THREATWATCH
Suicide bombers have descended on Baghdad, killing dozens and ushering in a new wave of terror in the embattled nation of Iraq.
Joint Special Operations Task Force – Trans Sahara has a new commander, and will continue to lead the fight against extremism.
Iran claims it captured — or at least, surveilled — a remotely-piloted vehicle that was over international water.
ON THE FORCE
Major General John Newell is leaving his position as senior military advisor to the U.S. Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan to take on a role as the director of policy and planning at J-5 Headquarters, U.S. Northern Command.
General Dunford, the incumbent commander of the Afghanistan war, is slated to ask for more troops than President Obama had already announced.
POTOMAC TWO-STEP
Lawfare’s Matthew Waxman says any AUMF revisions should be prudent, impose more substantive restrictions, and lay out in clear and concise terms who the enemy is and who they are aligned with,
Turns out Blackwater was, with Erik Prince’s concurrence, a veritable arm of the CIA.
ON SECRECY – OR LACK THEREOF
The Central Intelligence Agency has begun preparing dossiers for possible kinetic strikes in Syria, with the aim of targeting militants that may be affiliated with al-Qaeda.
Representative McCarthy has proposed that the House subpoena documents pertaining to the use of remotely-piloted vehicles.
A San Francisco judge has ruled that the FBI practice of using National Security Letters to obtain phone records, internet activity and private effects is unconstitutional.
A District court has ruled that all records pertaining to the use of and rules governing drones should be disclosed.
Two former CIA officers have competing ideas about whether the CIA is overly promiscuous, or not.
CONTRACT WATCH
DARPA is handing out contracts, including a $11,037,154 cost-plus-fixed-fee contract in Moorestown, N.J. and a $8,086,263 cost-plus-fixed-fee contract in McLean, Va. Both contracts are classified.
