Today's Headlines and Commentary

In Guantanamo Bay, a military appeals court voided the conviction of David Hicks, an Australian who pleaded guilty in 2007 to providing material support to a terrorist group. (We posted the decision here). The conviction was the first ever by a Guantanamo military commission, and the CMCR’s decision to overturn is just the latest in a string of difficulties facing the military commission system, the Wall Street Journal explains. In Libya, the rise of Islamist militants, some of whom are tied to ISIS, has led the Libyan government to ask the United Nations to lift the arms embargo that has been in place since the ousting of Col. Muammar Gaddafi in 2011, the BBC reveals. Egypt, which conducted its own bombing raid against ISIS targets in Libya on Monday, called for a U.N. resolution to allow international troops to join the conflict. However, Egypt’s unilateral action appears to have alienated one of its allies, the United States. The Daily Beast reports that U.S. officials steadfastly refused to endorse the attack, which was taken without consultation with the United States. The attack has also soured relations with Qatar. After Qatar refused to support an Arab League communique that embraced Egyptian airstrikes, Egypt accused it of sponsoring terrorism, leading Qatar to recall its ambassador, according to Al Jazeera. Egypt’s proposal may find support in Italy. Italy has strong historic ties to Libya and is the country’s largest European trading partner with more than $11 billion in trade each year. And, due to its proximity to the embattled country, Italy took in more than 3,500 migrants just last month. Italy’s foreign minister said Wednesday that Italy would be integrally involved in any peacekeeping operation in Libya and offered Italian assistance in military training and ceasefire monitoring, the Wall Street Journal reveals. If you’re catching up on the situation in Libya, here’s a useful map of the state of play as determined by Pieter Van Ostaeyen. While Islamist factions flourish in Libya, ISIS’s forces in Iraq are under significant pressure from Iraqi Kurds. The Washington Post notes that Kurdish units have seized a stretch of the highway that runs from Mosul, ISIS’s stronghold in Iraq, to its Syrian “capital” of Raqqa. The highway is a vital supply line for ISIS, and restricting or stopping the flow of people, weapons, and cash along it would further weaken the group’s hold on Mosul. Such operations against ISIS have united several often-antagonistic groups, but these alliances are often tenuous. The Post describes a few of the odd partnerships formed in the fight against ISIS, where cooperation between Kurds and Shiites has the potential to alienate the country’s Sunnis while raising difficult questions about what happens after ISIS is defeated. Elsewhere in Syria on Wednesday, rebels rejected an informal ceasefire proposal for Aleppo put forth by the Syrian government, the Wall Street Journal reports. The rebels argued that the Syrian regime has repeatedly failed to negotiate in good faith; the same day that the government indicated that it would accept a ceasefire in Aleppo, the military moved to surround the rebel-held areas of the city. As fighting continues, the Pentagon announced that it has screened 1,200 moderate Syrian rebels for a training program run by the U.S. military in Turkey, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar, according to the Associated Press. However, the goal is for the rebels to return to fight against ISIS, not the Syrian government. President Barack Obama gave the keynote address at a White House summit on countering violent extremism yesterday. In his remarks, the Guardian recounts, the President urged Muslims to reject efforts by ISIS to pervert their religion. In the speech, the President avoided labelling various terrorist actions as “Islamic”, a semantic tactic for which he has been repeatedly faulted. The New York Times, however, explains the White House’s logic behind the choice: labeling the groups that the United States is fighting as Islamic would lend credence to the myth propagated by ISIS and other terrorist groups that the West is at war with Islam. The White House summit served as a forum for ideas on preventing radicalization. In an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal, Secretary of State John Kerry lays out several preventive measures discussed at the summit. Politico reports that the Obama administration is planning to partner with tech firms to fight back against propaganda by extremist groups on social media. However, there appears to be no silver bullet for countering extremism. The Times tells the story of how one young man went from a private school in Cairo to the battlefields of Syria, illustrating that radicalization is a complex problem with no easy solution:

The West is struggling to confront the rise of Islamic extremism and the brutality committed in the name of religion. But it is not alone in trying to understand how this has happened — why young men raised in homes that would never condone violence, let alone coldblooded murder, are joining the Islamic State and Al Qaeda. It is a phenomenon that is as much a threat to Muslim nations as to the West, if not more so, as thousands of young men volunteer as foot soldiers, ready to kill and willing to die.

