Georgetown Security Law Brief

US, EU increase sanctions to punish Iran, restrain Israel

09/30/12: The Space War blog reports the European Union and United States are set to toughen nuclear sanctions aiming to punish Iran for continuing work on its nuclear program while seeking to hold back Israel from a military strike.  Western moves to pressure Iran have been made more urgent by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s stern call for a “clear red line” against Tehran’s nuclear drive, diplomats said.  Netanyahu’s conversation with US President Barack Obama on Friday reassured some envoys that Israel and the United States are more in tune over Iran, but they highlighted lingering uncertainty about if and when Israel could launch unilateral action.  The EU will be first to step up sanctions as part of the international campaign of pressure alongside increasingly frustrating efforts to negotiate a halt to Iranian uranium enrichment.

Joint Chiefs Chairman Dempsey: US forces don't know extent of Taliban infiltration of Afghan army

09/30/12: The Hill reports US and coalition commanders are no closer to knowing how deeply the Taliban has penetrated Afghanistan’s security forces despite increased efforts to flush out infiltrators who are carrying out attacks against Americans.  “As for what percentage of the insider threat is related to infiltration or radicalization, I mean, it's really difficult to determine,” Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Martin Dempsey said Thursday.  Taliban double agents, posing as members of the Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF), are responsible for executing some of the deadly “insider” attacks that have killed fifty-one coalition troops, mostly from the United States.  In response to the violence, Afghan and coalition leaders have expanded their counterintelligence efforts to pinpoint where and how Taliban operatives are working their way into the ANSF pipeline.

Syrian rebels claim knowledge of Assad's chemical weapon sites

09/30/12: CNN reports a series of videos uploaded by Syrian activists suggests rebels are beginning to focus on where President Bashar al-Assad’s regime stores its chemical weapons.  At the same time, a former senior officer in the Syrian Army who says he was chief of staff of chemical warfare says Iranian technicians are helping with the regime’s research into chemical weapons.  He also said they could be easily transferred by the regime to Hezbollah, the Lebanese militia organization that fought a border conflict with Israel in 2006.  The videos were first uploaded in July.  Narrators using Google Earth satellite imagery describe in detail several sites where they allege that chemical weapons and missiles are stored or manufactured.  CNN warns it cannot independently verify what the videos purport to show.

Hundreds hand over weapons in Libya after anti-militia rallies

09/30/12: Al Jazeera reports hundreds of Libyans have turned over their weapons at collection points in Tripoli and Benghazi following rallies which called for disarmament and the disbanding of militias.  A steady trickle of men surrendered their weapons to national army troops stationed in Tripoli’s Martyrs Square and in Benghazi’s Freedom Square on Saturday.  There were also weapon collections in Zintan and Yefrin.  Army Colonel Omran al-Warfali said the turnout was impressive.  “Hundreds of citizens came since the early hours of this morning to handover their weapons from all segments of society, men and youth, women, and even children came to hand over bullets they found it in the streets,” he said.

Weekly Tech Updates

09/29/12:  Here are some of the latest technology updates from this week related to national security.

• Rapid Mapping of Chemical, Biological, and Radiological Spread in Urban Environments to Aid First Responders
• Navy Working to Generate Jet Fuel from Seawater
• Automatic Building Mapping for Emergency Responders
• Electronics that Fight Infection and Dissolve Away
• DARPA Innovation House to Research Imagery and Sensor Innovations
• Research into using Particle Accelerators to make Spent Nuclear Fuel Safer
• Mapping of Cybercriminal Networks
• Plant Extract may one-day Safeguard People from Nerve Gas Attacks
• Uranium Enrichment Plant Approved using Laser Technology instead of Centrifuges
• DISA seeking to expand Cyber Threat Information Network to Large Numbers of Defense Contractors
• Potential Green Aerospace Anti-Corrosion Agent from Dates
• Research into Internet Resilience
• Laser Sintering may provide Significant Weight Reductions in Aircraft Fabrication
• M13 Virus opens Door for Research into a Biological Internet
• Intuitive Visual Controls make Remote Operation of Robots Faster
• Air Force’s Secret Space Plane Prepped for New Launch

