Yesterday the Treasury Department designated six al Qaeda members as global terrorists. These operatives form a network that funnels money and personnel from the Gulf to Iraq, Afghanistan, and Pakistan via Iran and is tied to other enemy groups. Al Qaeda's safe haven in Iran is not unlike the militant sanctuary in Pakistan.

Venezuelan leader Hugo Chávez has tried for 10 months to conceal the fact that he is losing his bout with cancer, determined to appear in command of his revolutionary regime and the nation's future. So why isn't anyone outside Venezuela paying attention?

Why should New York City bear the $216 million burden of the trial of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed?

In clandestine intelligence collection and covert action, bigger is rarely better.

Diplomats must move quietly but quickly to coordinate a regional response to Chávez’s death that will press for a genuine democratic transition, and not the succession Chavistas have in mind.

Bringing ROTC to the Ivy Leagues would be a great start, but bridging the military's deepening geographic and cultural divide will require a much greater effort.

Neither the framers nor subsequent political leaders had built in to the constitutional framework any plans to reconstitute Congress in the event of a catastrophe like 9/11. I called for Congressional leaders to at least create a commission to study the problem and potential solutions.

The Christmas terrorist attack demonstrates the need for more effective communication and analysis within the U.S. intelligence community, and greater centralization and bureaucracy are causes behind, not solutions to its failings.