Today's Headlines and Commentary

Syria's back on the front pages. President Bashar al-Assad, in an interview with Fox News, flatly denied his regime used chemical weapons and accused rebel groups of responsibility for the August 21 attack. "The sarin gas (is) called kitchen gas. You know why? Because anyone can make sarin in his house," said Assad. The Washington Post reports on the interview, as well as on the (lack of) progress on the U.N. resolution on Syria's disarmament. As Raffaela noted yesterday, former SecDefs Robert Gates and Leon Panetta criticized President Obama's handling of Syria. Current SecDef Chuck Hagel was quick to defend his boss, says the Hill. David Ignatius of the Post also supports Obama's outcome on Syria. The Post discusses  the President's role as commander in chief as the Syria crisis has played out over the last few weeks. According to CNN, the Pentagon has proposed training moderate Syrian rebel groups. The Wall Street Journal discusses the violence between the rebel groups. Germany supplied dual use chemicals to Syria between 2002 and 2006 for "plausible civilian uses." It is still unclear whether those "uses" became chemical weapons used by the Assad regime, says the Associated Press. For a different perspective of the Syria situation, check out this CNN story, and accompanying cartoons, about Arab caricaturists and Syrian cartoonist Ali Ferzat in particular. Carlo Munoz of the Hill discusses the gaps in military base security measures, which led to the Fort Hood shooting as well as the one at Navy Yard earlier this week. The Senate Intelligence committee will also "examine the processes that allowed the Navy Yard shooter to obtain and keep his security clearances despite gun-related arrests," reports Jeremy Herb. The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee is holding another hearing today on the Benghazi attack. The House Foreign Affairs committee held one yesterday, at which Patrick Kennedy, the undersecretary for management at the State Department, testified. The New York Times and USA Today have more. Carol Rosenberg of the Miami Herald has the latest from the 9/11 military commissions proceedings, and Billy Kenber of the Post also gives us the scoop about the motions being discussed. Check out Wells' coverage too, for your entire fix. Lots going on in our favorite region of the world. From the Department of Bad Life Decisions: A high-ranking Afghan politician has joined the Taliban, reports the BBC. Meanwhile, Afghan forces killed five people along the Afghan-Pakistan border, although the casualties may have been cattle farmers, not militants. The AP has the story. Reuters reports that Taliban fighters, not to be outdone, have killed ten Afghan policemen, and captured sixteen more in the northern part of the country. Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's efforts to broker a peace deal with the Taliban have been uneven and rocky, at best, argues the Post. Meanwhile, the Treasury Department has added two Indonesian operatives to its Specially Designated Global Terrorists list for ties to Jemaah Islamiya (JI) and Jemmah Anshorut Tauhid (JAT). Bring on the drones, says Niger. Reuters informs us that the government of the West African country would welcome armed U.S. drones to help it with its militant and drug trafficking problems. And, on a positive note, Iranian authorities have released eleven prominent political prisoners as a sign of goodwill before President Hassan Rouhani visits the United States next week. The Times tells us that the "release was a significant step in Mr. Rouhani’s efforts to repair Iran’s relationship with the West." 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, Syracuse’s Institute for National Security & Counterterrorism’s newsroll and blog, and Fordham Law’s Center on National Security’s Morning Brief and Cyber Brief. Email the Roundup Team noteworthy articles to include, visit the Lawfare Events Calendar for upcoming national security events, and check out relevant job openings at the Lawfare Job Board.