Eight points agreed at multinational Vienna conference on Syria
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October 30, 2015, 9:00 PM (IDT)
The 17 nations meeting in Vienna Friday, led by the US, Russia, Iran and Saudi Arabia, reached accord on seven points for a political resolution of the Syrian civil war.
1) Syria’s territorial integrity and secular character will be preserved.
1) Syria’s territorial integrity and secular character will be preserved.
2) Government institutions, including the army and security forces, will continue to function after a political accord is achieved.
3) Syrian territory must be secured. (Under whose responsibility?)
4) ISIS and other extremist Muslim groups must be defeated.
5) Syrian government and rebel parties will meet to hammer out a political solution for ending the conflict.
6) General elections will take place under UN auspices.
7) The Syrians will administer their own political moves without outside interference.
8) The Syrian question will be solved by political means alone.
DEBKAfile: The main issue still outstanding is the fate of Bashar Assad. This will be discussed when the multinational session conference is reconvened in two weeks’ time.
8) The Syrian question will be solved by political means alone.
DEBKAfile: The main issue still outstanding is the fate of Bashar Assad. This will be discussed when the multinational session conference is reconvened in two weeks’ time.
Russia is continuing to develop a new ground-launched cruise missile in violation of the 1987 Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces Treaty, the general in charge of NATO and the U.S. European Command said Friday.
Air Force Gen. Philip Breedlove, the NATO and Eucom commander, said both the United States and NATO allies are concerned about the new Russian cruise missile that was tested most recently on Sept. 2.
“Sept. 2nd is not the first time that we have seen testing that looks like it violates the INF,” Breedlove said during a meeting with reporters at the Pentagon. “So, the violation is not new, and yes we are concerned.”
Breedlove said the Pentagon has a framework for addressing the treaty breach that was outlined by Defense Secretary Ash Carter earlier this year.
Carter testified that the United States will respond to the INF violation and several options are being reviewed. The options include increasing cruise missile defenses and deploying nuclear-tipped counterforce weapons.
Defense officials have said the State Department and White House have been blocking Pentagon efforts to counter the treaty breach.
The State Department has sought for over a year to coax Moscow into returning to INF treaty compliance but the efforts, through talks with the Russian officials, have been unsuccessful.
Russia has denied violating the treaty and countered U.S. charges by demanding more intelligence about the new cruise missile and by accusing Washington of violating the INF treaty.
The treaty was a centerpiece of Cold War arms control and banned all missiles with ranges of between 300 miles and 3,400 miles.
The recent flight test of what defense officials described as Russia’s new SSC-X-8 ground-launched cruise missile are a further indication of Russian unwillingness to abide by the INF accord.
The White House, according to a senior House Republican on the Armed Services Committee, has been blocking a Joint Staff report assessing the risks to U.S. security posed by the Russian missile violation.
Former Defense Secretary Robert Gates disclosed to Congress last week that Russia sought to pull out of the INF treaty as early as 2007 over concerns that it needs missiles with INF ranges to deal with threats from China and Iran.
Critics of the Obama administration in Congress have said the INF treaty violation, had it been known by Congress, could have led to blocking ratification of the 2010 New START arms accord. That treaty was approved by the Senate with no discussion of Russia’s plans to violate or withdraw from the INF treaty.
China also has a large force of intermediate-range missiles.
Asked about a recent threat by Moscow to withdraw from the INF treaty if the United States modernizes nuclear bombs stored in Europe, Breedlove dismissed the threat as a propaganda ploy.
“As far as withdrawing from the INF, what we hear are threats that are being made in the face of our upgrade, our life extension program to our tactical nuclear weapons in Europe,” Breedlove said.
“We’re not bringing new weapons, we are not bringing more weapons,” he said. “We’re ensuring the safety and the functionality of the weapons that are there. So, I actually believe this is just another way to create dialogue and to try to bring pressure on our alliance.”
Breedlove said the upgrade of B-61 aircraft-delivered bombs has been planned for years and “we are continuing with the upgrade of our weapons.”
“This is about safety and reliability. These are things that you want to have in nuclear weapons. I’m stymied at the concern,” he said.
The NATO commander also disclosed that Moscow conducted saber-rattling military maneuvers, including a staff nuclear exercise after NATO forces conducted a series of military exercises in the Baltic states.
