Another Taliban leader reportedly dead; Are US troops cleared hot vs. Taliban, or not?; Human shields in Fallujah; USSOF ‘invade’ Florida; And a bit more.

The Taliban’s shadow governor in southern Helmand province has been killed in an airstrike, Helmand police chief Aqa Noor Keentoz said this morning, though it’s unclear what nation’s air force carried out the alleged hit, Stars and Stripes reports. The Taliban denied the allegation, and said that governor, known as “Muzamil,” was actually their deputy in Helmand and that everyone is a-okay there.

Adds Stripes: “It was not immediately clear whether the strike, which Keentoz said was carried out in the Marjah district, where government forces have been fighting to wrest control from the Taliban, was conducted by coalition forces or by the fledgling Afghan air force. NATO officials did not immediately respond to requests for comment.” More here.

U.S. troops want to know: Is it time to take the fight to the Taliban—or wait around for the peace process to play out? After the U.S. tracked former Taliban leader Mullah Mansoor from Iran to Pakistan via his phone’s SIM card prior to killing him with two Hellfire missiles in a Reaper drone strike on Saturday, the Pentagon and the White House are at odds over how to proceed militarily against the group’s remaining fighters, The Wall Street Journal reported Monday. “The American military wants presidential permission to use airpower to blunt the group’s threatened advances this summer, according to several U.S. officials. The White House first wants to see what effect the death of Mullah Akhtar Mansour in Pakistan over the weekend will have on the Taliban, senior administration officials said.”

The problem with that: It “would require a significant revision in the so-called rules of engagement, which were changed in January 2015 under Mr. Obama’s plan to scale back U.S. military involvement and to encourage reconciliation efforts with the Taliban. Mr. Obama has told aides he is not inclined to restart regular U.S. operations against the Taliban, the senior administration officials said. But the strike in Pakistan on Saturday that killed Mr. Mansour has boosted the idea that the U.S. can continue pursuing so-called high-value targets and mid-level Taliban extremists.”Meantime, there’s very little wiggle room: “Under existing military authorization, U.S. operations against the Taliban can only be conducted under three broad circumstances: when U.S. or coalition forces are under threat; when U.S. officials deem that the Taliban is providing direct support to al Qaeda; or when the Taliban pose a ‘strategic threat’ to Afghan forces. U.S. officials say Saturday’s strike was considered defensive in nature because Mr. Mansour was plotting against U.S. forces in Afghanistan. In addition, the strike was authorized by Mr. Obama, because it took place on Pakistani soil. But there is little room for commanders in Afghanistan to maneuver in attempting to target Taliban foot soldiers, under current rules of engagement.” Read on for some of the fine-print ways being pitched to work around the directive, here.

And here’s a bit more on how the strike means Obama’s drone war has crossed another line with the “unprecedented” move of authorizing the Pentagon rather than the CIA to carry out an airstrike inside Pakistan, The Atlantic’s Kathy Gilsinan writes.

By the way: What was Mansoor doing in Iran? “Although it is Pakistan that has traditionally been condemned for secretly supporting Afghan insurgents, analysts say Iran also provides weapons, cash and sanctuary to the Taliban. Despite the deep ideological antipathy between a hardline Sunni group and cleric-run Shia state the two sides have proved themselves quite willing to cooperate where necessary against mutual enemies and in the pursuit of shared interests.” The Guardian has more from that angle, here.

The Fallujah express rolls on but with lighter fighting than on Monday, Reuters reports from the capital, where the Iraqi military said it had dislodged the militants from Garma, a village east of the city, overnight. "No one can leave. It's dangerous. There are snipers everywhere along the exit routes," one resident said.

Gen. Abdul Wahab al Saadi, chief of the Fallujah operation, said the military retook a hospital just outside Fallujah. “We are pushing steadily and very soon we will control the main highway north of the city,” he said.Saadi’s troops are bracing for the Islamic State using civilians as human shields, USA Today reports. “People trapped in the city told USA Today that the Islamic State has imposed a curfew and moved many residents to the city center to use as a human shield. The group also prevented civilians from leaving the city and threatened to kill anyone attempting to do so.”

For your eyes only: Here’s video of airstrikes on Monday delivered by Iraqi warplanes.  

From Defense One

The old arguments about the risks of storing nuclear weapons in Europe aren’t working, so here’s a new approach, from Lauren Sukin is a Ph.D. student in political science at Stanford University.

Relax, Beijing: Wider U.S.-Vietnamese military relations aren’t directed at you, Defense Secretary Ash Carter said Monday. Rather, he said, lifting the arms embargo continues years of Obama’s efforts to link American and Vietnamese militaries. Brad Peniston, who is traveling with Carter this week, has more here.

