The lead article in today’s New York Times, “Afghan Soldiers Step Up Killings of Allied Forces,” describes an irreconcilable difference between the cultures in Afghanistan and the United States.

As a result of these differences, the very Afghan soldiers being trained by Allied Forces are committing acts of homicide against U.S. forces. Though previously dismissed as isolated incidents, it appears there is a mutual disrespect between the two sides that has led to the murder of 58 Allied Forces by the Afghan Army and police units.

The issue came to the fore again when videos surfaced of U.S. Marines pissing on dead Afghan civilians. Believe it or not, these pictures were praised by certain members of U.S. forces on their respective Facebook accounts.

Afghanistan has a history of rejecting foreign forces on their soil, and it seems that even after the U.S. Army leaves, they will receive no thanks for their efforts.

At least, we can be thankful to have rid the country of Al Qaeda and to have eventually found and eliminated Osama bin Laden. And perhaps we have brought some measure of civilization, at least in the way they educate and respect their female members.

The killing of U.S. soldiers though by the very people they are training is particularly inexcusable.

The lead story in The New York Times, “Obama is Faulted by Swing Voters in a New Survey,” while being spun with the typical Obama-is-in-trouble attitude that has become prevalent in today’s media — because it provides interest and connotes a horse race — carries hope for the President in some important aspects.

First of all, and most important, it notes that the economy is starting to improve, bringing some hope for a positive trajectory as Election Day inexorably approaches. Second, the polling suggests that independent voters have yet to form an opinion about Mitt Romney, the probable and strongest Republican nominee. This gives the Democrats an opportunity to define him — and that definition is increasingly spinning into a rich out-of-touch candidate, a member of the one percent, as the OWS protestors convincingly put it.

Most important, it shows an increasing lack of enthusiasm among Republicans for their eventual nominee. While many of them would vote for even Ron Paul over the President, this turnoff on the race translates to a reluctance to volunteer, a critical element in convincing undecided voters in a close election.

And the President has yet to start his full-court press. The campaign is on the verge of bursting into full view, both with a soon-to-be-deluge of advertisements in swing states and the very public State of the Union address scheduled for Tuesday.

And the President has a very convincing case to make and, as a campaigner, the talent needed to communicate it. While the Republican elite is cynically trying to create a bandwagon effect, they may very well find themselves overextended, out on a limb, just as they were caught by their reluctance to renew the payroll tax cut.

The lead article in today’s New York Times, “Pressed, Romney Shares Tax Data,” illustrates the different world that the Republican candidate lives in compared to the rest of us. With a fortune estimated at $190 to $250 million, Mr. Romney is particularly divorced from reality. His joking about being unemployed, his reference to more than $300,000 in speaking fees as not very much, and other remarks are easily understood by the top one percent.

At a time of increased awareness about income inequality, and the unwillingness of many of the wealthy to pay their fair share, one wonders how this will play with voters in a campaign against President Obama.

Also, yesterday, Mr. Romney revealed that he pays an effective income tax of 15 percent, far less than many with an earned salary. That’s because the Bush tax cuts treat investment income as a separate class, particularly convenient for the wealthy who earn most of their income in this form.

Of course, Romney’s Republican opponents jumped all over each other to take advantage of the most recent revelations. Gone are the days when it was considered poor form to criticize a fellow Republicans. It’s good to see the Republicans duking it out for a change — because that’s the way our democracy was meant to work, and hopefully it will rebound to President Obama’s advantage.

The lead article in today’s New York Times, “Forceful Attack Against Romney in G.O.P. Debate,” focuses on the continuing dynamics of the Republican race for President and shows the power of ego and human pride in determining the outcome.

Mitt Romney is cruising on his way to the nomination because the conservative opposition, most notably the conservative candidates, refuse to step aside to choose one opponent to represent their views. More specifically, Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum are battling to claim that mantle, and, in so doing, may be destroying any chance of success.

If just one of them could step aside for the good of their cause, they would receive accolades, power and influence far beyond their wildest dreams. They would be a shoo-in for an influential cabinet post, ambassadorship and maybe even the Vice Presidency.

But I guess if you have the ego to run for President of the United States, it’s hard to step aside for the good of the “conservative cause.” They both know the necessity, but each thinks the other should yield.

To put it bluntly, if they really were social conservatives, they would understand the role of humility in the Christian faith, and the power of Jesus’ adage that many who are first shall be last, and many who are last shall be first.

The lead article in today’s New York Times, “Iran Adversaries Said to Step Up Covert Actions,” correctly portrayed the latest assassination of an Iranian nuclear scientist as a potential alternative to war against Iran.

The covert actions currently being undertaken by the United States and Israel include assassinations, bombings, cyberattacks and defections, and they are having a devastating effect. The latest incident, the assassination of a supervisor at the Natanz Uranium Enrichment Plant, was carried out with the same modus operandi as the other assassinations: a motorcycle draws up to the car, attaches a magnetic bomb to the outer surface, then speeds away.

In other incidents, just three months ago, a bomb exploded at an Iranian missile plant, wreaking intensive damage and killing an Iranian general at the same time. And the famous Stuxnet computer worm put about a fifth of the Iranian centrifuges out of action.

The one nice thing about these events is that the Iranians don’t know who to retaliate against. Unlike war, which would draft swift international condemnations, sabotage does not evoke the same sort of nationalist outrage.

The hope is that these covert actions in combination with international sanctions will eventually make the Iranians realize that the cost of a nuclear weapon is just too great and not worth the effort.

The lead article in today’s New York Times, “Romney is Winner in New Hampshire, Blunting Attacks,” elaborates on his unambiguous win in New Hampshire, becoming the first person to string that victory with Iowa in a one-two punch. If he wins in the next primary in South Carolina as well, he will start to project an aura of invincibility.

Romney’s double digit win can be partly explained by his governorship in nearby Massachusetts, giving him a favorite son status. Yet Jon Huntsman practically moved into the state and still finished a distant third. More interesting is Ron Paul’s candidacy for its unconventional libertarian reviews, uniting pacifists and drug users with conservative economic views. However, no one thinks he could ever get the nomination.

South Carolina has the next primary on January 21, followed by Florida on January 31, and many think the nomination will be decided by then. It looks to be Mitt Romney as an odds on favorite unless some conservative politician can put his ego aside to support a consensus candidate. Asking a national politician to do so, however, is a tall order since you have to have a pretty healthy ego to run for President in the first place.

Romney made several errors in the lead-up to the primary, statements showing a degree of economic insensitivity, but they don’t appear to have harmed him.

The lead article in today’s New York Times, “Iran Sentences American to Die on Spy Charges,” represents another wrench in the frigid relations between the two countries and is unlikely to result in a negotiated release.

Iran is feeling besieged these days after four rounds of sanctions by the United Nations, a computer virus against its centrifuges, the assassination of nuclear scientists and threatened boycotts against its most lucrative export, oil.

As a result, they have conducted military exercises and threatened to block the Strait of Hormuz, an essential shipping lane for Arab oil through the Persian Gulf. The U.S. military has responded vigorously to this threat and said it would be a red line that Iran should not cross.

The American convicted has a military background and could conceivably be a spy. The CIA has refused to comment on the allegations, but the family and U.S. government have protested vigorously. One hope is that the conviction has been made as a bargaining chip for possible nuclear talks offered by Turkey as a host.

Meanwhile, the Republicans continue to make bellicose statements about Iran that are totally unhelpful to resolving an already difficult situation. Only Ron Paul seems to understand that war is a terrible thing and should only occur as a last resort.

The lead article in today’s New York Times, “A Sharper Edge for Republicans as Voting Nears,” describes how the atmosphere for the Republican presidential primary election in New Hampshire has changed in just 12 hours.

A pretty tame debate on Saturday night, widely acknowledged to be won by Mitt Romney, if only for staving off his opponents, was transformed into an all-out donnybrook in a follow-up debate on Sunday morning on a special edition of Meet the Press.

Previewing a theme the Democrats will inevitably raise, Mr. Romney’s opponents attacked him for his pedigree, and Romney played right into their hands by stating that a politician should not run for office until he has fully paid off his mortgage. Newt Gingrich seized upon this error by stating that he felt ordinary people should enter politics as well.

And there were many other barbs. Even Jon Huntsman got into the act, attacking Romney for his hyper-partisan attitude, after Romney attacked him for working for President Obama.

Republican conservatives, however, remain badly split, and unless they can put their egos aside and settle upon one alternative to Romney, they will find themselves at a lackluster convention in Florida, nominating the man they all love to hate.

The lead article in today’s New York Times, “200,000 New Jobs are Positive Sign in U.S. Economy,” represents some much needed good news for President Obama. It’s the sixth straight month the economy has added 100,000 or more jobs, and it enables the President to argue that he took over a financial disaster and is in the process of bringing the economy back.

The news was positive on nearly every front. Consumer confidence increased, and the recovery was broad-based in nearly every industrial sector. It is now up to Congress to ensure the recovery continues by extending the payroll tax cut through the whole year instead of just until February.

Of course, the Republican candidates are loath to give the President any credit for the improved economic conditions even though they are quick to attack him when the economy lags. Mitt Romney made an unsubstantiated claim that the President does not understand how the economy works despite the President’s erudite advisors.

And meanwhile, the events on the Republican side represent somewhat of a farce while the White House deals with the weighty matters of running the country. Tonight’s debate does prove to be entertaining though as Newt Gingrich promises to sink his teeth into Romney after being humiliated in Iowa by Romney’s Super PAC.

The lead article in today’s New York Times, “Iraq Insurgents Take Up Politics, Raising Tensions,” describes an alarming attempt by a militant Iraqi group, beholden to Iran, to enter the Iraqi government, with the blessing of Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki.

Maliki is playing a political game, trying to get new allies in the Iraqi parliament where he is currently persona non grata after an attempt to arrest the country’s Sunni Vice President on hard-to-believe accusations of running a hit squad.

This move resulted in a walkout by many members of Parliament, leaving them without the quorum necessary to do business. Maliki claims that the new group, Asabi Ahl al-Haq, or AAH for short, has foresworn violence … after killing scores of Americans and being identified as having a close relationship with the Iranian al-Quds fighting force.

That remains to be seen with numerous American diplomats and securithy contractors still in the country. Even the belligerent political party of Moktada al-Sadr has had a falling out with AAH and views them as too radical to enter the government. Of course, AAH would need to win some elections first.

And meanwhile, violence has spiked again in the country after the Americans’ departure. Multiple bombings, including a recent one killing more than 40 Shiite pilgrims, threaten to renew a civil war in the nation.

What a mess.