By host Tom Ashbrook:

A tough year, and a tough week — even into the heart of the holidays. A brand-spanking new Secretary of Defense, on his way to Iraq, says failure would be a calamity. But the President and Joint Chiefs are reported at odds on what to do next.

Surge or no surge, we’ve got murder charges for Marines who served in Haditha. Orders for more US naval power off the coast of Iran.

Back home, the Republican Congress went out in a blaze of last-ditch pork barrel spending that its own House budget chairman called “embarrassing.” Democrats are revving to take the reins. And we’re socked in in Denver.

This hour On Point: a week in the news with top analysts, Jack Beatty and you.

Guests:

H.D.S. Greenway, Boston Globe columnist

Andrea Stone, USA Today national correspondent

Jack Beatty, On Point news analyst and senior editor at The Atlantic Monthly