The Terror This Time  —  Janet Napolitano says the system worked.  No, we were brave and lucky.  —  Printer  —  Friendly  —  A U.S. government that has barred the phrase “war on terror” has nonetheless acknowledged that a failed Christmas day bomb attack on an airliner was a terrorist attempt.

Explosive on Flight 253 Is Among Most Powerful  —  Sewn into the underwear of Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab was a powerful plastic explosive, the authorities say.  —  Had Mr. Abdulmutallab, sitting in seat 19A of Northwest Airlines Flight 253 on Friday from Amsterdam to Detroit …

Abdulmutallab: More Like Me In Yemen  —  Accused Northwest Bomber Says More Bombers On the Way; Al Qaeda Promises to Hit Americans  —  American officials have cause to worry there may be more al Qaeda-trained young men in Yemen planning to bring down American jets.

Uninvestigated terrorism warning about Detroit suspect called not unusual  —  When Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab's father in Nigeria reported concern over his son's “radicalization” to the U.S. Embassy there last month, intelligence officials in the United States deemed the information insufficient to pursue.

Napolitano concedes airline security system failed  —  WASHINGTON — Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano conceded Monday that the aviation security system failed when a young man on a watchlist with a U.S. visa in his pocket and a powerful explosive hidden on his body was allowed to board a fight from Amsterdam to Detroit.

The start of an Iranian intifada  —  [ analysis ]  —  An Iranian-style intifada seems to be in the making.  —  At the beginning of the current period of opposition, which started soon after Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's controversial reelection, quiet periods of seeming normalcy occurred between what were less frequent demonstrations.

Lessons from Obama's first year  —  Seeking to make sense of Barack Obama's first year as president — and why he has come across as competent but less magical than many Americans hoped — I've been rereading his autobiography, “Dreams From My Father.”  —  To revisit that memoir is to be reminded …