Today’s Headlines and Commentary

More news from the NATO summit: Alliance leaders have formally agreed to a withdrawal from Afghanistan by 2014, reports the New York Times. The Washington Post also has the story, and says that under the agreement, “each nation will determine its own pace of withdrawal, coordinated with coalition planners.” Read NATO’s official statement here. The announcement comes after a story in Sunday’s Times alleging that the Pentagon had been entirely left out of the withdrawal plan.

The contentious issue of Pakistan’s reopening its supply routes to U.S. forces in Afghanistan has “cast a shadow over the summit,” according to the BBC. No agreement was reached between the two countries.

Jefferson Morley of Salon writes on the drone industry’s attempts to “remake” its negative image. Hardly an easy task for an industry that makes, oh say, Predators, but they’re trying.

Kimberly Dozier of the Associated Press reports that White House counterterrorism advisor John Brennan has become the head honcho in deciding which bad guys America is going to target with drones and special forces, moving the nexus of responsibility from the Pentagon to the White House.

The AP tells us that the Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit has upheld a decision to withhold a photo of Abu Zubaydah after his interrogation, as well as other secret documents. The ACLU and other groups had sued the CIA under the Freedom of Information Act “for documents relating to its secret detention and interrogation program for prisoners in U.S. custody overseas,” says Reuters. Read the opinion here.

A gentleman by the name of Ahmad Wali Siddiqui has been found guilty in a German court of being a member of Al Qaeda and has been sentenced to six years in prison. The AP has the scoop.

Muslim leaders in New Jersey and state officials will discuss the NYPD’s surveillance in the state this Thursday, according to the AP.

Shane Harris at Washingtonian discusses China’s latest cyber-espionage targets—including, uh, me.

From the Frenemy Press: Imran Khan, chairman of Pakistan’s right-wing Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) party said that President Asif Ali Zardari’s appearance at the NATO summit “brought nothing but disgrace to the country,” because Zardari’s administration isn’t doing enough to protect the interests and sovereignty of Pakistan. The Express Tribune has the story. Meanwhile, the Associated Press of Pakistan reports that Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, son of the president and the late Benazir Bhutto, and the chairman of the Pakistan’s People’s Party, has urged President Obama to apologize for last November’s airstrike to “bring U.S.-Pakistan relations back on track”:

I would like the American public to consider what their reaction would have been if American troops were killed in such an attack on their border with Mexico. I urge President Obama to show some courage. I understand he is running for re-election but if he is the same man who inspired the world with his message of hope and change, the future of Nato mission in Afghanistan should be more important than poll numbers.

And from The Onion comes this story of America’s latest cybersecurity incident—today’s Moment of Zen: