is facing espionage-related charges, and the FBI has power to conduct wiretaps and enlist the NSA and CIA in its investigative efforts overseas. But even with such help, officials said, the bureau’s reach in Moscow is limited. “The FBI doesn’t have any capability to operate in Moscow without the collaboration of the FSB,” said a former senior U.S. intelligence official who served in the Russian capital.

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