“I think these are clear messages that are sent,” Breedlove said.
On Russian military intervention in Syria, Breedlove said he views the airstrikes in support of the Assad regime as aimed at diverting attention from Russian military action against the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine.
“What I’m concerned about is that folks have taken their eye off of Ukraine a little bit because of what is happening in Syria,” he said. “And that is a technique that I think has been employed here a couple of times. Invade Crimea. Take the world’s eyes off of Crimea by invading Donbas. Take the world’s eyes off of Donbas by getting involved in Syria.”
On European security threats, Breedlove identified an unpredictable Russia and a lack of visibility into the intentions of Russian leader Vladimir Putin, combined with growing Russian military capabilities near Europe, as the reasons for increases in NATO deterrence efforts.
The alliance is currently holding large military exercises aimed at improving readiness, involving some 36,000 troops from 30 nations.
The command recently completed the deployment of a heavy brigade worth of equipment and weapons to bolster defenses.
Without adding troops, military commanders are positioning arms and equipment that could be used by troops that are rapidly deployed in a crisis or conflict. Strengthened European defenses will be focused on protecting the Baltic states of Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia, as well as Poland, Romania, and Bulgaria.
For naval forces, a fourth Aegis-equipped U.S. warship was recently deployed to Spain and the ships have been conducting freedom of navigation operations in the Black Sea, where Russia has sought to prevent U.S. ships from operating. More naval forces have been requested, the four-star general said.
U.S. intelligence agencies also are increasing efforts to gather intelligence on Russia.
For the Middle East, European command forces are operating out of Turkey’s Incirlik air base in support of air strikes against Islamic State targets.
“Europe isn’t what it was 18 months ago, or even six months ago, and new threats and challenges seemingly emerge every day,” Breedlove said.
Russian aggression continues to be the most important priority.
“Russia’s actions prolong the conditions creating massive scale immigration of refugees that is further worrying our southern allies,” he said. “And the eastern allies continue to be concerned about Russian expansion. These concerns, combined with the flow of foreign fighters, are a strategic challenge for all of Europe.”
Asked about Monday’s unusual flight of two Russian Tu-142 bombers within a mile of the aircraft carrier USS Reagan near Japan, Breedlove said provocative Russian bomber and aircraft flights near Europe have dropped somewhat from a higher rate of bomber and military air intrusions several months ago.
Breedlove attributed the decline in NATO aerial intercepts of Russian aircraft to Moscow’s military operations in Syria, which are taking up military resources.
“I would opine that in the past few weeks or so, it has been a bit more normal, because we have seen a real focus on Syria,” he said of the Russian flights.
“But these actions continue, and they continue all around the periphery of Russia. They are still happening in Europe. And they are still happening in the far east, in Asia.”
The post NATO Chief: Russia Conducted Several Tests of Illegal Cruise Missile appeared first onWashington Free Beacon.
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Officials said Friday that it is a “plain fact” that U.S. troops would “inevitably” end up in combat in Syria, according to NBC Pentagon correspondent Jim Miklaszewski.
“If there are U.S. military forces on the ground for a sustained period of time inside Syria […], they are inevitably going to end up in combat,” Miklaszewski said. “That’s a difficult thing for the White House to acknowledge, but officials here say it’s just plain fact.”
Miklaszewski hearkened back to the administration’s refusal to call American advise-and-assist operations in Syria combat, even as the U.S. ramped up support for rebels there.
“You remember that operation with special operations forces embedded with those Kurdish forces. One of those soldiers, Master Sgt. Joshua Wheeler, was killed in that operation,” he said. “At that time, White House officials were saying it wasn’t combat.”
Secretary of Defense Ash Carter “was the first one in the administration” to say that troops are engaged in combat, Miklaszewski said, referring to Carter’s statement at the Pentagon last week: “This is combat. Things are complicated.”
Miklaszewski said that after Carter’s statement, other officials acknowledged the fact that American troops are in combat.
“Subsequently, other military officials have said, of course it’s combat,” he said. “If you’re on the ground, if you’re getting shot at and returning fire, it’s combat.”
Despite the announcementthat the U.S. will be ramping up its presence in Syria, White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest said Friday that U.S. strategy has not changed.
