The E. Barrett Prettyman U.S. Courthouse in Washington, DC [Wikimedia, accessed 6/30/14] On Saturday, Ahmed Abu Khatallah, the alleged mastermind behind the Benghazi attack, appeared in a Washington, D.C., court to plead not guilty to charges of conspiring to support terrorism. Khatallah’s arraignment in an Article III federal court has prompted outrage from conservatives who claim Khatallah should be tried as an enemy combatant or war criminal, argue that he should be detained at Guantanamo Bay, and suggest he was insufficiently interrogated. But these complaints ignore the facts of the case. Legal experts have noted that Khatallah could not have been tried as an enemy combatant, as he has not been part of any armed conflict in a legal sense. He was also interrogated by… Read More ›

Overseas Contingency Operations Funding: Vigilance Required June 27, 2014 Yesterday, the White House submitted its Fiscal Year 2015 request for Overseas Contingency Operations (OCO) funding. The request totaled $65.8 billion – what would be the  fifth highest-funded military in the world if it were a stand-alone force – $58.6 billion of which is slated for the Pentagon. While modestly below last year’s $80 billion, this year’s request appears larger than necessary to fund ongoing contingency operations given that the expected cost of war in Afghanistan this year was previously cited at $20 billion by administration officials. This $40 billion difference fuels the bipartisan concern already voiced by lawmakers that OCO dollars will continue to be used as a slush fund to avoid the spending caps… Read More ›

Sayonara, Iraq Borders By Paul D. Shinkman June 27, 2014 | US News  Throughout the confusion and disarray that has plagued the Middle East in recent weeks, one likelihood has emerged: Iraq, as the Western world knows it, is likely over. Extremist group the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant has turned the Iraqi-Syrian border into little more than a doormat as it continues to strike security bases, seize territory across the former U.S. war zone and descend upon the capital Baghdad. President Barack Obama said last week he would deploy as many as 300 special operations commandos to not only bolster what’s left of the Iraqi forces, but also attempt to add some clarity to a situation that has left most national security… Read More ›

Department of Justice declassified drone memo. [6/23/14]Earlier in the week, a classified Department of Justice memo was released by court order that laid out the legal reasoning for the targeting of Anwar al-Awlaki, an American citizen and accused member of al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) who was killed in 2011 by a drone strike in Yemen. Despite its heavily-redacted format, the release of the memo is an important step forward toward greater transparency and ensuring rule of law in U.S. counterterrorism operations, especially with respect to the targeted killing of American citizens. Nonetheless, the redacted memo leaves a number of crucial questions unanswered that require closer inspection by the public and greater transparency on behalf of the government. Until these issues are addressed, a… Read More ›

Is the enemy of our enemy our friend? By William Douglas June 25, 2014 | The Bellingham Herald The United States considers Iran a top state sponsor of terrorism, a budding nuclear threat and a meddlesome supporter of President Bashar Assad’s regime in civil war-torn Syria. But those negatives apparently aren’t enough to prevent Washington from considering calling Iran a potential partner in the battle against a group of al-Qaida-inspired militants who are trying to overtake Iraq. With options limited, the combination of crisis and mutual interest might make possible what many foreign policy experts once thought unthinkable: that the U.S. and Iran, archenemies since the taking of 50 hostages at the U.S. embassy in Tehran in 1979, become partners, frenemies for the sake of Iraq. “It… Read More ›

Iran, Iraq and Regional Security Threats Wednesday, June 25, 2014 9:00 AM Eastern Time As the violence in Iraq continues to swell and ISIS expands its controlled territory,  the Obama administration plans to send 300 military advisers to Iraq to assist the Iraqi military against the Sunni insurgents. At the same time the White House is attempting to manage the situation in Iraq, they are considering what role neighboring Iran could and should play in quelling the sectarian uprising. With increased diplomatic ties between Iran, the U.S., and its allies and the impending July 20th deadline to reach a final nuclear accord with the Islamic Republic, the idea of partnering with Iran holds promise for some and peril for others. EXPERTS Dr. Colin H. Kahl, Senior Fellow… Read More ›

The latest round of the P5+1 negotiations on Iran’s nuclear program concluded last Friday. Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Wendy Sherman said on Friday that “conversations this week have been very tough but constructive,” and stressed that “we are at a very crucial moment in these negotiations.” The negotiations have made significant progress since beginning in February, but with a month remaining before the July 20 deadline, some issues, particularly Iran’s centrifuge capacity, remain points of contention. Talks will resume in Vienna on July 2. Here’s where things stand today and some important considerations as the negotiations enter the home stretch before the July 20 deadline. Iran has shown a commitment to the negotiations and the Joint Plan of Action, but challenges remain.… Read More ›

U.S. Hopes for Unified Iraqi Response: Katulis June 20th, 2014 | Bloomberg Bloomberg interviews NSN Board Member Brian Katulis on Iraq // Read More ›

  U.S. Army soldiers from Charlie Company, 67th Signal Battalion stationed at Fort Gordon, Ga., board a C-17 Globemaster III aircraft at Sather Air Base in Iraq on July 10, 2010. [DoD photo by Senior Airman Perry Aston, U.S. Air Force, 6/10/10]Yesterday, in response to the startlingly effective offensive against the Iraqi government by a coalition of groups led by the jihadist organization the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS), President Obama announced that he is “prepared to send a small number of additional American military advisors – up to 300 – to assess how we can best train, advise, and support Iraqi security forces going forward.” This is a politically and strategically sound response to the crisis – one advocated by NSN Senior… Read More ›

Major General Paul Eaton (Ret.), NSN Senior Advisor, speaks about Iraq on The Joe Piscopo Show.  June 20, 2014 | AM 970 WNYM  To listen to the interview, click here.  Read More ›