Syria: Israeli jets strike near Damascus

• Targets unclear, though state-run news agency calls strikes a "flagrant attack on Syria"


• Strikes caused "material damage to some facilities," but targets civilian, army says


• Opposition groups says one target was "military area," the other a warehouse at airport

(CNN) -- Planes believed to be Israeli struck inside Syria on Sunday, the Syrian government and an opposition group said, but the two entities differed over whether the targets belonged to the Syrian military.

The state-run Syrian Arab News Agency characterized the strikes as "a flagrant attack on Syria, targeting two safe areas in (the) Damascus countryside in Dimas and near Damascus International Airport." There were no casualties, SANA reported.

But a London-based opposition group, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said "warplanes believed to be Israeli" struck a "military area" in Dimas, a Damascus suburb. The airport target was an import-and-export warehouse, and it was not clear whether the warehouse contained weapons, SOHR said.

"There were at least 10 explosions heard in the area, and it is not known at this moment if there are any injuries as a result of these two raids," the SOHR statement said.

Syria: The forgotten border with Israel

Israel: We shot down Syrian fighter jet

Middle East surging in war and terror

Israeli hospitals treating Syrians

The Syrian army released a statement saying the strikes caused "material damage to some facilities" and reiterating the SANA claim that the targets were civilian.

"This attack proves Israel's direct involvement in supporting terrorists in Syria against which the Armed Forces achieved significant victories in Deir Ezzor, Aleppo, and other areas," the statement said. "The General Command asserted that such acts of aggression will not dissuade it from continuing its war on terrorism in all its forms across the entirety of Syria."

U.S. options in Syria shrivel as Islamists and Assad regime make gains

Israel did not immediately respond to the claim but has declined in the past to comment on what it calls "foreign reports."

The government of Syria's President Bashar al-Assad is engaged in a long-running civil war which has seen some conflict spill over into neighboring countries.

In March, after a bomb killed four Israeli paratroopers in the Golan Heights, Israeli forces responded with artillery fire aimed at Syrian military targets across the frontier, the IDF said. Israel then followed up with airstrikes.

"We will not tolerate any violation of our sovereignty and attacks against our soldiers and civilians, and we will act unwaveringly and with strength against all those that are acting against us, at every time and every place," Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon said.

"We see the Assad regime as responsible for what is going on in its territory, and if it continues to cooperate with terror organizations that are trying to attack Israel, we will continue to extract a heavy price from him, in a way which will make him regret his actions."

In October 2013, Israeli warplanes struck a military base near the Syrian port city of Latakia, an Obama administration official told CNN.

The target, according to the official, was missiles and related equipment the Israelis feared might be transferred to the Lebanon-based militant group Hezbollah. The official declined to be identified because of the sensitive nature of the information.

Asked for comment on that strike, an Israel Defense Forces spokeswoman told CNN, "We don't refer to foreign reports."

Life in the rubble of Kobani

CNN's Samira Said and Barbara Starr contributed to this report.

Riding Japan's super-luxury train

Majestic volcanoes, hills cloaked in cypress trees and bamboo forests, shimmering green rice fields, and a shoreline of bays filled with boats and seaweed farms unravel as part of the landscape.

The interiors are examples of the best in Japanese craftsmanship. Walls are rosewood and maple, floors are walnut, window coverings are shoji paper screens and sliding glass doors are etched with flowers and birds.

Part of the train's purpose is to "introduce Kyushu to the world," according to the Seven Stars company. Traveling at a fairly ordinary speed, the train savors the changing surroundings.

Japan is famous for its hasty bullet trains. But the country is investing more than $34 million into a luxury train with the aim of going slow.

The back end of the carriage is a giant floor-to-ceiling window, like a flickering movie screen on which the passing landscapes are act out their various parts

The "Seven Stars in Kyushu" is Japan's answer to the Orient Express. With seven carriages having space for just 30 people in 14 suites, it's very exclusive with some 21 applications for every berth

Every landscape has at least a couple of people in it, waving. At you! But be sure to enjoy your wine as it will constantly be refilled.

