The War
The Obama administration on Monday offered its first extensive explanation of how American officials decide when to use drones to kill suspected terrorists — a tactic that the government often treats as a classified secret even though it is widely known around the world. – New York Times
Human rights advocates were underwhelmed by the spirited defense of lethal drone strikes offered by President Obama’s chief counterterrorism adviser on Monday. – Washington Times
Bin Laden’s chances of trying to remake al-Qaeda’s image ended abruptly when Navy SEALs kicked in the door of his Pakistani hideout. But in the year since his death, U.S. officials have gained a deeper understanding of the man, his internal struggles and his plans for the terrorist group he co-founded. – Washington Post
Joining in the latest round of an old dispute, the Democratic senators who lead the intelligence and armed services committees took issue on Monday with claims from Bush administration officials that the Central Intelligence Agency’s coercive interrogation methods produced information that led to the killing of Osama bin Laden a year ago. – New York Times
With the approach of the first anniversary of the killing of Osama bin Laden, federal authorities have increased their vigilance at selected airports abroad by sending more security officers to monitor commercial flights into the United States, according to two government officials. – New York Times
One year after Navy SEALs killed Osama bin Laden, a weakened, fragmented al Qaeda is collaborating with other terrorist and militant groups to target and attack U.S. and Western interests abroad, intelligence officials say. – Washington Times
Adm. Mike Mullen has told NBC News that he worries “a great deal” that the Osama bin Laden raid could be overly politicized in 2012 campaign season. – Politico
President Obama gave a steely defense of his handling of the raid that killed Osama bin Laden and his use of it to burnish his re-election credentials a year later, saying Monday that it is appropriate to mark an anniversary that Republicans charge is being turned into a campaign bumper sticker. – Associated Press
The first anniversary of the SEAL Team 6 operation that killed Osama bin Laden brings the news that President Obama plans during the coming campaign to exploit the bragging rights to the achievement. That plan invites scrutiny that is unlikely to benefit him. – Wall Street Journal
No single tactic, technique or approach led to the successful operation against bin Laden. But those who suggest it was all a result of a fresh approach taken after Jan. 20, 2009, are mistaken. – Washington Post
The decision President Obama faced was a hard one and he took a gamble that paid off. He deserves credit for it — credit that Americans of both parties have been reliably paying him. However, let’s be honest that it is a decision that compares favorably not with Republicans but with other Democrats. – Shadow Government
A new poll covering thousands of Muslims in Egypt, Jordan, Pakistan, Turkey and Lebanon found that most thought poorly of Al Qaeda nearly a year after Osama bin Laden’s death. – LA Times’ World Now
In the year after Osama Bin Laden’s death, the global terrorist syndicate he founded has undergone a makeover, becoming more regionally focused than ever before. – US News and World Report
Osama bin Laden was distraught by the fracturing ranks and the lack of lower-level leadership in al Qaeda, and even considered changing the group’s well-known name. – DEFCON Hill
Hundreds of documents were discovered by German cryptologists embedded inside a pornographic movie on a memory disk belonging to a suspected al Qaeda operative arrested in Berlin last year. Details of the documents were obtained by CNN and reveal an inside track on some of the terror group’s most audacious plots and a road map for future operations. – CNN’s Security Clearance
There is no doubt that al Qaeda’s central leadership in Pakistan has been weakened through the combined efforts of the Bush and Obama administrations. However, there is evidence that in other ways al Qaeda has grown stronger, and also has long-term allies who will continue to wage its global campaign of terror. Let the American people see Osama bin Laden’s files and then judge for themselves whether or not the 9/11 wars are a thing of the past. – The Weekly Standard Blog
Defense
The planned U.S. drawdown in Afghanistan and shift away from counterinsurgency operations to the training of Afghan forces may influence which Army brigade combat teams (BCTs) are equipped with specialized networking and communications gear, service officials said. – Defense News
With another 22 LCS hulls under construction or under contract, it will be several years before the ships conduct regular operations, but the Navy continues to refine the type’s concept of operations. Once conceived as a ship that would operate only in concert with others, the LCS is also envisioned as capable of operating on its own. – Defense News
Following recent reports of structural problems with the littoral combat ship (LCS), the heads of the Senate Armed Services Committee called for a Government Accountability Office (GAO) review of the program Monday. – DEFCON Hill
A “very small number” of F-22 pilots have requested to not fly the Air Force’s Raptors following the grounding and unfruitful investigation into the oxygen problems plaguing the stealthy jet, the head of Air Combat Command said Monday. – Military Times
Nuclear Weapons
China called on the United States and Russia – which hold the vast majority of the world’s nuclear warheads – on Monday to make further “drastic” cuts in their atomic arsenals. – Reuters
NATO
Since 2001 America’s share of NATO’s budget has climbed steadily upwards from 50 percent to 75 percent. With the NATO summit coming to Chicago in less than three weeks and the Obama White House’s top NATO advisor speaking publicly about the alliance’s goals, it seemed a good time to ask when the enormous gap between America’s contribution to the alliance would start moving in the other direction. – AOL Defense