A new front just opened in Obama’s war on whistleblowers: Fired Pentagon assistant inspector general John Crane is going public with allegations senior officials retaliated against whistleblowers, destroyed permanent records and altered audits under political pressure. Government Executive’s Charlie Clark has more, here.

You’re invited to our first-ever Defense One Tech Summit. It’s just over two weeks away, on June 10, at the Newseum in Washington, D.C. Join Defense Secretary Ash Carter and some of the brightest minds in military and consumer technology to discuss the future of innovation and national security. Reserve your seat here.

Welcome to Tuesday’s edition of The D Brief, by Ben Watson and Marcus Weisgerber. On this day in 2003, the U.S-led coalition ordered Iraqi troops to give up their weapons one day after disbanding the military. Send your friends this link: http://get.defenseone.com/d-brief/. And let us know your news: the-d-brief@defenseone.com.

Yale ROTC commissions first officers in decades. With obvious pride and relish, Ash Carter, defense secretary and Yale grad, led 18 members of the university’s Air Force and Navy ROTC units in their commissioning oaths on Monday. The new ensigns and 2nd lieutenants are the first to receive their commissions on campus since 1972, when Yale closed its ROTC program in a time of anti-war protests. Officers and students alike said the reintroduction of the officer-training program had gone remarkably smoothly; cadets and midshipmen reported receiving only curiosity and respect from their classmates. “People are actually jealous that we have job security,” said Becca Modiano, now a Navy ensign. And the program’s success is turning heads elsewhere. “Yale’s Navy ROTC program, reinstituted one year after Harvard’s, is now the gold standard for the Ivy League, with more than 40 midshipmen and women,” lamented one frustrated infantry officer-turned-Harvard grad student.

Special Forces invade … Florida.  Defense One Tech Editor Patrick Tucker is in Tampa where special operations forces from around the world are gathered for the National Defense Industrial Association's Special Operations Forces Industry Conference, or SOFIC. SOF theatre command heads will share their view for where they will be going and what they will need to get there. Make sure you follow Patrick on Twitter.

Two F-35s are in The Netherlands. The Dutch jets are the first to make the flight across the Atlantic Ocean from the United States. They arrived at Leeuwarden Air Base on Monday night where for the next three weeks they will “conduct both aerial and ground environmental noise tests, perform flights over the North Sea range and then appear and fly at the Netherland’s Open Days, the largest airshow held annually in the Netherlands,” a spokesman for Lockheed Martin, the maker of the plane, said. Here’s a picture of the two jets right after they landed.

Air Force can’t afford new planes. That’s according to the Pentagon’s latest 30-year aviation report, which has been obtained by Defense News. The congressionally mandated document states that Air Force fighter jets will reach the end of their flying lives at a quicker pace than the service is buying new jets. That means the number of fighter jets in the Air Force will dip below congressionally mandated level of 1,900 without more money for new planes. It’s exactly what Todd Harrison, a defense budget analyst at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, has been warning about for a while now. More here.

CYBERCOM showdown on Hill. The House version of the defense authorization bill would elevate U.S. Cyber Command (a subordinate to U.S. Strategic Command) to a standalone warfighting command. The Senate version doesn’t have such language. Why not? “The administration … argues that the secretary of Defense and chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff ‘should retain the flexibility to recommend to the President changes to the unified command plan that they believe would most effectively organize the military to address an ever-evolving threat environment,’” The Hill reports. More here.

Canadian Snowbirds to fly over D.C. at noon. Look for nine Canadair CT-114 Tudor trainers in tight formation as they fly east to west near the south side of the National Mall. They’ll make two passes. A 10th jet will be taking pictures of the flypast, so don’t be alarmed by the rogue white and red plane off to the side. “The flyover highlights the bond between Canada and the United States and the ongoing preparations for celebrations to mark Canada’s 150th anniversary in 2017,” the Royal Canadian Air Force said in a statement. The flying team will also attend the GI Film Festival tonight at the Canadian Embassy.

Where to watch: Based on the handy RCAF flight path diagram, the best viewing spots are south of the Tidal Basin. MLK Memorial, East Potomac Park (on the river side) and Gravelly Point (south of DCA) all look good. If you work at the Pentagon, the River Entrance looks like the best bet. Your correspondent is eyeing Long Bridge Park in Crystal City. Tweet your Snowbird pictures to @MarcusReports. More details here.

Also happening today: The Stimson Center is holding an event to mark the release of a new report that looks at how the use of overseas contingency funds can be interpreted as elevating the risks to U.S. national security. That kicks off at 2:30 p.m. EDT, and features former Pentagon comptroller Robert Hale and others. Details and info here.