Today's Headlines and Commentary

Lots of news coverage on Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri's trial. In addition to our coverage--more of which is coming later today--here is the New York Times story, the Washington Post story, the Miami Herald story, the New Yorker blog, and National Public Radio's coverage. More domestic terrorism trial news this morning: Khalid Ali-M Aldawsari, a 21-year-old Saudi student in Texas accused of trying to build a weapon of mass destruction after he allegedly purchased chemicals and equipment necessary to make an improvised explosive device (IED) and researched potential U.S. targets, is going to use an insanity defense. His trial is set for Jan. 9. 2012, reports the Associated Press. Dane Schiller of the Houston Chronicle says that a masked informant who secretly videotaped Barry Bujol talking about jihad testified against Bujol, could face twenty years in prison. And those four lovable elderly Georgia men arrested on charges to blow up government buildings and kill hordes of people with ricin have all pled not guilty yesteday, according to Alan Sverdlik of Reuters. In other news, Marc Ambinder and Yochi J. Dreazen of the National Journal are reporting that the Justice Department is poking around about disclosures to Newsweek by former CIA acting general counsel John Rizzo. They say Justice is still looking at whether Rizzo "improperly disclosed classified information about the CIA's drone campaign." This will not brighten your day: Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) claims that it has obtained weapons--including surface-to-air missilies--from Muammar Ghaddafi's cache, according to the Investigative Project on Terrorism.  The story says that AQIM leader Mokhtar Belmokhtar told a Mauritanian news agency that "our acquisition of Libyan armament, that is an absolutely natural thing." Kind of like yoga. The Atlantic's cover story on Pakistan by Jeffrey Goldberg and Marc Ambinder is worth a very close read. Here's a teaser:

Pakistan lies. It hosted Osama bin Laden (knowingly or not). Its government is barely functional. It hates the democracy next door. It is home to both radical jihadists and a large and growing nuclear arsenal (which it fears the U.S. will seize). Its intelligence service sponsors terrorists who attack American troops. With a friend like this, who needs enemies?

And if you have ever wanted to send a hopping shoebox with a camera onto a battlefield, here is your Moment of Zen. 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. Feel free to email me noteworthy articles I may have missed at singh.lawfare@gmail.com.