Kurds prepare to pursue more autonomy in a fallen Syria

09/29/12:  The New York Times reports that a few hundred Syrian Kurdish men have been training for battle, marching through scrub brush and practicing rifle drills.  These men want an autonomous Kurdish region in what is now Syria, a prospect they see as a step toward fulfilling a centuries-old dream of linking the Kurdish minorities in Iraq, Turkey and Iran into an independent nation.

North Korea plans agriculture reforms

09/29/12:  Reuters reports North Korea plans to allow farmers to keep more of their produce in an attempt to boost agricultural output, a source with close ties to Pyongyang and Beijing said, in a move that could boost supplies, help cap rising food prices and ease malnutrition.  The move to liberalize agriculture under new leader Kim Jong-un, who took office in December 2011 after the death of his father, would reverse a crackdown on private production that started in 2005. It comes amid talk that the youngest Kim to rule the impoverished North is considering reforms to boost the economy.

Youngest Guantanamo Bay prisoner Omar Khadr leaves for Canada

09/29/12: The BBC reports the youngest prisoner to be held at the Guantanamo Bay detention centre has been returned to his native Canada. Omar Khadr had been held at the US base in Cuba since 2002, after being detained in Afghanistan aged 15. A military plane flew Khadr, the last Westerner at Guantanamo, to Canada early on Saturday. He will serve the rest of his eight-year jail term in Canada. He pleaded guilty to killing a US soldier in Afghanistan.

Obama blocks Chinese purchase of US wind farms

09/28/12:  Business Week reports citing national security risks, President Barack Obama on Friday blocked a Chinese company from owning four wind farm projects in northern Oregon near a Navy base where the U.S. military flies unmanned drones and electronic-warfare planes on training missions. It was the first time in 22 years that a U.S. president has blocked such a foreign business deal.

New Justice Department documents show huge increase in warrantless electronic surveillance

09/28/12:  The ACLU reports that Justice Department documents released Thursday reveal that federal law enforcement agencies are increasingly monitoring Americans’ electronic communications, and doing so without warrants, sufficient oversight, or meaningful accountability.  The documents, handed over by the government only after months of litigation, are the attorney general’s 2010 and 2011 reports on the use of “pen register” and “trap and trace” surveillance powers. The reports show a dramatic increase in the use of these surveillance tools, which are used to gather information about telephone, email, and other Internet communications.

Syrians moved some chemical weapons to boost security: US

09/28/12: Reuters reports that Syrians have moved some of their chemical weapons capability to better secure it, but the country's main chemical weapons sites remain intact and secure under government control, U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said on Friday, citing U.S. intelligence.

Commentary: Providing a legal basis to attack Iran

09/28/12:  The Washington Post published an op-ed by Jeffrey Smith and John Bellinger III discussing the legal basis for an attack on Iran.  Law is important, especially in issues of war and peace.  The United States has long maintained the right, under international law, to take unilateral, preemptive action to prevent an attack on the nation. We have, for example, never agreed to a “no-first-use” policy for our nuclear weapons.

Chinese smuggler tried to sneak carbon fiber for fighter jets

09/28/12:  Wired's Danger Room reports that the US has busted up a plot to smuggle tons of carbon fiber to China, where the material would ostensibly be used in the construction of new fighter planes. That might seem worrying, but if the allegations are true, it’s probably a comforting sign. That’s because if Beijing needs to illegally import the ultra-tough polymers from America, that means we don’t have to worry too much about China's upgraded air force.  The case involves a 40-year-old Chinese man named Ming Suan Zhang. On Wednesday, Zhang was charged in federal court in the Eastern District of New York with “attempting to illegally export aerospace-grade carbon fiber” from the U.S. to China.