By the bar, a gifted violin and piano duo is tackling everything from Mozart to Guns 'n' Roses, and they ask for requests.

Kyushu is the most southwesterly island in the chain, which means it's the warmest and most tropically lush, with more than its fair share of volcanoes and spas.

What's for lunch? A selection of amuse-bouches of locally-sourced produce are offered to begin with.

Within a few hours of setting off from Fukuoka on a four-day itinerary, you'll find yourself in hot water -- or more specifically, your feet, into a mineral water footspa on the station platform at Yufuin, in a valley filled with plumes of rising steam.

• Japan invested more than $34 million into Seven Stars train in Kyushu island


• The exclusive luxury train has seven carriages for 30 guests in 14 suites


• Kyushu, the most southwesterly of Japan's main islands, is the warmest and most tropically lush


• Guests on three-night trips will sleep two nights on the train and one night at a hot springs resort

Editor's note: CNN's On the Road series brings you a greater insight into the customs and culture of countries across the world. Until mid-December CNN International explores the places, people and passions unique to Japan. Read CNN's special reports policy.

(CNN) -- I'm sitting in the lounge car of a train and traveling at a fairly ordinary speed.

But this is no ordinary train: the back end of the carriage is a giant floor-to-ceiling window, like a flickering movie screen on which the passing landscapes are acting out their various parts.

There are volcanoes being majestic, and hills cloaked in forests of cypress trees and bamboo. There are rice fields shimmering with green and a shoreline of bays filled with boats and seaweed farms, which unravels as the train goes past.

Moreover, every landscape has at least a couple of people in it, waving. At me.

I wave back -- when I remember -- but I'm a bit busy. My wine glass is being refilled.

Behind me, by the bar, a gifted violin-and-piano duo is tackling everything from Mozart to Guns 'n' Roses, and they're asking for requests.

And on the table in front of me is a selection of amuse-bouches either wrapped in leaves, or served on delicate porcelain or in bamboo boxes; mouthfuls of locally-sourced beef, wood-smoked fish, pungent sea urchin, plus of course fugu -- the fish that needs to be cooked by a highly trained and licensed chef, or you're dead.

Exclusive and luxurious

I'm in Japan, a country famous for its trains, but generally not the sort that allow their passengers to savor their surroundings like this one does.

Shinkansen, the country's bullet trains, for example, have a fuselage-like interior which pays little heed to anything in its haste to get from one end of country to the other.

But now Japan Rail Kyushu have invested big money -- over $34 million -- into a special train with the deliberate aim of going slow.

This chocolate liveried locomotive chugs along the branch lines, truffling out local delicacies and hot springs, and giving locals cause to stop their planting and harvesting in order to stare and wave.

The "Seven Stars in

MORE: Whodunit on wheels: Riding London's murder mystery express

Seven Stars is Japan's version of the Orient Express,without the Agatha Christie murder mystery.

The interiors around me are examples of the best in Japanese craftsmanship: walls are of rosewood and maple, floors are made from walnut, window coverings are shoji paper screens, sliding glass doors are etched with flowers and birds.

Volcanoes and hot springs

Part of the train's purpose is to "introduce Kyushu to the world," according to the Seven Stars company, because Japan's third largest island is not a first-timer's destination.

Kyushu is the most southwesterly main island in the chain, which means it is the warmest and most tropically lush, with more than its fair share of volcanoes and spas.

So within a few hours of setting off from capital Fukuoka on our four-day itinerary, we've already got into hot water -- or more specifically, our feet have, into a mineral water footspa on the station platform at Yufuin, in a valley filled with plumes of rising steam.

The journey here has been up through hill country, ambushing rivers, clattering across iron bridges, scything through rice terracing spiced with hurricane lilies -- crimson wildflowers that look like splashes of blood amongst the yellowing harvest.

