Today's Headlines and Commentary

Lots of stuff today. Yesterday afternoon, Senator John McCain pushed back on Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's effort to stymie the NDAA over disagreements about detention policy. McCain is touting the bipartisan nature of the provisions reported by the Armed Services Committee as a reason for bringing the bill to the floor. John T. Bennett at The Hill has a report. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell is also urging Reid to let the bill come to the floor for debate. Josh Gerstein writes on McConnell's efforts. Also read Alexander Bolton's coverage at The Hill which expands on the Josh Gerstein report we shared earlier this week. A slew of articles note the 10th anniversary of the United States' counterattack in Afghanistan, but I will link to just one this morning. And I pick...drum roll please...National Journal's Michael Hirsh. Jenna Jordan, a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Chicago, discusses whether targeting leaders is an effective counterterrorism policy on Foreign Policy's AFPAK Channel. The Yemen Observer reported, as did the AP, on Wednesday that five Al Qaeda insurgents were killed by a drone in southern Yemen. The White House is incorporating new cybersecurity policies (it's "National Cybersecurity Month," notes Ellen Nakashima at the Post). Eric Schmitt at the New York Times also covers President Obama's order. John O'Callaghan of Reuters reports that in an interview with ABC News, President Obama said that it would be "very difficult" for Al Qaeda to perpetrate an attack on U.S. soil. Concerning the "Kill Lists," which I posted about briefly yesterday, Micah Zenko at Council on Foreign Relations's blog writes about the lack of transparency from the Obama administration about why it has increased emphasis on killing over capturing terrorist suspects. Zenko says:

Obama administration officials have repeatedly stated on the record that U.S. targeted killings comply with all domestic and international laws, focus only on enemy “combatants,” and are precise to limit civilian casualties and collateral damage. These justifications, however, do not shed any light on why the Obama administration has placed greater emphasis on killing suspected terrorists over the intelligence that can be acquired through capturing and interrogating them, how American citizens can be denied Fifth Amendment due process protections, and how and why people are placed on kill-capture lists.

As the underwear bomber Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab's trial continues, U.S. District Judge Nancy Edmunds dismissed a juror. Abdulmutallab's legal adviser expressed concern about the racial makeup of the jury, as the dismissed juror was the only African American on the panel. The Detroit News' Robert Snell has the story. U.S. District Judge Alvin Hellerstein won't hold the CIA in contempt over its failure to fulfill  the ACLU's request to produce videotapes which were destroyed. The AP has the story (via the Wall Street Journal). Court filings on Tuesday indicate that prosecutors in the James Risen/CIA leak case may call former Secretary of State and National Security Advisor Condoleeza Rice to testify (still more Josh Gerstein). Gerstein also reports on the potential connection between the leak and the firing of Senate intelligence committee lawyer Vicki Divoll, which may play a role in the trial as well. While some members of the GOP continue griping about President Obama's national security policies, House Speaker John  Boehner says he has "been very supportive of the president's decisions in Iraq and Afghanistan...so far the president's done just fine." Read the full story by Russell Berman at The Hill. The Economist argues that there needs to be greater monitoring of U.S. drone attacks on suspected terrorists. Larry Greenemeier at Scientific American ponders whether the FAA will allow drones to roam U.S. airspace; the FAA is scheduled to release a rule governing the use of drones domestically as early as December. The rule will be based in part on recommendations made by the Aviation Rulemaking Committee. The details of these rules are not publicly available. Speaking of domestic use of drones, Tampa officials in charge of security for the RNC Convention next year have requested two drones to boost security (courtesy of the St. Petersburg Times). Drones will  also begin operating in upstate New York in the area around at Fort Drum, writes Rick Moriarty of the Syracuse Post-Standard. Warning to all journalists who cover, well, anything that could be construed as critical of a president's policies: Ron Paul thinks that drones could target you next. Philip Elliot at the AP (via the Boston Globe) reports on the Congressman from Texas' speech at a National Press Club lunch on Wednesday. For more interesting law and security-related articles, follow us on Twitter and visit the Georgetown Center on National Security and the Law's Security Law Brief. Email me noteworthy articles that I may have missed at wakeman.lawfare@gmail.com.