Commentary: Water security conflicts: a regional perspective

09/28/12:  The Small Wars Journal published an article by Nelson Hernández about the growing concern of water security.  Water scarcity disputes and tensions, if left unaddressed or unsuccessfully resolved, may lead to increased levels of violence and armed conflict that undermine intrastate, interstate, regional, and international peace and security.

Commentary: No army for young men

09/28/12:  Foreign Policy published an article by Rosa Brooks noting that it's time to question the near-universal assumption that the ideal military recruit is young and male. The nature of warfare has changed dramatically in the last century and the capabilities most needed by the military are less and less likely to be in the exclusive possession of young males. In fact, the opposite may be true: when it comes to certain key skills and qualities likely to be vital to the military in the coming decades, young males may be one of the least well-suited demographic groups.

Tech Teaser

09/27/12:  At the Georgetown Security Law Brief, we have started a weekly post to update you on the week's technology updates related to National Security.  Check out the post on Saturday.  Here is a preview of some of the tech stories you should expect this weekend:

• Rapid Mapping of Chemical, Biological, and Radiological Spread in Urban Environments to Aid First Responders
• Navy Working to Generate Jet Fuel from Seawater
• Automatic Building Mapping for Emergency Responders
• Research into using Particle Accelerators to make Spent Nuclear Fuel Safer

Military’s own report card gives Afghan Surge an F

09/27/12:  Wired's Danger Room reports the U.S. troop surge in Afghanistan ended last week. Conditions in Afghanistan are mostly worse than before it began. That conclusion doesn’t come from anti-war advocates. It relies on data recently released by the NATO command in Afghanistan, known as ISAF, and acquired by Danger Room. According to most of the yardsticks chosen by the military — but not all — the surge in Afghanistan fell short of its stated goal: stopping the Taliban's momentum.  Of course, that’s not ISAF’s spin. The command notes that enemy attacks from January to August 2012 are slightly lower, by five percent, from that period last year; and that the past two Augusts show a reduction in attacks of 30 percent. But the more relevant comparison is to 2009, when Afghanistan looked like such a mess that President Obama substantially increased troop levels. And compared to 2009, Afghanistan does not look improved.

Safeguarding against cyber attacks

09/27/12:  CNN Security Blog reports the Cybersecurity adviser to the White House, Michael Daniel, gave a candid assessment today of the cyber risks the U.S. faces. This comes as there are rumblings that the President is getting ready to issue an executive order on cybersecurity in light of Congress failing to pass legislation on this issue. (includes video)

Clinton says US will ease import ban on Burma goods

09/27/12:  The BBC reports Secretary of State Hillary Clinton says the US will ease its import ban on goods from Burma (Myanmar), a key part of remaining US sanctions.  She said the move - the latest in a series - recognised "continued progress toward reform" in Burma. Earlier, the speaker of Burma's parliament told the BBC that his country's reforms were "irreversible". Shwe Mann, a powerful figure who recently had US sanctions against him lifted, said the government intends to establish a multi-party democratic system and market economy.

As refugees flood Turkey, asylum system nears breakdown

09/27/12:  The New York Times reports for many years, the U.N. agency has picked up the slack in Turkey, screening asylum applications and resettling refugees in countries like the United States, Canada and Australia. But with the number of refugees swelling drastically and resettlement quotas shrinking, the system is headed for a breakdown.  Nearly 29,000 incoming refugees registered with the United Nations in Turkey by Aug. 31 this year, according to figures provided by the agency. That figure does not include an estimated 125,000 Syrian refugees sheltering in camps and private accommodation in the southern border area. It also excludes thousands of unregistered refugees.

Israel's Foreign Ministry: sanctions against Iran are having dramatic impact

09/27/12:  Haaretz reports an internal Foreign Ministry document maintains that the additional sanctions imposed on Iran in recent months have caused far more damage to the Iranian economy than previous believed and have sparked additional domestic criticism of the regime.  Against this backdrop, Israel has stepped up its efforts to have the European Union impose another round of sanctions, a senior ministry official said. The Foreign Ministry's assessment of the impact of the sanctions on the Iranian economy and the stability of the regime appears to account for Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman's comments this week on Israel Radio regarding the stability of the Iranian regime.

