Today's Headlines and Commentary

Lots and lots of news today. Let's start with several developments on the terrorism trials front: Barry Walter Bujol Jr., who defended himself against accusations of material support for Al Qaeda, turned out, in fact, to have a fool for a lawyer and has now been convicted, reports Reuters. Seeing as he "failed to introduce any evidence or question any witnesses," this hardly comes as a shock. The trial of Tarek Mehanna, who has lawyers, continues; the Boston Globe reports that a former friend testified that Mehanna conspired with friends to travel to Yemen for training. Meanwhile, according to the New York Times, a lawyer for Viktor Bout, a Russian man convicted of selling weapons to Columbian terrorists, has "asked a federal judge to overturn the verdict and hold a new trial because one of the jurors may have been unduly influenced by a Nicolas Cage movie based on Mr. Bout’s life. " The Associated Press describes the trial of Mikael Davud, Shawan Sadek Saeed Bujak and David Jakobsen, three Norwegian men accused of plotting to attack a Danish newspaper that caricatured the Prophet Muhammad. Prosecutors must prove they worked together in a conpiracy, because "a single individual plotting an attack is not covered by Norway’s anti-terror laws." In non-trial news, the AP informs us that seven suspected militants were killed in a drone strike in northwestern Pakistan. BBC News reports that four men, suspected of fundraising in the UK and travelling to Pakistan to train as terrorists, were arrested yesterday. Eight others have already been charged in connection with the investigation. The Times editorial board decries the views of "the torture candidates," arguing that "the Republican candidates for president seem to have learned very little from the moral calamities of the administration of George W. Bush." Sidenote: Ben mentions that he saw no glaring factual errors in the piece and won't be slamming either it or Andy Rosenthal's blog post on the same subject. Frank Bruni at the Times posits that American exceptionalism comes with a price--and torturing people is much too high of a price to pay. The Washington Post editorial board also criticizes the candidates' "disappointing responses" on waterboarding. Meanwhile, Senator John McCain, who opposed torture during the 2008 campaign, said he was “very disappointed by statements at SC GOP debate supporting waterboarding,” reports ABC News. And over at Balkinization, Marty Lederman has this post about President Obama's response. It's a big day for the Haqqani network--at least in Foreign Affairs. Seth G. Jones of RAND argues that the United States is making a huge mistake in focusing too much attention on this "second-tier group," when it should be focusing on the Pakistani Taliban. However, Jeffrey Dressler, at the Institute for the Study of War takes the view that the Haqqani network is "poised...to become the most significant long-term strategic threat to stability in Afghanistan." Leah Farrall of the United States Studies Centre at the University of Sydney, writing in the Atlantic, recounts her interview with Abu Walid al Masri, a senior strategist for the Taliban. Al Masri discusses Iran's relationship to the Taliban and the country's role in the region, particularly after the U.S. withdrawal. Finally, Carrie Johnson of National Public Radio has a piece on the uncertain fate of Ali Mussa Daqduq after U.S. troops leave Iraq. Bobby has discussed this matter at length here, here, and here, and is quoted in the article. And in preparation for Thanksgiving, here--from Al Qaeda, Macy's, and The Onion--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.