WASHINGTON – Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton is formally opening the first direct peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians in nearly two years, imploring the two sides to make compromises to forge an agreement. In a ceremony at the State Department, Clinton said the Obama administration is committed to reaching a settlement in a year's time. But she stressed that after decades of failed attempts the main work belongs to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian Preside... (more)

WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama is opening a new round of Mideast peacemaking, bringing Israeli and Palestinian leaders together Wednesday for talks aimed at forging agreement within one year on a two-state solution: a sovereign Palestine and a secure Israel. Expectations were low as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas arrived Tuesday for preparatory talks with Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, who has spent months coaxing the parties back to the... (more)

Over the weekend our troops in Afghanistan beat back two complex attacks on two of our forward bases by members of The Haqqani Network.  A network of fighters that have links with both al-Qaeda and the Taliban as well as the Pakistan ISI agency.  They have a foothold in North Waziristan and make that area their headquarters. The Haqqani Network has been implicated in some of the biggest terror attacks in the Afghan capital city of Kabul, including the January 2008 suicide assault on the Serena hotel, th... (more)

KHAN BANI SAAD, Iraq -- A $40 million prison sits in the desert north of Baghdad, empty. A $165 million children's hospital goes unused in the south. A $100 million waste water treatment system in Fallujah has cost three times more than projected, yet sewage still runs through the streets. (more)

A Look at the Iraq War Conflict and its Milestones (more)

Baghdad, Iraq (CNN) -- "It's so bad, the security situation is so bad in Baghdad, Arwa, it really is you have to believe me," one of our maintenance staff said to me, his eyes welling with tears. In all my years here, even when the violence was at its worst, I have never seen him so distraught -- about a week ago. The most recent killing had been that morning. An 18-year-old murdered and his sister wounded. Their father was in the south for the anniversary of the death of his father, who was killed... (more)

BAGHDAD – The number of U.S. troops in Iraq has fallen below 50,000 for the first time since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion and ahead of the end-of-the-month deadline mandated by President Barack Obama, the American military said in a statement Tuesday. The number is a watershed in the more than seven years that the United States has been at war in Iraq. Under Obama's plan, American forces will no longer conduct combat operations but are instead to focus on training Iraqi troops. (more)

BAGHDAD (AFP) – A majority of Iraqis believe it was the wrong time for a major withdrawal of US combat troops, a poll said on Tuesday, with more than half also warning that it would have negative consequences. When asked if it was the right time for American soldiers to leave -- the US military earlier confirmed troop numbers in Iraq had fallen under 50,000 for the first time -- 59.8 percent said no, compared to 39.5 percent who said yes. Some 53.1 percent of respondents said they disagreed with Pr... (more)

(Reuters) - The top U.S. military commander in Iraq said local security forces will be ready for the withdrawal of American troops next year, but the United States could return to combat operations if needed. The Pentagon plans to cut troop numbers in Iraq to 50,000 by September 1 -- down from 176,000 at the peak of the deployment after the 2003 invasion to topple dictator Saddam Hussein. (more)

AP - As Lt. Col. Peter N. Benchoff prepares for an assault next month into the birthplace of the Taliban, he doesn't sugarcoat the hurdles his troops face in this crucial swath of southern Afghanistan (more)