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.

Napolitano Reverses Course, Says Air Security Did NOT Work  —  A day after saying “the system worked” — and being pressed by CNN's Candy Crowley about how exactly that was the case — Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano changed tack Monday and said that the U.S. air-travel security net …

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.

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 …

Winners and Losers: Political toll of 2009  —  Michelle Obama, Hillary Clinton and Sonia Sotomayor:  —  “Winners.”  —  So say a majority of Americans asked to assess the political  —  winners of 2009 - with the first lady leading the list.  —  Nearly three-quarters of those surveyed …