According to Pakistani officials, the Afghan Taliban is willing to begin peace talks, Reuters reports. Taliban sources also indicated that their negotiators would meet with U.S. officials today in Qatar for a first round of talks. While these could represent progress in ending the conflict that began in 2001, Reuters notes that U.S. officials flatly denied having any plans to talk with the Taliban in Qatar. The Indian military has successfully tested a new surface-to-surface nuclear-capable missile, PTI reveals. The missile, named Prithvi II, has a range of 350 km and can carry between 500 to 1,000 kg of nuclear warheads. China continues to build in the disputed South China Sea, the Wall Street Journal reports. New satellite images show that China has built an artificial island measuring 75,000 square yards atop a reef 660 miles from its shore and just 210 miles from the Philippines. Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko called for a U.N. peacekeeping force to be deployed in eastern Ukraine to monitor a ceasefire between the Ukrainian military and Russian-backed separatists, according to Reuters. The proposal was immediately rejected by the separatists as a violation of the ceasefire, and Russia claimed the proposal indicated Ukraine’s unwillingness to abide by the ceasefire. The latter has had little impact in quelling the fighting since it took effect on Sunday. Rebel forces continued their assault on the town of Debaltseve and forced the Ukrainian military into a costly retreat. The Times reports that some members of the military estimate that just a third of the forces trapped in Debaltseve survived; President Poroshenko claimed the number was nearer to 80 percent. In addition to its aggression in Ukraine, Russia continues its attempts to demonstrate force throughout Europe. According to the BBC, the British air force scrambled fighter jets yesterday as two Russian bombers approached, though never entered, sovereign British airspace. The move continues a series of such maneuvers by Russian planes across Europe. The BBC adds that yesterday the U.K. defense secretary expressed concern over the potential for covert Russian action to destabilize the Baltic states of Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia. The Chadian military has made its furthest foray into Nigeria in its fight against Boko Haram, the Times notes, while the Nigerian military has also pushed the group back, recapturing a Nigerian town it lost to the militant group a month ago. The Nigerian military claimed their assault killed over 300 Boko Haram militants. Reuters adds that Nigeria and Chad, along with Niger and Cameroon, are attempting to keep Boko Haram cornered in Nigeria before beginning a regional assault in late March. However, Boko Haram conducted an attack on a town in Niger last night, killing three, according to Reuters. The Guardian brings us news that Google has launched an attack on an attempt by the US Department of Justice to expand its powers to search and seize digital data. According to the report, Google has argued that increasing the FBI’s powers would raise “monumental and highly complex constitutional, legal, and geopolitical concerns that should be left to Congress to decide.” Newly minted Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter will relieve Rear Adm. John Kirby of his position as spokesman for the Pentagon. Foreign Policy notes that while a replacement has not yet been named, Carter has made it clear he will return the position to a civilian.

ICYMI: Yesterday, on Lawfare

Ben conducted a point-by-point analysis of James Risen’s recent Twitter rant against Eric Holder. Herb Lin discussed the implications of the government’s newly revealed and “truly breathtaking” ability to sneak surveillance and sabotage tools deep into computers. Herb also made two points on the debate over the use of encryption in communications. Wells informed us that the Court of Military Commission Review had voided the guilty plea and sentencing of the Australian David Hicks. After a federal judge enjoined President Obama’s Deferred Action for Parents of Americans immigration plan, Peter Margulies explored the district court’s opinion and how it will shape the debate over presidential power going forward. Paul Rosenzweig examined the Executive Order issued by the White House on information sharing last week. Email the Roundup Team noteworthy law and security-related articles to include, and follow us on Twitter and Facebook for additional commentary on these issues. Sign up to receive Lawfare in your inbox. Visit our Events Calendar to learn about upcoming national security events, and check out relevant job openings on our Job Board.