We Can't Always Be Lucky

By Charles Peña

Americans need to realize that building an absolute and perfect defense against terrorism is a Quixotic quest. - Intrusive pat-downs and body scans could be just the beginning. Continue

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Lawmakers Seek Cash During Key Votes

By Carol D. Leonnig and T.W. Farnam

Numerous times this year, members of Congress have held fundraisers and collected big checks while they are taking critical steps to write new laws, despite warnings that such actions could create ethics problems. The campaign donations often came from contributors with major stakes riding on the lawmakers' actions. Continue

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The Pentagon's Revolving Door:

By Boston Globe

From the Pentagon to the private sector. In large numbers, and with few rules, retiring generals are taking lucrative defense-firm jobs. Continue

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Struggling for Peace in the Season of Christmas

By Tom Turnipseed

With over a trillion dollars budgeted for the military and defense related expenditures in 2011 we should emulate Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Jr., and Jesus who engaged in civil disobedience and gave their all for peace and poor people. Continue

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And What Rough Beast Slouches Towards Gaza?
Operation Cast Lead and the Dismembering of a People

By Vincent Di Stefano

The horror of Gaza cannot be dismissed as a distant phenomenon that does not concern us. We may withdraw into our own complacency and comfort, but in truth, no one is exempted from the pain visited upon innocent households. No one can evade the consequences of the destructive exercise of brutal force. Continue

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"Jewish women for Jewish men."
Is Judaism a Race? Ask Israelis

By Zvi Bar'el

Can Israeli racism be eliminated through law, trial and punishment, or is it already part of the Israeli identity? Continue

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Pakistan: 80 killed in suicide bombing and raids: More than 80 were killed in a suicide bombing on a World Food Programme project and a series of helicopter raids against militant camps in northwestern Pakistan yesterday, officials said.

40 militants killed in Pakistan's northwest tribal area: At least 40 militants were killed in a large-scale operation launched by the Pakistani security forces Saturday in the country's northwest tribal area of Mohmand Agency, local Urdu TV channel Geo News reported.

Attacks in Philippines and Nigeria kill at least 38 as church leaders call for peace: Fresh attacks against Christians in the Philippines and Nigeria have marred Christmas festivities as church leaders condemned religious persecution and called for global peace and reconciliation.

Nigeria vows to hunt bomb suspects: Friday's explosions in villages near the city of Jos killed 32 people. Six other people died in attacks on two churches in the northeast of Africa's most populous nation, officials said on Saturday.

German development "aid" worker killed in Afghanistan: - A German development aid worker has died from serious wounds suffered in an attack in northern Afghanistan, Berlin said Saturday.
Kabul slams US over security violations: The Afghan Interior Ministry said NATO was violating a security agreement it had signed with the Kabul government based on which all NATO operations in Kabul must be cleared with the government.
Israeli occupation troops kill 2 Gaza resistance fighters: Two members of the al-Quds Brigades, the military wing of Islamic Jihad, killed by Israeli soldiers.
Ecuador Joins Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay And Bolivia To Recognize Palestine: This is part of a diplomatic push by Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas to win a United Nations recognition of a Palestinian state. Abbas is hoping to gain international recognition as an independent state which would bypass an elusive peace agreement with Israel.
Paraguay to recognize Palestinian state in 2011: Paraguay's Foreign Minister Hector Lacognata told the Palestinian ambassador to Paraguay that his country will recognize the Palestinian state on the lands that Israel has occupied in 1967 in the spring, the Palestinian foreign ministry said in a statement.
Palestinians slam U.S. for not recognizing a state: "The U.S. is supposed to be a fair mediator and a real sponsor of a successful peace process with specific targets," Majdalani said. "Instead of blaming the Israeli government, which obstructed the peace process, the U.S. is blaming other world countries that did its political duties and recognized the state."
Gaza doctor takes Israel to court: Father of three daughters killed by Israeli forces files case after failing to reach compensation deal.
Manufacturing Consent For Attack On Iran: Will Israel really attack Iran within a year?: After interviewing dozens of Israeli, American and Arab officials, Jeffrey Goldberg of the Atlantic Magazine concludes Israel may not even ask for a U.S. 'green light' to attack Iran nuclear sites.
US Embassy Cables: : U.S. tried to stop Spain's torture probe: — It was three months into Barack Obama's presidency, and the administration -- under pressure to do something about alleged abuses in Bush-era interrogation policies -- turned to a Florida senator to deliver a sensitive message to Spain:
US Embassy Cables: : Panama leader denies he sought phone taps on political rival.: A leaked US diplomatic cable from August 22, 2009, quotes Barbara Stephenson, the then US ambassador to Panama, as saying the newly elected conservative president asked for help with wiretaps soon after he took office on July 1.
US Embassy cables sheds light on U.S.-Mexican relations: The backdrop to the WikiLeaks cables was a U.S. Defense Department report about eight months before, saying the U.S. military might have to intervene in the war on the cartels.
US Embassy Cables: DEA reach goes global, and beyond drugs: The US Drug Enforcement Administration has grown into a global intelligence organization whose reach extends far beyond international drug trafficking, The New York Times reported.
NYTimes Editorial: Banks and WikiLeaks: The whistle-blowing Web site WikiLeaks has not been convicted of a crime. A bank’s ability to block payments to a legal entity raises a troubling prospect. A handful of big banks could potentially bar any organization they disliked from the payments system, essentially cutting them off from the world economy.
Ukraine arrests ex-foreign minister: Yuri Lutsenko detained on corruption charges is latest case of probes against members of former administration.
The economic outrage of 2010: Cowardly leaders failed to help working people -- and coddled the rich