Today's Headlines and Commentary

Shortly after President Trump announced he would not pursue escalation against Iran following non-lethal missile attacks against bases housing U.S. troops in Iraq, a commander of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps threatened “harsher revenge” on the United States for the killing of Qassem Soleimani, reports the New York Times. Another Iranian military official said the missile attacks on Iraqi bases were not meant to kill anyone.

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi announced that the House would vote to restrict President Trump’s ability to conduct military action in Iran without congressional approval, according to the Times. The resolution would force Trump to cease all military action against Iran without Congress voting to approve it.

Facebook has announced that it will continue to allow false claims in political ads and that it will continue to allow controversial targeting tools that help politicians to deliver ads to specific populations on Facebook, reports the Washington Post. Facebook will now give users choices about what kinds of ads they will see on the site.

U.S. officials said that the Ukraine airliner that crashed outside Tehran likely bought down due to an accidental missile strike by Iranian air defenses, according to Reuters. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has also said that Canada has received intelligence confirming that story, according to The Globe and Mail. A majority of the passengers, all of whom were killed in the crash, were bound for Canada.

ICYMI: Yesterday on Lawfare

Danielle Citron, Robert Chesney and Quinta Jurecic examined the new Facebook policy targeting deepfakes.

Eric Halliday chronicled Iran and Hezbollah’s actions and capabilities outside of the Middle East.

Hadley Baker shared a livestream of the Subcommittee on Consumer Protection and Commerce of the House Committee on Energy and Comerce’s hearing “Americans at Risk: Manipulation and Deception in the Digital Age.”

Hannah Kris shared Rep. Elissa Slotkin’s (D.-Mich.) House resolution calling for the termination of the use of U.S. Armed Forces in Iran without Congressional Approval.

Jen Patja Howell shared a new episode of Rational Security in which Benjamin Wittes, Susan Hennessey, Shane Harris and Tamara Cofman Wittes analyzed the administration’s handling of the killing of Qassem Soleimani, its resulting fallout and what might come next for President Trump’s impeachment.

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