“You have heard the president on many occasions discuss our strategy in Syria, and the fact is that our strategy in Syria hasn’t changed,” he said.
The post NBC: Defense Officials Say It Is ‘Plain Fact’ That US Will End Up In Combat in Syriaappeared first on Washington Free Beacon.
You may have heard that it’s not exactly safe to stick strange USB sticks into your laptop or desktop computer. This advice is oft-repeated but also oft-ignored. A 2011 test run by the Department of Homeland Security showed that 60 percent of people who picked up random thumb drives or computer disks they surreptitiously dropped in government building and private contractor parking lots plugged the devices into office computers.
MSNBC host Andrea Mitchell criticized Obama’s slipping grip on the Middle East on Friday, saying that the United States “looks very weak.”
“Frankly, the United States looks very weak diplomatically, and you need military muscle to back up the diplomacy,” she said.
Mitchell said that countries like Russia, Iran, and Jordan are filling the power vacuum left by the reluctance of the United States.
“Now you’ve got Iran at the table, Russia pushing this and claiming that they are in the lead here. You have Jordan, one of our lead partners against ISIS, having a joint command center with the Russians,” she said.
She referenced the ongoing multilateral talks meant to generate a diplomatic solution for the exit of Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad, saying that Russia, not the United States, has taken the leading role.
“Look at those pictures again from that table in Vienna. Lavrov is at the head of the table with John Kerry,” she said. “America is supposed to be leading this coalition against ISIS, and Russia is now claiming either joint leadership or primary leadership here because it is the Russian air strikes that have been a game-changer in recent weeks to prop up Assad.”
In recent weeks, the Obama administration has shied away from calling the conflict in Syria “ground combat” in an attempt not to contradict Obama’s 2013 statement that there will be no “boots on the ground.”
After American soldier Joshua Wheeler was killed in an operation in Iraq this week, Secretary of Defense Ash Carter admitted that the U.S. would ramp up support for Syrian rebels, but again refused to call this combat.
“It doesn’t represent us assuming a combat role. It represents a continuation of our advise-and-assist mission,” Carter said.
The Obama administration announced Friday that it would deploy special forces to Syria, marking another timid step toward exercising force in the Middle East.
The post Andrea Mitchell: ‘The US Looks Very Weak’ appeared first on Washington Free Beacon.
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October 30, 2015, 5:12 PM (IDT)
One Israeli was injured in a stabbing attack Friday by a Palestinian terrorist at the light rail station in Jerusalem opposite National Police HQ. The Palestinian was shot and seriously wounded. The second Israel victim was injured by a gunshot, the source of which is under investigation. The railway station, the site of numerous terrorist attacks, was closed until further notice.
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U.S. forces will soon be on the ground in Syria, a senior Obama administration official said Friday.
NBC News reported that the White House will announce Friday that it is sending U.S. special operations forces into Syria that will be stationed in the northern area of the country.
The special operations forces will work with groups who have been fighting the Islamic State (IS), which could include Kurdish forces and allied groups who fall under the title of “Syrian Democratic Forces.”
The administration will label the decision a “shift” in the U.S. strategy against the terrorist group, not a “change.”
The decision comes just days after Defense Secretary Ash Carter said that the U.S. would engage in “direct action on the ground” on Iraq and Syria in order to combat IS. Earlier this month, the Obama administration ended its $500 million Syrian rebel training program to fight the Islamic State in an acknowledgement of its failure.
Last week, the first U.S. servicemember to die in the fight against IS was killed during a prison raid in Iraq.
The post US Will Deploy Special Operations Forces to Syria appeared first on Washington Free Beacon.
A Norwegian court has sentenced an Iraqi-born cleric to 18 months in jail for praising the slaying of cartoonists at the French satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo, which had lampooned Islam and other religions.
A Dubai-based businessman has become the fourth Iranian-American to be arrested by Iran's security forces and imprisoned in Tehran, as the Islamic Republic begins implementing a nuclear deal struck with world powers, several U.S. newspapers reported Thursday.
A senior Russian government official says some in the U.S. may have a delusion of winning a war with Russia with new conventional weapons without resorting to nuclear arms.