Cyberwarfare emerges from shadows for public discussion by US officials

09/27/12:  The New York Times reports for years, even as the United States carried out sophisticated cyberattacks on Iran’s nuclear program and the Pentagon created a Cyber Command, officials have been hesitant to discuss American offensive cyberwarfare programs openly.  But the reticence is giving way. The chorus of official voices speaking publicly about American cyberattack strategy and capabilities is steadily growing, and some experts say greater openness will allow the United States to stake out legal and ethical rules in the uncharted territory of computer combat. Next month the Pentagon’s research arm will host contractors who want to propose “revolutionary technologies for understanding, planning and managing cyberwarfare.” It is an ambitious program that the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, or Darpa, calls Plan X, and the public description talks about “understanding the cyber battlespace,” quantifying “battle damage” and working in Darpa’s “cyberwar laboratory.”

South Sudan and Sudan set oil deal

09/25/12:  The New York Times reports Sudan and South Sudan ended weeks of haggling by announcing a border security agreement on Wednesday that will allow the resumption of southern oil exports through the north, spokesmen for both sides said.  While the security deal should provide both nations with the oil revenues needed to stave off economic collapse, the countries have yet to sort out several other conflicts left over from South Sudan’s secession in July 2011.

Iran pushes ahead in building nuclear research reactor, sources say

09/27/12:  Haaretz reports that Iran appears to be making headway in building a research reactor that could yield potential nuclear weapon material, adding to Western concerns about Tehran's atomic aims, experts and diplomats say.  The West's worries about Iran are focused largely on underground uranium enrichment plants at Natanz and Fordow, but it is also pressing ahead with construction of a heavy-water reactor near the town of Arak, which analysts say could produce plutonium for nuclear arms if the spent fuel is reprocessed.

US believes it has Pakistan's 'tacit consent' for drone strikes

09/27/12:  NPR reports the CIA tells Pakistan in advance about "broad areas" where it intends to take aim at suspected terrorists with drone strikes and interprets the other government's silence and clearing of airspace as "tacit consent." Saying its sources are "U.S. officials" and "two senior [Obama] administration officials," the Wall Street Journal adds that: "The rationale used by the administration, interpreting Pakistan's acquiescence as a green light, has set off alarms among some administration legal officials. In particular, lawyers at the State Department, including top legal adviser Harold Koh, believe this rationale veers near the edge of what can be considered permission, though they still think the program is legal, officials say."

Analysis: Torture creep: Why are more Americans accepting Bush-era policies than ever before?

09/26/12: Foreign Policy features an op-ed by Amy Zegart discussing a recent poll on Americans' attitudes towards fighting terrorism.  The poll reveals, among other things, the rather alarming statistic that 25 percent of Americans are willing to use nuclear weapons to kill terrorists (presumbly meaning , rather than using quasi-surgically precise drone strikes, we should drop atomic bombs on neighborhoods in Yemen and Pakistan).  The numbers also suggest that, in general, Americans have become more hawkish on counterterrorism policy since Barack Obama became president.  Specifically, they are more willing than previous polls indicated to employ torturous interrogation methods such as waterboarding, the use of dogs, or sexual or religious humiliation in order to obtain information.  Zegart ascribes this mostly to the fact that the controversy is off the front pages, and that, in general, we become acclimated to policies as they are once they have been in place for long enough (a kind of "torture creep").

Arizona sheriff Arpaio loses appeal of injunction against immigration checks

09/26/12: The Miami Herald reports a federal appeals court on Tuesday denied an Arizona sheriff’s request to reverse a lower-court decision barring his deputies from detaining people solely on the suspicion that they’re illegal immigrants.  The US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit’s ruling focused only on the limit the US District Court for the District of Arizona placed on sheriff Joe Arpaio’s immigration powers and doesn’t confront the case’s ultimate question of whether deputies in Arizona’s most populous county have racially profiled Latinos on their patrols.  The Court held that District Jude Murray Snow didn’t abuse his discretion in granting the order and said the ruling didn’t impair the sheriff’s ability to enforce state and federal criminal laws.

