Today's Headlines and Commentary

Lots of terrorist news today. The BBC reports that Pakistani officers have arrested Naamen Meziche, a European Al Qaeda operative who "is believed to have belonged to the Hamburg cell that the US says masterminded the 9/11 attacks." CNN's Security Clearance blog also has the story. Meanwhile, because the city of Toulouse can’t catch a break, a gunman claiming to be linked to Al Qaeda took four bank employees hostage before he was shot and captured, according to the Associated Press. The Washington Times says that the Mujahedeen Shura Council of Jerusalem, a group vowing allegiance to Al Qaeda, claimed responsibility for an attack in Israel. In other news, the Associated Press reports that the CIA has released heavily redacted documents from 1992-2004 that offer greater perspective and context for the years surrounding 9/11. The documents illuminate the budget woes of the CIA unit dedicated to finding Osama bin Laden. Jordan Michael Smith of Salon.com discusses the documents here. As Bobby discusses here, the Washington Post gives us new details about the Flame computer virus that infiltrated the Iranian centrifuges. The Hill reports that the House Judiciary Committee voted yesterday to reauthorize the FISA Amendments Act, which allows U.S. authorities to conduct widespread surveillance of non-U.S. citizens overseas. The New York Times tells us that although the Obama administration has set a record for prosecuting six leak cases during the president's first term, that figure is a half-truth. Speaking of the leaks, Peter Bergen of CNN argues that the leak controversy is "wildly overblown" and a "pseudoscandal that hasn't really harmed national security." NPR's Ari Shapiro ponders whether drones will be Obama's legacy in the War on Terror. Andrew J. Bacevich, professor at Boston University, discusses in the Los Angeles Times America's "unhappy marriage" with Pakistan and the current ugly divorce proceedings.If only a divorce were possible. . . The AFP reports that the Pakistani government will try to persuade militants in Waziristan to lift a ban on polio vaccinations. In the ultimate act of cutting off one’s nose to spite one’s face, the Taliban group has put an end to polio vaccinations by way of protesting U.S. drone strikes. And if you’ve ever wondered what our forces are fighting for, perhaps you need to think back to why we fought the War of 1812--an important event in national security legal history which is celebrating its 200th anniversary this year. If you can’t remember what it was about either, perhaps today's Moment of Zen will help (h/t Matthew Waxman): For more interesting law and security-related articles, follow us on Twitter, visit the Georgetown Center on National Security and the Law’s Security Law Brief, Fordham Law’s Center on National Security’s Morning Brief, and Fordham Law’s Cyber Brief. Email us noteworthy articles we may have missed at wakeman.lawfare@gmail.com and  singh.lawfare@gmail.com.