The state's senior U.S. senator said Thursday that eventual approval of a comprehensive immigration plan with Republican votes will enable the GOP to once again compete for Latino votes in Arizona.

Ahmed Alsoudani says that America is a dreamland. Yet, his complex paintings of violence and warfare are very much influenced by his upbringing.

I voted for Barack Obama, twice.

Ten years on, what do we have as a result of our involvement in Iraq?

March 19 this past week marked the 10th anniversary of the U.S. invasion of Iraq originally named Operation Iraqi Liberation (OIL) later changed to Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF). Just to note some of the “Shock and Awe” for our $3 trillion to $5 trillion dollar investment: 4,489 dead U.S. soldiers, 32,220 U.S. wounded. This does not include dead or wounded U.S. civilians or private contractors nor the 300,000 plus brain injury and PTSD cases.

“Is there a criminal penalty for shooting down a drone over U.S. soil?”

Rapidly advancing drone technology packing the latest surveillance tools into affordable and lightweight machines could help police do their jobs more effectively and with greater safety.

State lawmakers on Wednesday gave the first clearance to a measure designed to require police to get search warrants before they use drones to gather evidence.

WASHINGTON — Uncompromising and politically emboldened, President Barack Obama urged a deeply divided Congress Tuesday night to embrace his plans to use government money to create jobs and strengthen the nation's middle class. He declared Republican ideas for reducing the deficit "even worse" than the unpalatable deals Washington had to stomach during his first term.

My reaction to Bill Richardson’s guest commentary of Dec. 28, “Young warriors a truly special breed,” is dismay. Although I respect his service as master police officer, and appreciate most of his contributions to the Tribune, I must comment that some of the opinions in this article are historically naive, on one hand, and disingenuous on the other.

With “The Hurt Locker,” which won six Academy Awards including Best Picture in 2010, Kathryn Bigelow created a riveting, small-scale war film focusing on a first-rate bomb squad unit in Iraq. The key to the film’s effectiveness was its emphasis on less being more – rather than drumming up suspense with constant explosions and shootouts, it was the quiet before the storm and what made the soldiers tick that really seized our attention.

Just before Christmas we had a guest in our home. A young man who is a U. S. Army staff sergeant, a soldier, an infantryman who has led men in combat on the fields of battle in Iraq and Afghanistan. He was passing through on his way to his latest tour of duty in Afghanistan where people want to kill him. He’s been to war a half-dozen times now since he enlisted a dozen years ago after graduating from high school. Going to war has been his adult life.

An Iraqi man charged with detonating a homemade explosive device outside a Social Security Administration office building in Casa Grande has been indicted by a federal grand jury.

Nanny state? Please Linda Turley-Hansen; do not insult me or the majority of America’s intelligent citizens who voted for and elected the president of our choice (“Stuck in America,” AFN, Nov. 16). Who does have charisma and is not just an empty suit; but is also trustworthy; was able to give us “details” of his policies instead of the statement “trust me,” and was more than a mouth piece for the right wing faction of the Republican party.

The army invading the United States in "Red Dawn," an ill-advised remake of the campy 1984 original, was changed in post-production from Chinese to North Korean. With a few snips here, a few re-dubs there, the filmmakers re-edited and re-shot, fearful of offending China and its increasingly important movie-going market.

Never before in U.S. history have the American people held its military in such (unrealistic) esteem. Possibly, it is partially due to false images portrayed by the for-profit 24/7 cable-news organizations; possibly, it is partially due to the general American public’s lack of experience, and knowledge — i.e., we’ve lost our grip on reality.

“To the venter who thinks Linda Turley-Hansen’s Sunday commentary was ‘such hate and vitriol’: What a pity you can’t recognize truth when you see it. She is factual and accurate in all she writes. Take off your ‘liberal glasses’ for once.”

In this highly contentious election season, we all agreed about one thing: This was a big deal. The two presidential candidates offered vividly contrasting visions of America's future. It was taxing the rich versus tax reform, it was redesigning our entitlement programs versus maintaining them as is, it was fiscal discipline versus deficits indefinitely.

Companies that hire veterans employ men and women who have received some of the world’s best skills and leadership training. They’ve been pushed to achieve high personal performance and know how to work in teams — they’ve had to cover someone’s back. They bring all this to work every day, along with their personal integrity and strength of character.

Jack Jarzynka had driven past American Legion Post 39 in Gilbert “about 100 times,” so one Saturday night after he and his wife, Kathy, had dinner about six years ago, he decided to stop in for a 1950s and 60s dance.

Editor's Note: These letters to the editor have been sorted by topic by the Tribune editorial staff in an effort to allow readers to read varied opinions on the issues, candidates, and other circumstances surrounding the 2012 general election. These submissions are the opinions of the author, not the Tribune, and have not been edited for grammar or content.

Editor's Note: These letters to the editor have been sorted by topic by the Tribune editorial staff in an effort to allow readers to read varied opinions on the issues, candidates, and other circumstances surrounding the 2012 general election. These submissions are the opinions of the author, not the Tribune, and have not been edited for grammar or content.

Peering through the new prescription glasses he just got from the veterans hospital, Korean War veteran Gilbert Torres sifted through a stack of papers detailing claims he’d had pending with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs since July 2011.

BOCA RATON, Fla. — President Barack Obama sharply challenged Mitt Romney on foreign policy in their final campaign debate Monday night, accusing him of "wrong and reckless leadership that is all over the map." The Republican coolly responded, "Attacking me is not an agenda" for dealing with a dangerous world.