War_Conflict

SYRIA.jpg

Syrian army defectors stand guard on a rooftop to secure an anti-Syrian regime protest in the Deir Baghlaba area in Homs province, central Syria, on Friday, Jan. 27, 2012. Armed forces loyal to President Bashar Assad barraged residential buildings with mortars and machine-gun fire, killing at least 30 people, including a family of women and children during a day of sectarian killings and kidnappings in the besieged Syrian city of Homs, activists said Friday. (AP Photo)

STATEHOOD_20120127_001.JPG

D.C. Council member Michael A. Brown, Council Chairman Kwame R. Brown, D.C. Shadow Senator Michael D. Brown and Council member Vincent B. Orange look at portraits of New Hampshire revolutionaries that hang in the main hall of the New Hampshire State House, Concord, N.H., Friday, Jan. 27, 2012. (Andrew Harnik/The Washington Times)

ARMY.jpg

** FILE ** Gen. Raymond Odierno, Army chief of staff, speaks during a news conference at the Pentagon on Jan. 27, 2012, to discuss cuts to the Army. (Associated Press)

20120126-203232-pic-397707680.jpg

Syrian army defectors celebrate with the Syrian revolution flag shortly after they joined the anti-regime protesters in Homs province on Thursday, the same day Syrian troops stormed a suburb of Damascus as the 10-month uprising inches ever closer to the capital. "A fierce battle is taking place, and troops are shelling areas with heavy machine gunfire," an activist said. (Associated Press)

PANETTA.jpg

** FILE ** In this Jan. 24, 2012, file photo, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta is seen on Capitol Hill in Washington. The U.S. Army plans to slash the number of combat brigades from 45 to as low as 32, and broadly restructure its fighting force to save money and cut the size of the service by about 80,000 soldiers, according to U.S. officials familiar with the plans. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)

20120125-201248-pic-156378031.jpg

Egyptians set up an obelisk with the names of people who were killed during the 18-day uprising as they marked in Cairo's Tahrir Square on Wednesday the first anniversary of the start of the revolt that forced President Hosni Mubarak from power. (Associated Press)

20120125-201248-pic-130640773.jpg

Egyptians chant slogans during a demonstration marking the first anniversary of the popular uprising that unseated President Hosni Mubarak in Giza, Egypt, Wednesday, Jan. 25, 2012. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra)

20120125-201248-pic-320731507.jpg

Egyptian protesters hold a large banner depicting Gen. Hussein Tantawi, left, former President Hosni Mubarak, center, and former interior minister Habib al-Adly in nooses with Arabic writing that reads, "The peoples rule," in Tahrir Square during a rally to mark the one year anniversary of the uprising that ousted President Hosni Mubarak in Cairo, Egypt, Wednesday, Jan. 25, 2012. Tens of thousands of Egyptians rallied Wednesday to mark the first anniversary of the country's 2011 uprising, with liberals and Islamists gathering on different sides of Cairo's Tahrir Square in a reflection of the deep political divides that emerged in the year since the downfall of longtime leader Hosni Mubarak. The graffiti at right, in Arabic, reads, "freedom," and "down with the military rule."(AP Photo/Muhammed Muheisen)

Mideast Israel Palest_Lea.jpg

European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton speaks at a press conference in Gaza City, Gaza Strip, on Wednesday, Jan. 25, 2012. Ms. Ashton is on a three-day visit to Israel and the Palestinian territories as part of her ongoing efforts to encourage the two sides to resume negotiations. (AP Photo/Hatem Moussa)

Mideast Iraq US Marin_Live.jpg

Aws Fahmy (left), 45, who was injured in the U.S. Marines raid in Haditha, Iraq, in 2005 and Omer Chasib, who lost his father in the same attack, stand Jan. 24, 2012, at the scene of the raid. (Associated Press)

SOMALIA2.jpg

This undated photo taken at an unknown location and released by the Danish Refugee Council on Wednesday, Jan. 25, 2012, shows Dane Poul Hagen Thisted from the Danish Refugee Council's de-mining unit. (AP Photo/Danish Refugee Council)

SOMALIA.jpg

This undated photo taken at an unknown location and released by the Danish Refugee Council on Wednesday, Jan. 25, 2012, shows American Jessica Buchanan from the Danish Refugee Council's de-mining unit. (AP Photo/Danish Refugee Council)

20120124-223747-pic-217819538.jpg

Occupy D.C. protesters Drew Veysey and Sam Jewler (from left) hold a D.C. flag behind Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton as she speaks to reporters following a hearing Tuesday about the occupation of McPherson Square.

20120124-200154-pic-506543521.jpg

Former rebel fighters celebrate as smoke rises from Bani Walid, Libya, at the northern gate of the town in September. Moammar Gadhafi loyalists seized control of the Libyan city and raised the ousted regime's green flag, an official and military commanders said Tuesday. (Associated Press)

20120124-190002-pic-692622052.jpg

An anti bomb police officer collect undetonated soft drink can bombs recovery from Islamic militants in Kano, Nigeria, on Tuesday, Jan. 24, 2012. Police said Tuesday that members of the radical Islamist group Boko Haram dressed in uniforms resembling those of soldiers and police officers when they launched their attack Friday in Kano. At least 185 people died in the attacks. (AP Photo/Sunday Alamba)

20120124-190002-pic-928525855.jpg

Men in Kano, Nigeria, look around a house where a man and his pregnant wife were killed Tuesday in an attack witnesses said was carried out by security forces seeking members of Boko Haram. The sect has been blamed for an attack four days earlier that killed at least 185 people, but relatives said Tuesday's victims were not involved with it. Below, police officers collect undetonated soft-drink-can bombs recovered from the militants. (Associated Press)

US Iran_Live.jpg

The aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln transits the Indian Ocean on Jan. 18, 2012. (AP Photo/U.S. Navy)

Romania Protests_Lea.jpg

**FILE** Anti-government protesters wave banners during a demonstration march in Bucharest, Romania, on Jan. 24, 2012. The protesters called for the resignation of the country's president and early elections. (Associated Press)

Mideast Egypt_Lea.jpg

An Egyptian protester reads a newspaper outside a tent in Tahrir Square in Cairo on Tuesday, Jan. 24, 2012, a day before planned demonstrations to mark the first anniversary of the start of the uprising that deposed President Hosni Mubarak. (AP Photo/Muhammed Muheisen)