At the station, we are met by the Seven Stars luxury bus, which is to shadow us throughout our journey, ready to pounce whenever needed. This time it takes us to a tea-house in ornamental gardens where we try "plum pudding" -- actually a sort of sorbet with a plum at the center.

READ: 11 most spectacular train stations

Fast forward a day, and the landscape has changed completely. The train has rumbled south to the coastal city of Kagoshima, where Mount Sakurajima looms, puffing out clouds of ash.

I can't believe how calm the locals are, living in the shadow of an active volcano.

This used to be samurai territory and the bus whisks us off to a clan center to learn about how Japan, dominated by shoguns, was almost completely cut off from the outside world until 1867.

Even now, it hasn't quite abandoned the old ways, for while our first night was spent slumbering in a rural siding on the train, for our second night the bus transfers us to the Gajyoen ryokan, a traditional travelers' inn in a hot springs resort an hour inland from Kagoshima.

This ryokan turns out to be a rustic collection of low-beamed cottages threaded by cobbled pathways, with dinner prepared over charcoal using ingredients from the garden.

My room has sweet-smelling tatami-matting floors, and I plan to sleep on the balcony overlooking the river until I return from dinner to find that the bed fairies have been at work, magicking a linen-covered futon out onto the sleeping room floor.

I don't ignore the balcony, however, because this is where I have my own personal onsen.

Luxuriating in my own floating world, contemplating the evening light filtering through the trees, it is easy to see the sense in this change of scene away from the Seven Stars: the proper savoring of hot springs is a very Japanese experience, and not one that should be curtailed by the timetable of even the most handsome of trains.

Need to know info:

Even money can't guarantee you a spot on the exclusive Seven Star. It's going to require a bit of lottery luck.

The Seven Stars offers two itineraries: a two-day option which stays around Fukuoka, or a four-day journey which does a loop of the island.

Both are hugely in demand, so the company selects applications by lottery. The starting price of $4,200 per person (based on two sharing) covers all accommodation, transport, sightseeing, food and drink.

Fukuoka airport has direct flights to Asian capitals such as Singapore, Hong Kong and Shanghai with carriers JAL , Cathay Pacific and ANA , and direct to Europe with KLM to Amsterdam.

For more information about the Onsen Island: Kyushu

Read more about this piece's author, Andrew Eames .

CNN's On the Road series often carries sponsorship originating from the countries we profile. However CNN retains full editorial control over all of its reports. Read the policy.

Inside a damned dictator's palace

Bucharest's Parliamentary Palace, commissioned by former Romanian dictator Nicolae Ceausescu, is said to be the world's third biggest building by volume.

The carpet in the palace's Union Hall weighs 1.5 tons. The whole building uses 220,000 square meters of carpet, 3,500 tons of crystal and one million cubic meters of marble.

Today the building houses Romania's democratic parliamentary houses and a modern art museum, but 70% stands empty.

This theater within the palace gives some idea of the scale an opulence of the building which today costs $6 million a year to keep running.

Ceausescu, who was touchy about his small stature, had staircases in the palace rebuilt twice to accommodate his step.

A monument symbolizing the collapse of communism stands in Romania's Revolution Square, where hundreds were shot dead just a few days before Ceausescu's demise.

After the army turned against them, Ceausescu and his wife Elena were executed on December 25, 1989.

Gabriel points to the spot in Ghencea cemetery where Ceausescu was originally buried in an unmarked grave.

The remains of the Ceausescus were disinterred in 2010 and reburied at the request of their son Valentin.

The dictator's villa in leafy northern Bucharest is now an embassy building, housing Kuwait's diplomatic mission.

• Ceausescu was killed on December 25, 1989 amid an uprising against his communist regime


• The former dictator's Parliamentary Palace is said to be the world's third largest building by volume


• Today the building houses Romania's Senate and Chamber of Deputies, but 70% still stands empty

(CNN) -- In late 1989 the carefully constructed edifice of communism in Eastern Europe started crumbling in a wave of popular upheavals with a speed that took everyone by surprise.