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ATLANTA — Fifteen people have been infected with bubonic plague so far this year in the United States, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention told CNN. Four of those cases were fatal.
That’s four more cases and one more death than the CDC previously reported.
On average, there are seven cases per year, although in 2006 there were 17. An August report from the CDC put health care providers on notice to consider the plague in patients with symptoms and a travel history to an area where the plague has been reported.
Plague occurs in rural and semirural areas of the Western United States, most commonly New Mexico, Arizona and Colorado. This year’s cases have been reported in eight states.
There have been two patients in Arizona, four in Colorado, four in New Mexico, one in Oregon, one in California, one in Utah, one in Georgia and one in Michigan. The patients in Georgia and Michigan were infected in California and Colorado, respectively.
The plague usually occurs from late spring to early fall but can be found any time of the year. There could still be more cases diagnosed this year, according to Dr. Natalie Kwit, a veterinarian with the division of vector borne diseases at the CDC.
“If rodents aren’t out and about and humans aren’t, there will be no exposure,” she said.
A reason for the higher number of cases this year is not known, according to Kwit. In the meantime, she says that the number of “cases does tend to fluctuate due to interaction between fleas, the rodents they are on, and what the humans are doing.”
The bacteria that causes the plague, Yersinia pestis, is naturally occurring in the environment and is found in areas where there are wild rodents. People usually become infected from fleas that have fed off of an infected rodent such as a rat, squirrel or chipmunk.
Symptoms in humans develop between two and six days after exposure to the bacteria. They include an overall feeling of sickness, sudden fever, abdominal pain, swollen lymph nodes, nausea and vomiting.
The plague can be successfully treated with antibiotics, but only with a prompt diagnosis and treatment. It’s important to get to the doctor as soon as possible if you are experiencing symptoms and have been in an area where the plague has been found. The death rate is 16% among patients who have been treated, and between 66% and 93% among those who are not treated, according to the CDC.
It recommends individuals in areas where the plague is found to protect themselves by wearing long pants and using insect repellent on clothing and skin. The CDC also recommends protecting pets from fleas, and removing anything that can be a food source for rodents, such as garbage, clutter and brush.
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Purple-colored Yersinia pestis bacteria, the bacteria that causes the plague, seen on the spines of a flea. Credit: National Institute of Allergy And Infectious Diseases
Purple-colored Yersinia pestis bacteria, the bacteria that causes the plague, seen on the spines of a flea. Credit: National Institute of Allergy And Infectious Diseases
ATLANTA (Oct. 22, 2015) — Fifteen people have been infected with bubonic plague so far this year in the United States, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention told CNN. Four of those cases were fatal.
That’s four more cases and one more death than the CDC previously reported.
On average, there are seven cases per year, although in 2006 there were 17. An August report from the CDC put health care providers on notice to consider the plague in patients with symptoms and a travel history to an area where the plague has been reported.
Plague occurs in rural and semirural areas of the Western United States, most commonly New Mexico, Arizona and Colorado. This year’s cases have been reported in eight states.
There have been two patients in Arizona, four in Colorado, four in New Mexico, one in Oregon, one in California, one in Utah, one in Georgia and one in Michigan. The patients in Georgia and Michigan were infected in California and Colorado, respectively.
The plague usually occurs from late spring to early fall but can be found any time of the year. There could still be more cases diagnosed this year, according to Dr. Natalie Kwit, a veterinarian with the division of vector borne diseases at the CDC.
“If rodents aren’t out and about and humans aren’t, there will be no exposure,” she said.
A reason for the higher number of cases this year is not known, according to Kwit. In the meantime, she says that the number of “cases does tend to fluctuate due to interaction between fleas, the rodents they are on, and what the humans are doing.”
The bacteria that causes the plague, Yersinia pestis, is naturally occurring in the environment and is found in areas where there are wild rodents. People usually become infected from fleas that have fed off of an infected rodent such as a rat, squirrel or chipmunk.
Symptoms in humans develop between two and six days after exposure to the bacteria. They include an overall feeling of sickness, sudden fever, abdominal pain, swollen lymph nodes, nausea and vomiting.
