President Obama's announcement that all U.S. troops will withdraw from Iraq by the end of the year has prompted significant debate over the prudence of the policy. From the the politics of the decision, to possible threats of sectarian violence and the influence of Iran, opinion is sharply divided. Ted Koppel, Ret. Gen. Jack Keane, Bob Woodward, Brian Katulis and Peter Van Buren joined NPR's Neal Conan on Talk of the Nation today and weighed in.

Princeton University professor Cornel West has spent much of the past year battling with incensed Obama supporters from Al Sharpton to street demonstrators who resent his criticism of the president.

"He's ended up being the black mascot of the Wall Street oligarchs and corporate plutocrats!" West has insisted in several national forums.

Texas Gov. Rick Perry shook up his foundering presidential campaign Monday, bringing in old Republican Party hands, including former George W. Bush operative Joe Allbaugh who is to manage the effort.

Allbaugh will be joined on the campaign by top GOP pollster Tony Fabrizio, a former strategist for Bob Dole; Curt Anderson, an established GOP media strategist; and Nelson Warfield, who was spokesman for Dole's 1996 presidential campaign.

Fabrizio, Anderson, and Warfield all worked on Florida Republican Gov. Rick Scott's insurgent campaign last year.

Some of the results of Tunisia's first elections since the overthrow of its longtime dictator are in: The AP reports that "a leading Islamist party has taken half the seats reserved for Tunisians living abroad."

And in a statement, the opposing secular party conceded defeat. Via Reuters, they issued this statement:

The U.S. has had major successes against al-Qaida this year, taking out Osama bin Laden in Pakistan and Anwar al-Awlaki in Yemen.

But for American counterterrorism officials, concerns over al-Qaida in Africa keep growing.

When it comes to worries about raising kids in our modern age, the effects of chemicals in the environment are near the top of the list.

Unfortunately for those looking for definitive answers about BPA, the latest study doesn't have them.

Critics of bisphenol A say it can cause health problems by mimicking the hormone estrogen in the body, which could be hazardous for developing bodies. Some jurisdictions have moved to ban it.

On Tuesday, October 25, 2011, WYSO will present live coverage of a statewide debate on Issue 2, the referendum on Senate Bill 5 broadcast from Columbus, Ohio, 7-8pm.

Debating Issue 2 will be State Senator Keith Faber of Building a Better Ohio, who will be defending Issue 2, and Former Ohio Congressman Dennis Eckart of We Are Ohio, which opposes Issue 2

Over three decades, the U.S. has spent billions of dollars and lost 30 lives creating a unique aircraft, the Osprey, which lifts off like a helicopter and flies like a plane.

After all these problems, the Marines are now using them widely in Afghanistan and the Osprey is getting excellent reviews.

But the aircraft now faces another question: because it's so expensive, should the Osprey program be slashed as the Pentagon looks for cuts?

Since 2006, 40,000 people have been murdered in Mexico as drug cartels battle each other and the Mexican military.

British journalist Ioan Grillo has spent the past 10 years covering the Mexican drug trade. His book El Narco traces how Mexico came to dominate drug trafficking, how it spread throughout the country, and how the drug cartels have radically transformed the area along the U.S.-Mexico border.