Today's Headlines and Commentary

Shots were fired this morning at Fort Meade after two people in a vehicle attempted to ram a gate leading to the National Security Agency. The Washington Post reports that one person was killed and at least one other injured. According to police officials, the situation is now under control. Information on the episode is still trickling out. Emerging from a League of Arab States meeting in Egypt on Sunday, leaders of the Arab states announced that they had  agreed to create a combined military force aimed at countering what they view as an expansionist Iran and the growing threat of Islamic extremism. Similar to Saudi Arabia’s recent decision to avoid consulting the United States before striking Yemen, many analysts view the creation of the military as part of a drive for greater independence from Washington. As the Arab allies rally together, the battle in Yemen continues. A new video has emerged showing oversized military transports traveling through Saudi Arabia headed towards Yemen, CNN reports. According to sources on the ground, the convoys may mean that suggestions of a ground incursion into the country “may be more than just talk.”  However, Arab diplomats insist that is an unlikely possibility. Reuters brings us news that amid heavy airstrikes by the Saudi-led coalition, Houthi rebels in the country continue to push southward towards Aden. According to local residents, Houthi fighters shelled opponents with artillery on Monday, killing at least five civilians. Yet, the Houthis' push south is a gamble, as they will be further and further from their supply lines. Back in Sanaa, jets struck around the presidential palace and a weapons depot in the Nugum mountain, which overlooks the capital. The New York Times also reports that an aerial assault on a camp for thousands of displaced Yemenis has killed at least 40 people and wounded 200 more, according to the International Organization for Migration. It was not immediately clear who was responsible for the attacks. And, in a dramatic political setback, the Houthis most powerful ally, former President Ali Abdullah Saleh, has now called for peace talks with his Saudi-backed rival, current Yemeni President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi. The Wall Street Journal has more. At the moment, it remains unclear how the most recent Sunni-Shia flare up will affect progress with Iran on a nuclear deal. However, with the deadline just two days away, the New York Times writes that Iranian officials on Sunday retreated from an earlier proposal that would force Tehran to ship its atomic fuel out of the country to Russia, where it would remain inaccessible for use in any potential future weapons program. Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi told reporters “the export of stocks of enriched uranium is not in our program.” Western officials have suggested other options, such as blending the uranium into a more diluted form; however, the new revelation is likely to rouse even more intensified pressure from parties opposed to the nuclear deal. In the face of this pressure, the Wall Street Journal notes that the Obama administration is now displaying a willingness to accept legislation that would give Congress some oversight of any nuclear deal. According to the Journal, the administration has privately expressed its acceptance of some form of compromise legislation as long as such legislation does not include automatic new sanctions. In Politico, Michael Crowley outlines the six core issues to be tackled as the deadline for negotiations closes in. The United States faces new doubts as to whether it is capable of filling the gap created by the withdrawal of Shiite militias around Tikrit. “Right now we need them, and honestly, they’ve achieved a lot of victories,” said Lt. Gen. Abdulwahab al-Saidi, the commander of Iraq’s special forces in the battle for Tikrit. At present, government forces are weighing the costs of U.S. airstrikes as its ground force capacity diminishes in light of recent Iranian-backed Shiite militia withdrawals. While the U.S. strikes have killed top ISIS commanders and pinned militants down,  Shiite militias have strongly protested U.S. involvement in the fight. And today, Iran’s Revolutionary Guard claimed that a U.S. drone strike killed two of its advisers near Tikrit. However, U.S. Central Command has disputed the claims, noting that at the time the officers were killed, the United States had not yet began targeting militant locations around the city. The Associated Press has more. To the second front: Syria. In a move that will lock out displaced Syrian refugees, Turkey has moved to close the two remaining border gates between it and Syria. According to the Times, “The closing of the gates has underscored the conundrum Turkey faces as