Anwar Al-Awlaki, the terrorism suspect who was controversially placed on the United States’ kill or capture list (the first US citizen to be so “honored”), has been killed, according to reports confirmed by government officials. Al-Awlaki was killed by a US missile strike in Yemen, near the Saudi border. A high-level operative of al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, Al-Awlaki was linked to the Fort Hood shooting, and unsuccessful underwear bomber Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab.

Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, the 24-year-old Nigerian student who boarded an Amsterdam-to-Detroit plane Christmas 2009 morning with a bomb tucked into his underwear, showed up for jury selection with something to say. “Osama’s alive,” he shouted as he entered the Detroit court house where he hopes to defend himself against criminal charges, including conspiracy to commit [...]

The decision not to release photos of slain terrorist Osama bin Laden has been met with both bipartisan support and bipartisan opposition, so it isn’t that remarkable that liberal commentator Alan Colmes, left-leaning comic Jon Stewart, conservative icon Sarah Palin, and I agree that the photos should be released. What is somewhat remarkable, though, is that we have each offered separate, distinct, and compelling arguments for doing so.

For a little over a week, an eternity in news cycle dog years, the uproar over TSA pat-downs has dominated the media landscape like the bastard spawn of Rod Blagojevich, Sarah Palin, and Balloon Boy. Heading into the Thanksgiving weekend news dead zone, there seems little chance its momentum will slow, but The Daily Beast’s Howard Kurtz may be ushering in the most welcome phase of this story’s arc: the inevitable backlash against the TSA backlash.

Finally! Last night, The Daily Beast and The Atlantic posted articles about Al Qaeda’s first English-language magazine which carries the inspirational title, Ispire. The propaganda magazine is being distributed by jihadist websites (these guys may live in caves but even they know that print media is dead) and includes all kinds of fun terrorist content including, presumably, the world’s most boring centerfolds.

OK, maybe I’m exaggerating a little. Republican former House Speaker Newt Gingrich appeared on Jon Stewart’s Daily Show last night, and did little to advance his party’s attempts to politicize terrorism trials. While most are focusing on his self-inflicted “Richard Reid was a US citizen” wound, as well as Stewart’s “don’t let reality get in the way” zing, I found myself audibly cheering for Stewart as he described his attitude toward terrorism trials in New York.

Today marks the auspicious launch of Tucker Carlson‘s The Daily Caller, and in light of Carlson’s insistence that they’re not out “to grind any axes,” I was a little bit surprised by a front page story that said of the Underwear Bomber “he was ‘singing like a canary’ until the Obama administration read him his rights.” I wanted to double-check the facts on that, but when I asked Press Secretary Robert Gibbs about The Daily Caller, he said “What’s that?”

Thanks to the ‘Underwear Bomber’ and his Yemeni-based al Qaeda connections the country of Yemen is getting a lot of attention in the press these days. A lot. Depending on where you get your news Yemen is either filling the role in the Axis of Evil left vacant by Iraq, or beautiful and nuanced. Let’s take a tour.

Oof. Welcome to the new decade where apparently we are on our own when it comes to security. Of course you remember, last month when the Salahis created quite the media stir after they slipped the Secret Service “crashed” a White House state dinner. Now the Secret Service confirms that there was a third party crasher, which in light of the aftermath of the Christmas Bomber is no longer at all amusing.

As Joe Lieberman‘s recent gambit on the health care bill shows, the senator from Connecticut is not afraid to take unpopular — though often effective — stands. Yesterday, on This Week With George Stephanopoulos, Lieberman came to the defense of America’s detainment center at Guantanamo Bay, which he acknowledged had a “bad reputation,” but called a “humane” place. Video after the jump:

Wow. Twitter is all lit up this morning over Peter Baker’s upcoming NYT Magazine article ‘Inside Obama’s War on Terrorism.’ And for good reason: it is a bit of a game changer in a couple of respects. Not the least of which is the revelation that there was a serious terrorist plot to attack President Obama on Inauguration Day last January.

President Barack Obama was given a written report entitled “Key Homeland Threats” just three days before Christmas, warning of possible impending terrorist attacks in the United States, according to Newsweek, in a media situation very reminiscent of George W. Bush‘s infamous pre-9/11 “Bin Laden Determined To Strike in US” report. Could this spell a wave of bad press for Obama as the news cycle kicks back into gear after the holidays?