Senators seek answers on Libya consulate attack

09/26/12: CNN reports two US Senators have demanded details of the threats and security concerns ahead of the September 11 attack on the US consulate in Libya.  Senators Johnny Isakson (R-Ga.) and Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) both members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, penned a letter to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Tuesday requesting that the she provide the committee with “all communication relevant to the security situation in Benghazi between the US mission and the State Department leading up to the attacks, including any cables sent from Ambassador [Christopher] Stevens.”  Stevens was one of the four Americans killed in the US mission.  The Senators’ letter cited reports about waivers allowing the diplomatic office to have a lower security level and that Stevens was concerned about the deteriorating security situation in Benghazi.

Nevada high court follows ICJ's Avena decision, awards condemned Mexican evidentiary hearing

09/26/12: IntLawGrrls reports the Nevada Supreme Court has become the second in the United States to uphold the decision of the International Court of Justice in the Case Concerning Avena and Other Mexican Nationals.  In Avena, the ICJ held in March 2004 that the United States had failed to notify fifty-one Mexican nationals on death row of their consular notification and access rights pursuant to Article 36 of the 1963 Vienna Convention on Consular Relations.  To remedy these violations, the ICJ held that American courts must review and reconsider the convictions and sentences of the condemned Mexicans to determine whether (and how) the men were prejudiced by the deprivation of their consular rights.  Last week, the Nevada Supreme Court complied with that holding, remanding the petition of Carlos René Pérez Gutiérrez (one of the fifty-one named nationals in Avena) for an evidentiary hearing on his Vienna Convention claim.  In 2008, the US Supreme Court held in Medellín v. Texas that the states are not required to comply with Avena in the absence of congressional direction, but pointed out that nothing stops the states from doing so if they wish.  Nevada, along with Oklahoma, has now done so.

Drone industry antsy about Fed delays on test sites

09/25/12:  The Washington Times reports the drone industry joined with state officials Tuesday in pressuring the federal government to stop dragging its feet and begin setting up vital test sites for unmanned aerial vehicles. The Federal Aviation Administration was to have established by Aug. 12 the six locations where drones could be tested and studied in preparation for their eventual commercial and personal use. Six weeks later, it still hasn’t happened, and many fear the U.S. could fall behind its competitors in aerospace technology if delays continue.  At least 30 states have expressed interest in hosting the locations. While states would bear the costs of setting up the sites, hundreds if not thousands of government and aerospace industry personnel would move into the area for a period of years, greatly boosting local economies.

Drones subject to GPS spoofing, privacy ‘abuses,’ GAO report warns

09/25/12:  Wired reports the Government Accountability Office is warning Congress that its push for drones to become commonplace in U.S. airspace fails to take into account concerns surrounding privacy, security and even GPS jamming and spoofing. The GAO, Congress’ research arm, was responding to the FAA Moderniazation and Reform Act of 2012, which among other things requires the Federal Aviation Administration to accelerate drone flights in U.S. airspace.

US panel approves NC uranium enrichment plant

09/25/12:  The Miami Herald reports a nuclear power partnership of General Electric Co. and Tokyo-based Hitachi Ltd. received federal approval Tuesday to build the first plant to enrich uranium for use in commercial reactors using a classified laser technology. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission issued a license to General Electric-Hitachi Global Laser Enrichment LLC to build and operate a uranium enrichment plant near Wilmington deploying the laser technology instead of costlier centrifuges.  Nuclear weapons control advocates fear that allowing companies to use the cheaper and easier technology could increase the risk it falls into the wrong hands.

Commentary: No, we do not think we could win a nuclear war.