Nowhere was this process bolder and bloodier that in the final act of the revolutionary domino: the downfall of Ceausescu, the Romanian dictator who ran his country for the benefit of himself and his family like a feudal master.

Today, the country is still trying to cope with a legacy that defiled the face of Bucharest, bankrupted the state and traumatized generations of Romanians.

For some, one way of overcoming their psychological damage is to tell their story to tourists.

It's now possible to join a tour in Bucharest that awakens the memories from a despised era to recount the story of the last days of Romanian communism.

MORE: Hitler's Eagle's Nest and other tyrants' lairs

Monument to megalomania

The tour starts at the grandiose Parliamentary Palace, a permanent reminder of the communist leader's megalomania.

Irene, 30, a chic parliamentary aide, gives us the figures and numbers.

The building, she says, is the world's third largest by volume after the Aztec pyramid of Teotihuacan and the Cape Canaveral rocket assembly hangar.

President Nicolae Ceausescu and his wife Elena were killed in 1989.

It uses 220,000 square meters of carpet, 3,500 tons of crystal and one million cubic meters of marble.

The carpet in the main Union Hall alone weighs 1.5 tons.

How did this monster come to be?

Irene tells us how Ceausescu took advantage of a 1977 earthquake to raze most of the lower city center of Bucharest, flattening a hill and changing the course of the Dambovita river.

Forty thousand people were forcibly displaced.

"Everything within an area of four square miles was rebuilt from scratch to match the style of the People's Palace. A stadium, several hospitals and two dozen churches or synagogues were demolished," says Irene.

"Only three historic Orthodox churches were saved by moving them, foundations and all, behind large apartment blocks so that they would remain invisible and not spoil his view."

MORE: On the trail of the 'Blood Countess' in Slovakia

Perfect echo

Construction involved 700 architects and 20,000 building workers doing three shifts a day, plus 5,000 army personnel, 1.5 million factory workers and an army of so-called volunteers.

The palace's Union Hall features two large spiral staircases that descend to the main entrance to allow Ceausescu and his wife Elena to make grand, synchronized entrances.

"He was short and touchy about his height", says Irene, "so he had the staircases rebuilt twice in order to match his step."

Irene claps her hands. The sound travels crisply.

Today only 70% of the vast Presidential Palace is in use.

"Every chamber has a perfect echo, because when Ceausescu wanted something, he clapped. And he wanted everyone to know he'd clapped."

Ceausescu never got to see the building finished.

By the time of the revolution, in December 1989, the building was only two-thirds complete. The incoming administration didn't know what to do with it, but the Romanian economy was so entangled with the palace that it had to be finished.

The building was completed in 1994 and, since 1996, it has housed the Romanian Senate and Chamber of Deputies.

The ground floor is home to a modern art museum.

Nevertheless, the building, which costs a dizzying $6 million a year to run, is still 70% empty.

After one hour of walking up and down its corridors, I had still only seen less than 10% of it.

MORE: Albania block party: Dancing away the dictator's legacy

Night of terror

After this grand-scale folly, the simple, modernist design of the old Communist Party headquarters, now the Interior Ministry, looks mundane, banal even.

It stands in front of what is now dubbed Revolution Square, where the protesting crowds gathered in December 1989, intent on bringing down the regime.

My friend Gabriel has brought me here to remember that night.

"I was just 17," says Gabriel, trying to sound neutral, but in his voice the underlying emotion is easily discernible.

Grave concerns: Ceausescu's original burial plot lies vacant

"I felt a change in the air. So on December 21, 1989, I came here with my friends. We stood here for hours, sometimes silent, sometimes shouting slogans against the regime. Then someone started shooting at the crowd."

He looks up to the balcony.

"The guy standing next to me just fell without a sound. He was shot in the head. I thought, my God, that could be me! But I stayed. Everyone encouraged each other and we did not go home."

Gabriel looks at me and guesses my thoughts.

