Our picksAfghanistan Military Disaster | Ransomware Payments and the Law | New Jersey Shore Is Drowning, and more

U.S. Deserves Big Share of Blame for Afghanistan Military Disaster  (Julian Borger, Guardian)
White House accused of unfairly pointing finger at Afghan military after decades of mismanaging war effort.

U.S. Saw a Two-Decade High in Border Crossings in July  (Priscilla Alvarez, CNN)
The Biden administration is facing a “serious challenge” at the US southern border, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said Thursday, saying the US has encountered an “unprecedented” number of migrants illegally crossing the border.
During a news conference in Brownsville, Texas, Mayorkas stressed the sharp increase of migrants arriving at the US-Mexico border, many of whom are fleeing deteriorating conditions in their home countries.

‘White Hat’ Hacker Behind $610m Crypto Heist Returns Most of Money  (Miranda Bryant, Guardian)
Still-unidentified hacker claims attack was carried out ‘for fun’ to ‘expose the vulnerability’ of platform.

Report Finds U.S. Government Has Made Progress on Cybersecurity, More Work Remains  (Maggie Miller, The Hill)
The federal government has made “significant” progress on strengthening the United States against cyber threats over the past year, but more work remains, a congressionally-established bipartisan committee concluded in a report published Thursday. 
The Cyberspace Solarium Commission (CSC) – a group composed of members of Congress, federal officials, and industry leaders – found in its 2021 implementation report that around three-quarters of its recommendations for defending the U.S. against cyber threats have been implemented since March 2020. 

Ransomware Payments and the Law  (Alvaro Marañon and Benjamin Wittes, Lawfare)
Ransomware attacks continue to illustrate the severity and scope of cyber criminal efforts, with victims in all sectors and industries suffering varying degrees of harm. Organizations can do their best to defend against anticipated threats, but supply chain attacks such as on Colonial Pipeline and Kaseya VSA result in indiscriminate harm against which it is difficult to mitigate. We are all paying the price.
It’s time for Congress to take this problem seriously and forbid—at least as a general matter—this ongoing tax on the American economy.

“Not Our Tragedy”: The Taliban Are Coming Back, and America Is Still Leaving  (Susan Glasser, New Yorker)
President Biden made it very clear this week that we’re out of Afghanistan, no matter what. Is this going to be Biden’s Rwanda? Or, perhaps, Al Qaeda/ISIS 3.0?

The Long, Slow Drowning of the New Jersey Shore  (Andrew S. Lewis, New York Times)
Billions have been spent to protect the beachfront. But inch by inch, water is winning the war.

Science Journals Have Been Corrupted by China  (Ian Birrell, Unheard)
Have researchers close to Beijing been compromised?