Colonel Cedric Leighton, US Air Force (Intelligence Officer, retired) vs. Thom Hartmann. Last week - as President Obama pitched his Afghanistan withdraw plan to the American people - he mentioned the Iraq war as well - and the progress that's been made in that country - take a look: We have ended our combat mission in Iraq - except no one told the Iraqi insurgents that. On Sunday - 2 US soldiers were killed in an attack in Iraq. Earlier in the month - another 6 US soldiers were killed in an attack. And in total this month - 11 US soldiers have died fighting in Iraq. That's the most deaths in a single month in Iraq since May of 2009. Again - this is a war in which combat missions have supposedly ended. What's going on here? Back in 2002 - we had troops stationed in Afghanistan to fight the Taliban and find Osama Bin Laden. But then we sent those troops to Iraq in Bush's misguided and illegal war. And what happened in Afghanistan? It exploded. So in 2009. President Obama took troops out of Iraq and sent them into Afghanistan - and now Iraq is exploding. So has our foreign policy in the Middle East turned into a giant - and deadly - game of whack-a-mole? How can we sustain this - and when do we just cut our losses - declare victory and go home? Or, have we laid the groundwork for perpetual war?

Mark Weisbrot, Center for Economic and Policy Research. Don't ride the bus in Greece. A 2-day strike has shut down the nation's public transportation system and riot police are now clashing with protestors in the streets of Athens today as the Greek Parliament is set to consider a $40 billion austerity package on Wednesday that targets working people with spending cuts and tax hikes. Passing these austerity measures is the last hurdle for Greece before they receive a bailout from the IMF and European Union. Previous spending cuts by the Greek government have already pushed unemployment in that nation to above 16% - and the public isn't taking too kindly to even more austerity. Doctors - ambulance drivers - public transit workers - and air traffic controllers - among others - have launched a 48-hour strike in protest of the austerity package being shoved down their throats by banksters at the IMF. But is austerity really the right way to in Greece? Leaders in Europe are worried that a Greek default could unleash a financial crisis across the entire continent - but is running that nation into the ground with forced austerity measures the best way to avoid fiscal calamity? And who has the upper an this negotiation anyway - the Greek Government - the leaders of the IMF and European Union - or thousands of Greeks in the streets of Athens?

Corporate CEOs have a secret they don't want you to know about...and that's how much money they're stealing from their workers. And Republicans are accomplices in the thievery. Last year - as part of the Wall Street reform bill passed by Congressional Democrats and signed by President Obama - there was a provision forcing corporations to disclose just how large the pay gap is between their CEOs and their average workers. As in how much more money the bigwig in the corporate office makes SITTING on his butt all year versus how much money the factory floor worker makes BUSTING his butt all year. The provision was included in hopes that if people knew just how gross the pay gap is between CEOs and workers - then maybe there would be more pressure to shrink it...as they say - sunlight is the best disinfectant. And today - outrageous corporate pay is infecting our economy. Consider that back in the 1970s - CEOs made about 30 times more than their average worker - as in what they did was 30 times more valuable to the company than what other workers did. But since then - the numbers have exploded - and today - CEOs make as much as 400 times their average worker and in some cases on Wall Street - as much as 2000 times the average worker. Can today's CEOs really justify that they are 2000 times more valuable to the company than their workers? They can't - and that's why they don't want you to know how much money they're taking from their corporate treasure chest to pad their ...

John Nichols, The Nation Magazine & Erikka Knuti, Democratic Strategist join Thom Hartmann. Students in Wisconsin can forget about a quality education. Yesterday - Koch brother lapdog Governor Scott Walker signed a new Republican budget bill to tackle the state's deficits caused by Governor Walker's tax breaks for corporations and millionaires and billionaires. And how does Walker's bill reduce the deficit? The Republican way of course - by cutting $800 million from public schools in the state - and directing those savings to even more corporate tax breaks. Another $250 million was cut from state universities - and $70 million slashed from tech schools. But Walker may have other problems on his hands beyond a backlash from students. Walker's right-hand man on the State Supreme Court - Justice David Prosser - is facing allegations that he choked-out another Supreme Court Justice - Ann Walsh Bradley - in her legal chambers two weeks ago. You may remember that Prosser is the guy who narrowly won re-election to the state's high court last month after 12000 votes mysteriously appeared in Waukesha County to put him over the top - and it was his decisive ruling that allowed Governor Walker's controversial anti-union law to survive a legal challenge earlier this month. So what will this latest controversy on the Wisconsin Supreme Court mean for Governor Walker's agenda - and those in Wisconsin who are fighting against it?