Today's Headlines and Commentary

As Ben mentioned this morning, big news on the enhanced interrogation front. Besides the New York Times story, here is coverage from CNN, the Washington Post, and the Wall Street Journal. CNN’s Security Clearance blog says that President Obama sat down with CNN's chief White House correspondent Jessica Yellin to talk about drones: Senator John Kerry, Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, has this piece in Foreign Policy about why Democrats are better than Republicans for America’s national security. From the Department of Let’s Try This for the Hundredth Time: The Taliban is being enticed to participate in peace negotiations through the formation of the Safe Passage Working Group, which met for the first time yesterday, and which was formed “to guarantee their [the Taliban’s] safety to and from those negotiations.” The Hill has the story. From the Department of Creative Approaches to the Trade Deficit: Reuters reports that sixty six countries are on the waiting list to buy U.S. drones. Wired’s Danger Room reports that the U.S. has been on steroids with drone strikes in Yemen, with 29 dead in eight days. The Guardian tells us that it is unclear whether the U.S. or Yemen is responsible for the strikes. The Post’s editorial board has two pieces of note: this one, discussing the ways to improve the security of U.S. and Western troops in Afghanistan, and this one, arguing that the Haqqani network should be designated a foreign terrorist organization. The Times reports on a lawsuit filed by Muhammad A. Salah, who was classified as a “specially-designated terrorist” by Treasury in 1995. He argues that “it is impossible for him to lead a normal life — to open a bank account, get a job or donate to his mosque — without seeking approval from the government.” The Associated Press informs us that Jose Padilla will be resentenced on December 3 “after an appeals court concluded that his current 17-year prison term was far too lenient for a trained al-Qaida soldier and former violent gang member." And, from America’s Finest News Source, comes this great story about the photographs the Obama administration is finally releasing of Osama bin Laden—today’s Moment of Zen. 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. Update: An earlier version of this post contained an error with respect to Chris Woods's story in The Guardian, which has been corrected.