The plague can be successfully treated with antibiotics, but only with a prompt diagnosis and treatment. It’s important to get to the doctor as soon as possible if you are experiencing symptoms and have been in an area where the plague has been found. The death rate is 16% among patients who have been treated, and between 66% and 93% among those who are not treated, according to the CDC.
It recommends individuals in areas where the plague is found to protect themselves by wearing long pants and using insect repellent on clothing and skin. The CDC also recommends protecting pets from fleas, and removing anything that can be a food source for rodents, such as garbage, clutter and brush.
Read the whole story
· · · ·
Today's Headlines and Commentaryby Elina Saxena, Quinta Jurecic
Leaders from over 17 countries, the European Union, and the United Nations opened talks in Vienna today to discuss the future of the Syrian conflict. The Wall Street Journal writes that “the gap appeared to be narrowing between two key blocs—Assad's allies Russia and Iran and the U.S., Saudi Arabia and Western allies who support moderate rebel forces” despite downplayed expectations from Secretary of State John Kerry. The West has softened its call for Syrian President Bashar al Assad to step down, warming to the possibility of his remaining in power for enough time to effect a political transition.
According to the AP, the leaders are considering the possibility of a four to six month ceasefire, after which a transitional government including both President Bashar al Assad and opposition leaders would be formed. It remains unclear, however, how long Assad would remain in power under the transitional government. Follow-up meetings may continue in Austria as early as next week.
The New York Times highlights that tensions between Saudi and Iranian diplomats have threatened to disrupt the talks. Before the two regional rivals met in Vienna, Iran accused Saudi Arabia of having orchestrated the kidnapping of several Iranian officials in the midst of the chaos during the hajj stampede. Relations between the countries are at a striking low, leading to a setup in Vienna that allowed the Saudi and Iranian delegations to avoid making eye contact with each other.
Foreign Policy explores the implications of the U.S. shift toward allowing Iranian participation in the Syria talks. Washington has backpedaled on its insistence that the price of Iranian admission would have to be a commitment to Assad’s departure, though Tehran has also indicated a willingness to compromise.
U.S.-Iran relations remain rocky, however, as the the Times writes that Tehran has detained another Iranian-American alongside Washington Post correspondent Jason Rezaian. Siamak Namazi, a scholar and consultant, was arrested in mid-October after arriving in Tehran in September. Namazi’s detention may indicate a backlash among Iranian hardliners to a perceived growing U.S. influence following the nuclear accord.
As the diplomats debate the future of Assad’s regime, the BBC examines the difficulty of coming up with any credible alternatives to replace the dictator. And with discussions ongoing in Vienna, the AP provides live coverage.
Meanwhile, a Syrian government strike killed over 40 civilians in a market in Douma, a city 10 miles to the north-east of Damascus. 100 more civilians were wounded, Reuters writes.
The United States is expected to send special forces to Syria in order to advise local militants in their fight against ISIS as they prepare for an offensive on the ISIS stronghold of Raqqa. The Journal tells us that the White House has approved a force of up to 50 U.S. personnel to “advise and assist” local forces in northeastern Syria, marking the first sustained U.S. ground deployment in the country and "the start of a sharp escalation in the level of U.S. involvement in the fight against Islamic State." According to NBC, the special forces will be embedded within groups with a “proven track record” of fighting ISIS, which may include Kurdish fighters and allied Syrian rebels.
A U.S. airstrike in Syria has killed a “German-performer-turned-rapping-propagandist for the self-proclaimed Islamic State,” the Daily Beast writes. Denis Cuspert, formerly Deso Dogg, was part of an ISIS program termed “Jihad Cool” that aimed at recruiting young people partially through hip-hop--a musical genre whose reliance on the rapper’s voice avoided ISIS restrictions on musical instruments.
The Post examines the shift among ISIS and other militants away from Twitter and Facebook and toward the social media app Telegram. While platforms like Twitter can police users’ content to some extent and thereby limit the dissemination of extremist propaganda, Telegram was intentionally designed to maintain near-total anonymity and lacks a “clear mechanism for law enforcement agencies to track individuals or demand that material aimed at inciting terror attacks be taken down.” The service became popular among extremists after unveiling a function that allows users to broadcast content to large numbers of anonymous subscribers.