09/25/12:  Foreign Policy published an article by Harold Brown clarifying PD-59.  The Cold War has been over for more than 20 years and the security threats, both current and prospective, are different. Nuclear destruction does not now threaten the United States. But nuclear weapons remain. And looking forward, the lessons of strategic nuclear competition between the United States and the USSR inform and can ease the threat of nuclear war from or between other powers. The difficulties that hampered both the Americans and the Soviets, even with decades of experience, in signaling and in reading the short- and long-term intentions of the other, are likely to repeat or intensify for new or aspiring nuclear powers. Those nations offer a grave threat to international security in their interstate interactions and through possible leakage to non-state actors. It's therefore important that a correct interpretation of the past inform the present.

Mali asks U.N. for "immediate" action on force to recapture north

09/25/12:  Reuters reports Mali has asked the United Nations to approve an "immediate" mandate for an international force to help it recover northern parts of the country controlled by Islamist militants and drug traffickers, French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said on Monday. The West African country descended into chaos in March when soldiers toppled the president, leaving a power vacuum that enabled Tuareg rebels to seize nearly two-thirds of the country. But Islamist groups, some allied with al Qaeda, then hijacked the rebellion in the north to impose strict Islamic law. Citing a letter sent by Mali's interim leaders to U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on September 18, Fabius said Mali had requested a U.N. Security Council resolution under Chapter 7 of the U.N. Charter to mandate an international force "to help the Malian army to reconquer the occupied areas of northern Mali."

Near disputed isles, Japan confronts boats from Taiwan

09/25/12: The New York Times reports the Japanese Coast Guard used water cannons on Tuesday to disperse fishing boats from Taiwan in waters claimed by Tokyo, widening a territorial dispute that has already pitted Japan against China and threatened vital trade relations in the region.  Japan’s top government spokesman, Osamu Fujimura, said Tokyo had lodged a protest with Taiwan’s government over the intrusion into waters off a chain of islands claimed by Japan, China and Taiwan. Tokyo’s protest came just a day after a similar open-sea confrontation with Chinese fishing vessels off the islands, which Japan calls the Senkaku and China calls the Diaoyu.

Iran tests anti-ship missiles and unviels new long-range armed drone

09/25/12: The Miami Herald reports Iran has test-fired four missiles designed to hit warships during a drill near the strategic Strait of Hormuz, an Iranian military commander said. The missiles were fired simultaneously and hit a "big target" the size of a warship, sinking it within 50 seconds, Gen. Ali Fadavi of the powerful Revolutionary Guard was quoted as saying by the semi-official Fars news agency. A senior Revolutionary Guard commander also says Iran has deployed a domestic-built reconnaissance drone that can stay aloft for 24 hours. Gen. Amir Ali Hajizadeh, who heads the Guard's aerospace division, says the drone named Shahed-129, or Witness-129, has a range of 2,000 kilometers (1,250 miles). That covers much of the Middle East including Israel and nearly doubles the range of previous Iranian drones.

Libyan government puts army in charge of Benghazi militias

09/25/12:  Reuters reports that Libya's government, seeking to assert its authority over private militias following the killing of U.S. diplomats in Benghazi, placed two powerful freelance units in the city under the command of full-time army officers on Monday. Commanders of two units which have, with official sanction, been providing security since the overthrow of Muammar Gaddafi were ordered removed and the men of the February 17 Brigade and Rafallah al-Sahati militia put under army orders. A third unit, Libya's Shield, would also change leadership, an official said.

U.S. links Iran's state oil company to Revolutionary Guards

09/25/12:  Reuters reports the US government officially linked Iran's state oil company to the country's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps on Monday, a determination that enables Washington to apply new sanctions on foreign banks dealing with the company.  The Treasury Department determined that the National Iranian Oil Company, one of the world's largest oil exporters, is "an agent or affiliate" of the IRGC, which the United States has long put under sanctions for terrorism and human rights abuses.

