Today’s Headlines and Commentary

The U.N.’s Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on Myanmar announced Monday that the commander of Myanmar’s army and other top generals should face charges of genocide against Rohingya Muslims and crimes against humanity for their targeting of other ethnic minorities, the New York Times says. The mission’s recommendations follow a yearlong investigation into the Buddhist-majority security force’s vicious campaign against the Rohingya in the state of Rakhine. The campaign—described in the mission’s report as a “planned and foreseeable catastrophe”—has created more than 700,000 refugees and claimed the lives of at least 10,000 individuals. Witness accounts detail harrowing atrocities, including mass killings, the razing of entire villages, and the systematic raping of women and girls. Myanmar continues to reject the allegations levied against it.

Army Col. James Pohl, the military commissions judge who has long presided over the trial of the alleged perpetrators of the 9/11 attacks, announced Monday that he will retire on Sept. 30, the Miami Herald reports. In the same notice in which Pohl announced his retirement, he assigned Marine Col. Keith Parrella to replace him as the judge in charge of the trial. Parrella faces two immediate, significant decisions: first, whether to keep the date of the 9/11 pretrial hearing—set by Pohl—for Sept. 10-14, and second, whether to overturn Pohl’s recent, controversial decision to bar the government from introducing to the trial any statement made by the accused to FBI Clean Teams.

President Trump announced that the U.S. and Mexico have arrived at a trade deal to replace NAFTA, the Washington Post reports. While not currently part of the deal, Canada may join later. Chrystia Freeland, the Canadian foreign minister, is expected to arrive in Washington late on Monday or Tuesday morning to discuss the agreement.

Iran signed a deal with Syria on Monday reaffirming its commitment to remain in the country and deepen its military cooperation with the Assad regime, the Wall Street Journal reports. The deal comes as the U.S. and its allies step up efforts to contain Tehran’s influence and as the U.S. and Israel continue to call for Iran’s complete withdrawal from Syria. Iranian forces and proxies have provided crucial support to the Assad regime’s fight against the Syrian rebels and the Islamic State since 2013.

A joint U.S.-Afghan operation on Saturday killed Abu Saad Erhabi, the leader of the Islamic State in Afghanistan, the Journal reports. Erhabi is the third head of the Islamic State in Afghanistan (known as Islamic State-Khorasan, or IS-K) killed by the U.S.-led international coalition since July 2017. IS-K struggles to maintain its foothold in the Nangarhar province of the country as it fights both the U.S.-led international coalition and the Taliban. Nevertheless, the group retains total control of some remote valleys in the province.

According to Afghan officials, an airstrike on the border of Afghanistan and Tajikistan killed six Taliban fighters engaged in a fight with Tajik border guards, the Times reports. Though the Afghan officials said that Tajikstan’s Air Force conducted the strike using a MIG jet, this account conflicts with what is known about Tajikisitan’s air force. The small fleet is not believed to contain armed jets. The story became stranger as Monday wore on, Reuters continues, as a Taliban spokesperson denied that the group was involved in the fight, saying that Taliban insurgents do not have permission “to clash with neighbor countries.” Both Tajikistan and the country’s close ally Russia denied that they launched the airstrike in question. A spokesperson for American forces in Afghanistan added that the U.S. had not conducted operations in the border area either, leaving it unclear who provided air support to the beleaguered Tajik forces.

In an appearance before the Hague on Monday, Iran requested that the International Court of Justice order the U.S. to lift the sanctions it imposed on Tehran, Reuters reports. The Iranian lawsuit alleges that the sanctions violate the terms of a friendship treaty between Washington and Tehran. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo described the suit as a baseless attempt to interfere with the U.S.’s “sovereign rights” to take legal action in the face of threats to its national security.

Seeking further relief from the economic hardship imposed on Iran by U.S. sanctions, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani asked the remaining partners on the Iran nuclear deal to work expediently to preserve the deal, Reuters adds. Rouhani’s comments reportedly came during a phone call with French President Emmanuel Macron.

After a life of service to his country, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) passed away this weekend. Americans everywhere mourned his death. The Journal detailed the gaping foreign policy void left by the senator’s passing.

ICYMI: Last Weekend on Lawfare

Jen Patja Howell posted the latest episode of the Lawfare Podcast, a conversation between Benjamin Wittes and Solomon Wisenberg on Wisenberg’s experience interviewing a sitting president as part of a grand jury investigation.

Oriana Skylar Mastro argued that a stronger American defense relationship with India is unlikely to help contain China or deter Beijing from pursuing an aggressive foreign policy.

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