Two anti-ISIS journalists were found beheaded in south-eastern Turkey, the Daily Beast reports. One of the two was a member of the group Raqqa is being Slaughtered Silently, which reports on ISIS atrocities within the group’s de facto capital. ISIS has claimed responsibility and is celebrating the assassination on social media.
In Iraq, around 15 rockets landed on a camp close to the Baghdad International Airport, killing 23.The camp held members of People's Mujahideen Organisation of Iran (PMOI), an Iranian opposition group in exile, though it is not clear whether PMOI members were intentionally being targeted. An Iraqi Shiite militia has claimed responsibility, the BBC writes. Reuters has more.
The Times tells us that a long-delayed report detailing the British role in the Iraq war is expected to be released in June or July. Some have noted that the six year report-process has lasted longer than British combat operations in Iraq did.
Facing an increased Taliban presence in Afghanistan, the Post reports that the Afghan government is turning towards militia groups to maintain security. This "increasing reliance on the militias is the latest sign that the United States’ signature effort in Afghanistan after the 9/11 attacks — building a capable army and police force — is buckling under a challenge from the Taliban" as the militias have reportedly "deepened ethnic divisions and weakened the central government’s influence in many areas."
Over in Israel, the Times writes that the wave of violent attacks has shifted from Jerusalem to Hebron, a stronghold for Hamas support. Nearly 240 Palestinians have been arrested in the city for stabbing attacks on Israelis, while some 20 have been killed by Israeli forces. In order to limit Palestinian entry into Jewish neighborhoods in Hebron, Israeli security personnel “were instructed Friday to seal off certain Palestinian neighborhoods in Hebron in order to better conduct security operations and searches throughout the area.” Though the violence has shifted away from East Jerusalem, Foreign Policy tells us that heightened tensions remain throughout the city.
Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras strongly condemned European leaders for their handling of the migrant and refugee crisis. As migrants and refugees continue to move through Greece, Tsipras said that “these are hypocritical and crocodile tears, which are being shed for the dead children” before asking about the fate of “the children that are alive, who come in thousands and are stacked on the streets.”
In efforts to improve relations, the European Union has suspended sanctions against Belarus for four months following the country’s release of several political prisoners. Europe will “suspend asset freezes and visa bans on 170 out of 174 blacklisted Belarusians and also remove restrictive measures against the 14 companies” sanctioned. The United States will also lift sanctions against nine Belarussian entities, though it is unclear which.
Following reports that low-flying Russian planes passed aggressively close to a U.S. aircraft carrier near Korea, Defense One predicts that these sorts of probes will continue to occur. Once “staples of the Cold War,” these run-ins will likely become more common as relations between the United States and both China and Russia remain tense.
Boko Haram has lost significant ground in Nigeria despite its claims to the contrary, General David Rodriguez of U.S. Africa Command stated yesterday. According to the Journal, General Rodriguez also indicated that, while ISIS seems to have been tutoring Boko Haram in its use of propaganda following the group’s declaration of allegiance to the Islamic State, there is no evidence to indicate significant financial flows from ISIS to Boko Haram.
Following the U.S. patrol near disputed territory in the South China Sea, China has declared that "if the United States continues with these kinds of dangerous, provocative acts, there could well be… a minor incident that sparks war.” U.S. officials stated that both sides have agreed to follow protocols to avoid clashes, Reuters writes.
The Times reports that an arbitration court in the Hague will hear the Philippines’ claim against China over disputed territorial claims in the South China Sea, in a blow to Chinese expansionism in the region. The Chinese foreign ministry, which had aimed for the court to reject jurisdiction over the case, issued a standard statement declaring that it would not accept the court’s ruling in the matter and condemning the Philippines for “political provocation under the cloak of law.”
In the midst of these diplomatic strains, the Journal sheds light on China’s attempt to balance “between satisfying nationalism at home and projecting firm diplomacy abroad without escalating tensions.” The goal is to maintain patriotic support for Chinese projects while avoiding both a potential foreign policy crisis or a populist challenge to the Communist Party.
Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro has declared his intentions to sue the United States in order to have the White House lift an executive order declaring Venezuela a threat to U.S. security. The order, he suggested, was illegal under international law. The Journal has more.
