The War
The leaders of al Qaeda spent parts of the five years before Osama bin Laden’s death mulling proposals to rebrand the group with a more Islamic-sounding name, issuing directives to plant trees and send funds in euros or dollars, and discussing the relative merits of CNN, ABC and Fox News. – Wall Street Journal
A year after the death of Qaida terror mastermind Osama bin Laden, the Combatting Terrorism Center at West Point on Thursday released a trove of 17 unclassified documents recovered during the May 2011 raid in Abbottabad, Pakistan… Here are the 17 documents and summaries, which were based on a CTC document that accompanied the release of the bin Laden letters. – National Journal
Daveed Gartenstein-Ross writes: There is plenty within these documents for analysts to pore over and debate, even though they only represent a quick peek into al Qaeda’s inner workings. But one thing the documents highlight beyond a doubt is the need for analytic humility when interpreting an organization that largely operates from the shadows. There is much about al Qaeda that we still have not uncovered, and it is vitally important to separate what we know of the group from our speculation about it. – Foreign Policy
John Yoo writes: Worrying about future lawsuits will distort official decision-making, which should balance the costs and benefits to the national interest and not worry about personal liability. No one will ever sue a government official for doing nothing, even as dangers loom. If we are to prevail in this unprecedented war, those elected and appointed to office must show that they will protect those who fight. – Wall Street Journal (subscription required)
Benjamin Wittes writes: Is this to be a Nuremberg-like tribunal that is set up to try a particular set of crimes and that will fade away afterward? Is it — as the Obama administration has intimated — a court that has a plausible, though narrow, role in the future for terror acts with a particularly military character? Or is it to be, as Congress has more ambitiously intimated, the preferred venue for terrorism cases against foreign nationals in general? The right answer is that successful commissions probably do have some narrow prospective role, and we’re going to have to think hard about what that role looks like. – Washington Post
Missile Defense
Russia’s defense establishment rolled out computer-generated images of hypothetical warfare on Thursday to illustrate its fear of a planned Europe-based missile-defense shield and warned of a possible a pre-emptive strike on elements of the system, underscoring the biggest source of tension in U.S.-Russia relations. – Wall Street Journal (subscription required)
Defense
Defense Secretary Leon Panetta is growing increasingly concerned about the spate of embarrassing misconduct by U.S. troops that has tarnished the military’s public image and jeopardized the success of missions abroad. – Military Times
At least one Republican member of Congress has objected to the last-minute addition last week of an amendment charging the U.S. Navy with inadequate briefings and a “lack of transparency” on the Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) program. – Defense News
Aircraft engine maker Pratt & Whitney proudly predicts it will double its revenues this decade from $12 billion in 2010 to $24 billion in 2020 — but the company admits it will have to get through some lean years first…The single most critical factor: whether the troubled F-35 Joint Strike Fighter materializes more or less on time. – AOL Defense
[I]t appears that the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle (JLTV) is finally moving toward a prototype and testing phase that could result in production orders from the U.S. Army and Marine Corps for more than 55,000 vehicles. – Aviation Week
One of the few entirely new major Pentagon weapon systems appears to be rising from the dead, with the $5 billion Joint Air To Ground Missile living on roughly $300 million of money already appropriated and securing supportive language in the House Armed Services Committee’s first draft of the defense policy bill. – AOL Defense
Foreign Aid
[Interview] – In an interview for Foreign Policy, Samuel Loewenberg spoke with Shah about how he is reinventing USAID, an often-embattled agency charged with helping the world’s poorest countries develop, while at the same time dealing with crises around the globe. – Foreign Policy
Plus
According to White House sources, President Obama gently urged his staff Monday to try to include national security adviser Thomas Donilon a little more in the operation of the U.S. government’s executive branch, having observed the senior aide is still struggling to fit in. – The Onion
Michael O’Hanlon writes: The headway made with Europe and Russia on Obama’s watch has helped U.S. interests — without requiring any compromises on principle or substance. – Politico
