BRIAN HOWEY: Buck stops squarely in Oval Office

Mr. President, the buck stops with you.

YOUNG VOICES: Mali is another al-Qaeda battleground

Have you ever heard of the expression “out in Timbuktu”? In case you did not know, Timbuktu is a city in Mali, a former French colony, that has been in the news recently. March marked the third month of French military involvement in Mali.

Richard Lugar's next chapter: A Q&A with Indiana's longest-serving U.S. senator

WASHINGTON | Richard Lugar takes a seat at a well-worn circular conference table. In an office filled with shiny, new fixtures, it's a notable relic from his 36-year career in the Senate.

DOUG ROSS: Where's the exit sign in Afghanistan?

As President Barack Obama prepares his State of the Union address, to be delivered tonight, and as Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels prepares his Republican rebuttal -- a clear sign we are a nation divided, not united -- there's one topic they must not forget: Afghanistan.

BRIAN HOWEY: What does it mean to be a statesman?

A letter in the mail. A sugar packet. A briefcase. A subway. A salad bar. Those who grew up during the Cold War were used to weapons of mass destruction as tips of intercontinental ballistic warheads, on Blackjack bombers or Typhoon submarines from rival superpowers. Today the tools for a te…

U.S. kills Anwar al-Awlaki in Yemen

WASHINGTON | In a significant new blow to al-Qaida, U.S. airstrikes in Yemen on Friday killed Anwar al-Awlaki, an American militant cleric who became a prominent figure in the terror network's most dangerous branch, using his fluent English and Internet savvy to draw recruits for attacks in …

MARK KIESLING: Ten years later, it's time to bring them home

If somehow we could realize the British and the Soviets -- then among the most powerful nations in the world -- could not bring rag-tag Afghan rebels to their knees, then why are we there?

GUEST COMMENTARY: Bin Laden should have been captured, put on trial

President Barack Obama "double-tapped" Osama bin Laden. That's spy slang for executing with two shots -- normally to the head, but in bin Laden's case we were told it was first the chest and then the head. Maybe that was the best solution, since you don't have to be concerned with denying ha…

GUEST COMMENTARY: Death of bin Laden a symbolic victory

I worked in the World Trade Center until Sept. 11, 2001, so in a sense I suppose Osama bin Laden attempted to kill me on that day.

MARK KIESLING: My take on the whole Obama-Osama drama

I've thus far refrained from comment on the death of Osama bin Laden, but I have heard a certain public request for an opinion.

YOUNG VOICES: Bin Laden death could lead to re-focus

Each fall, the Memorial Junior High School band takes a tour of the grade schools in Lansing to help recruit for the following year. On Sept. 11, 2001, I was a seventh-grader and proud clarinet player in that band.

BRIAN HOWEY: The world just changed in seismic ways

The Navy SEALS' killing of Osama bin Laden comes at a fascinating seam in American politics and governance, as well as a particularly sensitive one in Indiana.

New al-Qaida threat similar to 2007 Metra incident

CHICAGO | Emerging details about an al-Qaida plot to derail a U.S. train are eerily similar to a 2007 incident involving the Metra Electric Line over the Bishop Ford Freeway on Chicago's Southeast Side.

Hoosier 9/11 expert: Death 'hugely important'

One-time Midwest lawmakers who painstakingly scrutinized Osama bin Laden's hatred of the United States cautiously celebrate his demise.

Obama: Bin Laden's death a 'good day' for America

WASHINGTON | Declaring the killing of Osama bin Laden "a good day for America," President Barack Obama said Monday the world was safer without the al-Qaida terrorist and mastermind of the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks. His administration used DNA testing to help confirm that American forces in Paki…

Fallen soldier's brother urges vigilance, even with death of terrorist leader

When Crown Point's Nick Idalski enlisted in the U.S. Army to help wage war on terror, he knew it would be a continuation of generations-old fighting in the Middle East, his brother recalled Monday.