Today's Headlines and Commentary

Jon Kamp and Jennifer Levitz of the Wall Street Journal kick us off today with a report from the House Committee on Homeland Security about the missed opportunities to apprehend Tamerlan Tsarnaev before the Boston Marathon bombing. NBC first reported the news, saying that Tsarnaev was supposed to be pulled aside for questioning at JFK coming back from militant training in Dagestan, but he slipped through the cracks---because someone misspelled his name in a database. The Pakistani government and the Pakistani Taliban are talking again, five weeks after they stopped because the Taliban decided to kill 23 Pakistani soldiers. The two sides discussed extending the current cease fire. Secret Service agents are acting like dumb college kids, this time in Miami in addition to the Netherlands. After it was revealed that three agents were sent home from Holland for drunken shenanigans, another story surfaced about misbehavior in Miami. Apparently two agents got in a car accident there at the beginning of March. Tsk tsk tsk. Lawmakers aren't happy. Two New York Times editorials worth noting: This one, on President Obama's proposal to end bulk metadata collection, argues that the President needn't ask Congress for approval to end the program and that he should just go it alone. And this one, on the nuclear security summit, says that big steps were taken, but the path is still long. Apropos of metadata: a House bill to reform FISA will be considered first by that chamber's Intelligence Committee, rather than by the Judiciary Committee---despite the latter's jurisdiction over some surveillance matters. The parliamentary procedure has some concerned, according to The Guardian.   All the Democrats on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee are urging the unstoppable Chairman Darrell Issa to end his investigation into the Benghazi attacks. Meanwhile, the Times says that because the U.S. military has drastically downsized its presence in Europe, NATO is less of a deterrent to Russia. However, President Obama decided yesterday to increase military deployments in Eastern Europe and intensify efforts to bolster cooperation with Western partners. The United States has sanctioned Russia behind the scenes, reports Foreign Policy. And citizens of Russia have responded with their own sanctions against President Obama. Eli Lake of the Daily Beast reports that the phone calls between top government officials that have been leaked online are, according to U.S. intelligence officials, Russia's doing. (You'll recall Victoria Nuland's now-infamous "Fuck the EU" quip.) Wonder what Edward Snowden thinks of the tactics of his benefactors? Senator John McCain called Russia a "gas station masquerading as a country," announces Politico. The United States is leading the charge against Russia at the United Nations, and the General Assembly just passed a resolution condemning Russia for its annexation of Crimea. And, because I love you all so, I have two Moments of Zen for you today. Have you heard about Russia taking an extremely valuable component of Ukraine's navy? And, if you're a young man in North Korea, be prepared for a style change. Email the Roundup Team noteworthy law and security-related articles to include, and follow us on Twitter and Facebook for additional commentary on these issues. Sign up to receive Lawfare in your inbox. Visit our Events Calendar to learn about upcoming national security events, and check out relevant job openings on our Job Board.