Today's Headlines and Commentary

President Obama seems to be getting closer to announcing reforms to the NSA. There have been months of discussions in and out of the White House regarding reforms to the intelligence agency. Yesterday, the president reportedly met with key members of Congress. Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA), who attended the meeting, didn’t seem to optimistic, and wasn’t sure how close the president is to making an announcement. (According to this piece in The Wall Street Journal,  the President could unveil his plans "as soon as next week.")  The National Journal also takes a somewhat pessimistic look at the progress of NSA reforms. The conflict in Syria is causing a refugee crisis. More than 2 million Syrians have left their homeland, and many of them risk everything in trying to reach Europe. Most European countries have denied asylum to Syrian refugees, preferring instead to continue giving aid to the United Nations.  At the same time, nations that have taken in Syrians---like Germany has--- simply cannot accommodate all refugees. The Times reports that extremist rebels in Syria are trying to recruit Americans and Europeans to carry out violent attacks back in their respective homelands. The U.S. government says that at least 70 Americans have traveled to Syria, in order to fight alongside rebels opposing the forces of President Bashar al-Assad. FBI director James Comey says that tracking these individuals, and their plans to return to the United States, has become a top priority for the bureau. Despite that worry, the United States may once more provide nonlethal aid to the Syrian opposition. The U.S. earlier had halted such assistance, when it became clear that extreme Islamist groups were getting their hands on U.S.-furnished resources.  But a recent showing of solidarity between some Islamist groups and the America-backed Free Syrian Army has helped to quell American fears. Germany is set to help in the disposal of Syria’s chemical weapons. Bilateral talks between the United States and Afghanistan are not going as well as most had hoped. Classified cables obtained by the Washington Post reveal that U.S. Ambassador James Cunningham is not confident that President Karzai will sign a bilateral security agreement by the end of 2014. Although a draft agreement was finalized back in November, it was never concluded formally. The Post cables suggest that United States troops will have to fully abandon Afghanistan at the end of the year, leaving any established infrastructure vulnerable to Taliban infiltration. United States forces in Afghanistan allegedly killed a four-year-old child. In what is being described as a horrific accident, Afghan officials claim U.S. soldiers mistook the boy for an enemy, amidst dusty conditions. Stories such like these highlight the strained U.S.–Afghan relationship. Also from The Times: U.S. Marines who fought in Iraq are stunned by the recent violence in that country. Two important Iraqi cities, Fallujah and Ramadi, have been under siege by Al Qaeda-backed groups, according to NPR. Mahmud Mujahid, who has been held at Guantanamo Bay since 2002, is to be freed from the detention facility. Mujahid appeared before a review board established by President Obama and was deemed to no longer pose a significant threat to American security. Mujahid was suspected to be a member of Al Qaeda with a close relationship with Osama bin Laden, but was never presented with any formal charges. The White House, through the office of national security advisor Susan Rice, has intervened diplomatically in the ongoing conflict in South Sudan. Rice urged both sides of the conflict---rebel forces and the government---to come to a peaceful solution quickly, and to ensure that violence in the country comes to an end. From The Guardian, we learn that the Israeli government is set to start construction on 1,400 settlement homes in disputed territory.  The move could hand a blow to the progress of ongoing peace talks between Israel and Palestine.  U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry is strongly committed to the talks. The United States is pushing back against recently implemented Chinese sea rules. On January 1, China drastically increased its restrictions and regulations regarding foreign vessels in the disputed waters of the South China Sea. The U.S. State Department sees no justification for these actions, and called the new policies “provocative and potentially dangerous”.