China shows off an aircraft carrier but experts are skeptical

09/25/12: The New York Times reports in a ceremony attended by the country’s top leaders, China put its first aircraft carrier into service on Tuesday, a move intended to signal its growing military might as tensions escalate between Beijing and its neighbors over islands in nearby seas.  Officials said the carrier, a discarded vessel bought from Ukraine in 1998 and refurbished by China, would protect national sovereignty, an issue that has become a touchstone of the government’s dispute with Japan over ownership of islands in the East China Sea.  But despite the triumphant tone of the launch and despite rousing assessments by Chinese military experts about the importance of the carrier, the vessel will be used only for training and testing for the foreseeable future.

Iran sees cyber attacks as greater threat than actual war

09/25/12:  Reuters reports Iran is prepared to defend itself in case of a "cyber war" which could cause more harm than a physical confrontation, a commander in the country's Revolutionary Guards said on Tuesday. The Islamic Republic has tightened cyber security since its uranium enrichment centrifuges were hit in 2010 by the Stuxnet computer worm, which it believes came from Israel or the United States. "We have armed ourselves with new tools, because a cyber war is more dangerous than a physical war," said Abdollah Araqi, deputy commander of ground forces in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), according to the Iranian Students' News Agency (ISNA).

Drones in Pakistan traumatise civilians, US report says

09/25/12: The New York Times reports that civilians are being "terrorised" 24 hours a day by CIA drone attacks that target mainly low-level militants in north-west Pakistan, a US report says.  Rescuers treating the casualties are also being killed and wounded by follow-up strikes, says the report by Stanford and New York Universities. Drone attacks are thought to have killed hundreds of militants in Yemen and Afghanistan as well as Pakistan.

Egyptian court upholds death sentences for 2011 Sinai attacks

09/24/12: Al Jazeera reports an Egyptian court in the Suez Canal city of Ismailiya has upheld the sentence of fourteen ultra-conservative fighters to death by hanging, and four others to life imprisonment, over the killing of seven people in the Sinai Peninsula last year.  The country’s top cleric had approved the death sentences, as is customary.  Six men will be hanged, while the eight others were convicted in absentia for the attacks on a bank and police station.  The Islamist men, who belong to a group called Tawheed wal Jihad (Monotheism and Holy War), were charged by the prosecutor with murdering members of the army, police and a civilian in el-Arish in June and July 2011.  The original sentencing of the fighters occurred on August 14.

US Marines face criminal charges over Taliban urination video

09/24/12: Reuters reports the Marine Corps announced Monday that two soldiers are facing criminal charges over their roles in a video showing American troops urinating on the bodies of dead Taliban fighters in Afghanistan.  Staff Sergeants Joseph W. Chamblin and Edward W. Deptola, who were referred to trial by court-martial, also face charges for failing to properly prevent or report misconduct of junior Marines, which included indiscriminate firing of weapons.

Intelligence committee lawmakers won't comment on Netanyahu's assessment of Iranian nuclear program

09/24/12: The Hill reports lawmakers on intelligence panels with classified information have declined to verify or contradict Israel’s claims that Iran is close to developing a nuclear bomb.  Members of the House and Senate Intelligence Committees refused to comment on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s claims that Tehran is further along than thought.  “There may not be full agreement anywhere as to exactly how far along they are, but I think they’re sufficiently far along that [Netanyahu] should be very concerned,” said Congressman Peter King (R-N.Y.), the chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee and a member of the Intelligence Committee.  Senator Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), who sits on the Senate Intelligence panel, echoed those remarks.  “I don’t comment on anything about the intelligence committee,” Rubio said.  Democrats sang a similar tune.

UK to extradite radical Islamist cleric to US

09/24/12: The Miami Herald reports radical Muslim cleric Abu Hamza al-Masri has lost an appeal regarding his extradition from the United Kingdom to the United States and that authorities will hand him over as soon as possible.  Al-Masri, one of the UK’s most well-known extremists, had appealed to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) to stop the extradition.  But Britain’s Home Office said Monday that the ECHR court has rejected his appeal.  The Home Office said in a statement that it will work to ensure that the cleric will be handed over to American authorities soon.  Al-Masri is wanted in the United States on a raft of terrorism-related charges.

