Today's Headlines and Commentary

Lots of stuff today. Anders Behring Breivik, the Norwegian gentleman who went on a bombing and shooting spree last summer that killed 77 people, has been found sane and has been sentenced to 21 years in prison. Here is Al Jazeera, the New York Times, and the Washington Post. That works out to a little more than three months in prison per person killed. The hullaballoo over the Navy SEAL’s book manuscript about his experience in the Osama bin Laden raid continues. The Associated Press reports that Special Ops Chief Adm. Bill McRaven has threatened to “take legal action against anyone found to have exposed sensitive information that could cause fellow forces harm.” The New York Daily News tells us that the FBI and DHS have “high confidence” that anarchists will make an appearance at the Republican National Convention in Tampa and the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte. Apparently violent protests---including the possible use of IEDs---are a possibility this year. The Toronto Sun reports that a new poll shows “Canadians overwhelmingly oppose repatriating Omar Khadr from the U.S. naval prison at Guantanamo Bay” and that “most Canadians don’t believe the assurances of Khadr’s lawyers that he has changed and deserves a second chance.” Tough crowd. CNN’s Security Clearance blog reports on a press conference with Gen. John Allen in which he estimated that a full 25 percent of green-on-blue killings in Afghanistan come from Taliban militants who have infiltrated the Afghan army. Allen also commented on Afghan President Hamid Karzai’s claim yesterday that the “attacks were efforts by foreign spy agencies to undermine Afghan security institutions.” Spencer Ackerman at Wired’s Danger Room offers his thoughts on Gen. Allen’s comments. Dawn reports that 18 suspected militants were killed in North Waziristan today. West Point’s Combating Terrorism Center has several articles of interest in its latest newsletter, the CTC Sentinel. Of note are the reports entitled “The Strategic Limitations of Boko Haram in Southern Nigeria” (p.9) and “Understanding Drivers of Violent Extremism: The Case of al-Shabab and Somali Youth” (p.18). Defpro.com reports that U.S. Africom commander Army Gen. Carter F. Ham has said that major progress has been made in the fight against al-Shabab and that the group has become “greatly diminished over the last year.” And, because there were two uncommonly fun Moments of Zen yesterday, I’ll forgo one today—lest there be too much Zen in your life. Have a nice weekend, though. 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.