The European Parliament has voted in favor of a resolution that calls on member states to protect Edward Snowden from extradition, CNN reports. Though the resolution has no legal authority, it urges E.U. members to drop criminal charges against Snowden. On Twitter, Snowden wrote that the resolution “is not a blow against the U.S. Government, but an open hand extended by friends.”
A new data-sharing framework between the U.S. and E.U. may soon replace Safe Harbor, which was recently invalidated by the European Court of Justice’s decision in Schrems. “Safe Harbor 2.0” is “within hand,” according to U.S. Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker. Pritzker suggested that the revised framework, which had been under negotiation prior to Schrems, could be made consistent with the ruling with only “modest refinements.” Reuters has the story.
Yesterday, the Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit declined to issue a preliminary injunction against NSA bulk collection of metadata under the USA FREEDOM Act and Section 215 of the PATRIOT Act, the Times reports. The court, which held in May that Section 215 collection was not authorized by the language of the statute, ruled that the USA FREEDOM Act allowed continued collection over the course of an 180 day transition period away from bulk collection, which will end on November 29th. The court also declined to consider the constitutionality of bulk collection of metadata.
Shaker Aamer, the last British resident detained at Guantanamo Bay, has been released from the prison and will return to the United Kingdom. Aamer, a Saudi citizen who has been detained since 2002 under suspicion of involvement with al Qaeda, became somewhat of a cause celebre among U.K. activists. As of his release, there are now 112 detainees remaining at Guantanamo. More on that from the AP.
The Miami Herald updates us on the ongoing proceedings in the 9/11 case. Yesterday, the presiding judge refused to allow one of the defendants to fire his lawyer and represent himself. The judge also refused the request of some defense lawyers to halt proceedings over Pentagon officials’ criticism of his order restraining female guards from touching the defendants.
Following the high-profile budget deal reached earlier this week, the NDAA is on its way to the president’s desk. Reuters reports on the bill, which sets the federal budget for the next two years. President Obama vetoed the bill’s previous incarnation on the grounds that it failed to resolve sequestration spending caps.
Paul Ryan is now the Speaker of the House, but just what exactly is his foreign policy? That’s the question asked by, well, Foreign Policy, which concludes that the newly-minted speaker is a “consistent advocate for expanded U.S. military involvement around the world.” When push comes to shove, he’s likely to be more of a defense hawk than a budget hawk, despite his famously thrifty attitude toward government spending.
Foreign Policy also examines the case of Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl, whose punishment for desertion is set to be handed down by a military court in the next few days. The politics of Bergdahl’s sentencing are tricky, because Senator John McCain (R-AZ), who has openly declared his desire for a harsh punishment, sits on the panel that will decide the promotion prospects of the general who will make the final decision in Bergdahl’s case. In the words of one expert, if the general “doesn’t do what Sen. McCain wants, his career could be over.”
The FAA may soon implement new technology to commandeer drones flying near airports, the Postwrites. The technology, developed by a defense and intelligence contractor that has partnered with the FAA to implement its new drone-tracking program, would allow the agency to identify drones flying near airports, identify the location of their operators, and remotely force the drones out of potentially dangerous airspace.
Parting shot: Happy Halloween! Unless you’re in Russia, that is. The Moscow Times reminds us that the holiday, considered by some to be a corrupting Western influence, is a bit politically charged within Russia--but never fear, as the paper has also put together a list of “wholesome,” Russia-inspired costumes for would-be trick-or-treaters.
ICYMI: Yesterday, on Lawfare
Quinta shared the Second Circuit’s decision to deny injunctive relief against Section 215 collection inACLU v. Clapper.
Ryan Scoville asked how American courts ascertain customary international law.
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The Latest: Hungary: Refugees Biggest Crisis EU Has Faced
New York Times LESBOS, Greece — The latest in the odyssey of hundreds of thousands of people crossing Europe in search of a new life. All times local. 3:40 p.m.. Hungary's foreign minister, saying the refugee crisis is the biggest challenge the European Union has ... Migrant Crisis: Nearly 50 Drown in 3 Days as Refugee Boats SinkNBCNews.com Greek PM Tsipras says shamed by Europe's handling of migrant crisisReuters Tsipras Accuses European Nations of Hypocrisy Over Migrant CrisisWall Street Journal Fox News -USA TODAY all 82 news articles » |
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