Egyptian Islamist group claims responsibility for Sinai attack, promises further bloodshed

09/24/12: The Washington Post reports Ansar Bait al-Maqdis, an Islamist militant group based in Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula has claimed responsibility for a cross-border attack in which an Israeli soldier was killed, calling the raid a response to an online video mocking the prophet Muhammad that has triggered protests across the Muslim world.  Three gunmen also were killed in Friday’s firefight on the Israeli-Egyptian border.  The incident was the latest in a number of militant attacks from Sinai that have heightened concerns in Israel about what officials say is growing activity by al-Qaeda-inspired jihadist groups in the desert region since the Egyptian revolution last year.  The group said three militants had infiltrated into Israel early Thursday and remained in hiding until midday Friday when they spotted and fired on an Israeli patrol.

Israeli defense chief proposes unilateral West Bank pullout

09/24/12: The Miami Herald reports Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak called for a unilateral pullout from much of the West Bank in published comments Monday, saying Israel must take “practical steps” if peace efforts with the Palestinians remain stalled.  Speaking to the Israel Hayom newspaper, Barak suggested uprooting dozens of Jewish settlements in the West Bank, but said Israel would keep major settlement “blocs.”  Barak’s comments appeared to put him at odds with Prime Minister (and Barak’s former political foe) Benjamin Netanyahu, who has resisted making any major concessions to the Palestinians in the absence of peace talks.  Netanyahu’s office declined comment.  Barak’s proposal is unlikely to be implemented, at least in the near term, as Netanyahu’s coalition is dominated by hardliners who would be reluctant to embrace the plan.

The bogus claim that Obama skips his intelligence briefings

09/24/12: The Washington Post’s Fact-Checker blog has this post debunking a current claim that President Obama fails to attend his intelligence briefings.  The misleading statistic that Obama has missed half his intelligence briefings has been repeated on television and in the Post itself, but is derived simply from the fact that different Presidents have wanted intelligence briefings in different ways: some have gotten them in writing or through top Cabinet officers, others through face-to-face meetings with intelligence officials.  Ultimately, what matters is what a president does with the information he receives from the CIA. Republican critics may find fault with Obama’s handling of foreign policy. But this attack ad turns a question of process—how does the President handle his intelligence brief?—into a misguided attack because Obama has chosen to receive his information in a different manner than his predecessor.  As it turns out, no president does it the exact same way.  Under the standards of the claim, Republican icon Ronald Reagan skipped his intelligence briefings 99 percent of the time.

Libya orders unauthorized militias to disband

09/24/12: The New York Times reports Libya’s interim government on Sunday ordered the breakup of all militias that do not fall under its authority, and demanded that those militias pull out of military compounds and public property within forty-eight hours.  The order came in response to an unprecedented upwelling of public anger at the militias after an armed group assaulted a United States diplomatic mission in Benghazi earlier this month, killing Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens.  Exasperated by the interim government’s failure to curb the militia brigades, thousands of civilians swarmed into the headquarters of several of them in Benghazi on Friday and forced their fighters to scatter — in effect, an angry mob demanding law and order.

Israel says no change to Egypt peace treaty

09/24/12: BBC News reports Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman says Israel will not change the 1979 peace treaty with Egypt.  Egyptians “shouldn’t try to delude themselves or delude others,” Lieberman told Israel Radio.  Lieberman’s comments come amid calls in Egypt to amend the treaty which limits the number of Egyptian troops allowed in the Sinai Peninsula as violence increases there.  An Islamist group says it launched the latest attack from the area, a clash inside Israel on Friday in which an Israeli soldier and three militants were killed.  The violence comes as Egypt’s Islamist President Mohamed Morsi makes his first trip to the US since his election in June.  He will attend the United Nations General Assembly in New York.