It’s been somewhat amusing this past week to hear media types express surprise over the fact that last week’s attempted bombing of Flight 253 resulted in an immediate round of partisan finger-pointing on Capitol Hill. I’m not sure what people were expecting after a year that must have set the record for bitter partisanship battling, but I shudder at this point to think what it would to take place to have both parties agree on…anything

The failed terrorist attack on Christmas day has sent nearly everyone in a frenzy over airport security. And while many Americans are willing to make some sacrifices in the name of safe flying, that appears to only go so far, best evidenced by today’s scorn the news media brought towards underwear searches — particularly those made by dogs. But not only was there great skepticism, there was also a strange obsession with our nether regions. More specifically, the nation’s collective crotch.

On Sunday night, Weather Channel meteorologist Kim Perez got a surprise at the office — her boyfriend Marty Cunningham live, on the air, with a ring. AWWWWWWW, said the Internet collectively, relieved to have a new feel-good hero to make us feel a little less terrified about all those would-be terrorists training in Yemen. Marty [...]

Maybe Maureen Dowd should take over national security (hey, apparently the people in charge have not been doing all that much!). According to today’s column MoDo practically predicted that there would be a terrorist attack over the holiday.

The failed Christmas attack on Flight 253 has inspired both politicians and opinion journalists to quickly attempt to identify who is most to blame. And it seems like the first to have fingers pointed at her in this story is Janet Napolitano, Secretary of Homeland Security. But predictably, one can find whatever analysis conforms with one’s own opinion on any of the three major cable news channels. So we’ve edited together punditry from three commentators representing the Left, the Right and the Center, all in one video.

It’s hard not to wonder if the story of Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab may turn out to be the biggest story of the year if it keeps developing the way it does. Actually, it’s getting hard not to feel a sense of deja vu all over again as more of the details come to light, because while the attempted attack on Northwest Flight 253 in no way resembles the horror and destruction of September 11, 2001 the lack of government preparedness in the face of a whole lot of intel leading up to it is starting to feel awfully familiar.

“Readers keep emailing me to tell me that as far as cable news is concerned, today’s events might as well be happening on Mars. I cannot confirm this because when real news happens, the last place I look is the cable news channels. But I cannot say I am surprised. Since this does not have [...]

Despite rumors of slumping newsstand, a persistent ad recession, and a nasty harassment allegation, the NY Post still delivers on what it does best: evidenced in the front page headline on today’s paper that concerns the failed attack of Flight 253. Update – It appears that Gawker Weekend Editor Foster Kamer made the same exact joke over the weekend!

A discussion of Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, and terrorism in general, turned into a heated debate between two Republicans on Larry King Live last night.

Ben Stein and Rep. Ron Paul displayed their very different takes on foreign policy – until Stein called Paul’s argument “anti-Semitic” and the segment took a turn.

As more scary details emerge about Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab flight to the U.S. and the TSA’s lack of security it may not be entirely surprising that the incident is bringing out, shall we say, certain people’s worser angels.Case in point: Yesterday on Fox News conservative talking head Mike Gallagher, in an effort to address the “800 lbs gorilla in the room” suggested that there should be a separate line in airports for Muslims.

Fox Business Host Eric Bolling was subbing in today for a vacationing Bill O’Reilly and introduced the hot-topic on cable news of late – airport security. But rather than pussyfoot around the issue, Bolling dove right in, asking if the failed attack on Flight 253 means that its “time to profile.” Guest Ann Coulter quickly agreed, while Matthew Lippman, former adviser to the Obama Campaign, demurred. Video and poll after the jump.

Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano may have given conservatives a great new t-shirt idea yesterday by claiming that the system “worked like clockwork” once the flight 253 incident had occurred (a disclaimer that rendered the statement meaningless), but there may actually be some truth to the notion that the system worked. Napolitano’s statement (since “clarified”) was a wrongheaded attempt at reassurance, it seems that a whole bunch of other people have an interest in making you as scared as possible.

President Obama stepped away from his Christmas vacation in Hawaii to hold a short press conference in order to address Friday’s averted terrorist attack aboard Northwest Flight 253 as well as the escalating conflict in Iran. The President appeared without tie, or teleprompter, to reassure the nation that “we will not rest until we find all who were involved and hold them accountable” and that “the American people should be assured that we are doing everything in our power to you keep you and your family safe and secure during this busy holiday season.”