it tries to balance a commitment to taking in refugees with security and pressure from Western allies to tighten its borders.” An anonymous Turkish intelligence official claimed that the closure of the gates was on account of an intelligence tip that the forces of Syrian President Bashar al Assad were planning an attack in the area. The New York Times reports that the northern Syrian city of Idlib now appears to be solidly in the hands of a coalition of Islamist insurgents. Among the coalition is a branch of al Qaeda called the al Nusra Front. The victory follows four days of heavy fighting in the city, and if the militants hold their positions, it would mark only the second provincial capital to fall completely out of government control. While residents celebrated the victory on Saturday, the Syrian American Medical Society has estimated that as many as 100,000 people could be displaced by the fighting in Idlib. And, according to a recent interview with Syrian President Bashar al Assad, Russia is supplying weapons to Damascus under contracts originally signed at the start of the war. Russia has claimed that any arms exported to the embattled country were as a result of deals executed before the conflict began, but Mr. Assad’s claims now put Moscow’s line in contradiction. In response, Reuters reports a Kremlin spokesman to have said  “there are no legal limitations on us,” noting that there are “no embargoes on military cooperation.” For a transcript of Charlie Rose’s 60 Minutes interview with Mr. Assad, which aired yesterday, see CBS News. Finally, in a snapshot for Foreign Affairs, Hassan Hassan argues that “Iraq isn't’ the right front” and that a Syria-first strategy is necessary to defeat ISIS. The New York Times reports that Tunisian security forces have killed the commander of the group responsible for the recent terrorist attack at the National Bardo Museum in Tunis. Tunisia’s interior minister said that the commander, Khaled Chayeb, was killed along with eight other militants during a raid by the national guard. The news came as thousands of people marched in Tunis to denounce the attack. Early this morning, Nigeria’s election officials began counting the votes from this weekend’s election. The election was hampered by technical problems and militant attacks, with Boko Haram fighters attacking polling stations and killing at least 41 people. According to the Wall Street Journal, which has a great round-up of the election, early returns showed Muhammadu Buhari, a retired general and former military dictator, ahead of President Goodluck Jonathan. A sadly evergreen headline: Violence continued in Kabul this weekend, where a suicide attack against a member of parliament left 3 dead while injuring 8 others. Afghanistan’s TOLONews has more. And while violence in Ukraine has declined, Reuters shares that one Ukrainian serviceman was killed and three more were wounded in fighting with Russian-backed rebels on Sunday. The AP’s Ken Dilanian reported yesterday that in the months before the Snowdon leaks, the NSA considered dropping its secret metadata collection program. Counterterrorism officials believed that the costs of the program outweighed its benefits, but after the leaks, NSA leaders launched a campaign to strongly defend the program. While the proposal never reached the desk of then NSA Director Gen. Keith Alexander, the new revelations could have an impact on Congress as it weighs whether or not to modify or reauthorize the phone-records program. Defense Secretary Ashton Carter is considering easing some of the military enlistment standards in order to attract and retain service-members and civilians in critical areas needed by the military and Department of Defense. Some of the proposed changes include lowering standards for cyber jobs and allowing members to participate in a 401k-type program since as many as 80 percent of service-members do not stay in the military long enough to earn retirement benefits.

ICYMI: This Weekend, on Lawfare

The Lawfare Podcast featured Jessica Stern, J.M. Berger and William McCants on Stern and Berger’s new book, ISIS: The State of Terror. On Friday, Sebastian and Cody shared a review of the ISIS Guide to Holy War, or Lonely Planet: Islamic State--a new English language guide for would-be jihadists on how to prepare for and get to the Islamic State. For Sunday’s Foreign Policy Essay, Andrew Scobell and Mark Cozad described China’s North Korea challenge, where diplomatic, economic, and military entanglements dictate that China is likely to keep its current course with the Hermit Kingdom. Finally, Mira Rapp-Hooper brought us the latest issue from the Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative. This edition covers defense budgets in the Pacific littoral. 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.