"I do not consider myself a hero", he says. "I was just a curious boy."

Revolution Square is now adorned with the Pyramid Of Victory. It depicts "a tall needle pricking the cloud of communism."

On the south side there is a Memory Wall with 1,058 names of innocent Romanians who were killed during the rebellion.

Gabriel still doesn't the name of the guy shot next to him.

"But I know he's one of them", he says.

Next day, Ceausescu left the besieged Communist party HQ by helicopter.

After the army turned against him, he was arrested in Targoviste and, after a short court martial, executed along with his wife Elena on Christmas Day 1989.

Images of their dead bodies ghoulishly beamed around the world.

MORE: Watching the watchers: A spy's tour of Berlin

An empty grave

They were buried in a hurry at Ghencea cemetery in southwestern Bucharest, their graves unmarked, although everybody knew where they were.

Gabriel shows me the original plots, now empty -- no one wants to reuse them.

In 2010, Valentin, their only surviving child, received permission to have his parents' remains exhumed and reburied together under a modest tombstone.

Diplomatic solution: Ceausescu's old villa is now an embassy.

"So what happened to the Ceausescu's villa?" I ask Gabriel.

"I'll take you there", he says and drives me to north Bucharest, where green parks, tree-lined avenues and high walls illustrate the affluence of the residents.

Gabriel stops on the one side of a dual carriageway and points at a building on the far side."That's it", he says with an ironic smile.

I read the sign: "Embassy of Kuwait."

I cross the road and try to take a picture. There are two armed guards outside the embassy.

"No Photos," shouts one. I show him my press card. While he looks at it, I try to steal a few quick snaps.

"No, no, no," shouts the second guard running towards me. I smile, shrug and scamper across the carriageway to Gabriel who has been watching the scene with alarm.

"You don't argue with police", he says, as he speeds off, shaking his index finger at me.

Ceausescu and communism may have gone, but their impact in people's minds will take some time to heal.

Getting there

Bucharest airport is connected directly with most European capitals.

The TravelMaker agency offers a guided tour "The Last Days of Communism." Daily 9:30--13:30, $50pp. (9 Elena Vacarescu St. Block XXI/2 Bucharest; +40 21 232 03 31; reservations@travelmaker.ro)

You can visit the Parliament Palace (Izvor 2-4 +40 21 316 0300) daily 10am-4pm, $10, as an individual by prior arrangement. Bring along your passport.

John Malathronas is a London-based travel writer and photographer. He's written or co-written 15 books, including the "Rough Guide to Europe."

Legislators defend failed rescue

• Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle defended the Obama administration's Yemeni rescue attempt


• A failed effort led to the deaths of hostages Luke Somers, an American journalist, and Pierre Korkie, a South African teacher


• The U.S. shouldn't pay ransoms to terrorists, the lawmakers said

Washington (CNN) -- Lawmakers from both parties defended the Obama administration's attempt to rescue American journalist Luke Somers early Sunday morning, even though the dangerous mission did not result in saving Somer's life.

"It was an unfortunate outcome," House Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Rogers, a Republican, told Candy Crowley on CNN's "State of the Union." "But I do believe you have to make these kinds of decisions."

Rep. Adam Schiff, D-California, who also serves on committee, said on "CNN Newsroom" on Sunday, "Obviously we would have loved to be able to rescue these hostages and preserve their lives."

"But I think it was the right decision to make ... The President made the call, the tough call that it was worth the risk. And I think he was exactly right," he said.

American photojournalist Luke Somers and South African Pierre Korkie, a teacher who was reportedly set to be released on Sunday, were fatally shot in the compound by terrorists as the secret mission unfolded, a U.S. official said Sunday.

Some critics have argued, in light of recent hostage killings, the administration should reconsidered its policy not to negotiate ransoms with terrorist organizations.

But in a visit to Afghanistan Sunday, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel defended the administration's policy, while also acknowledging that the Pentagon needs to be careful in how it conducts raids.

Intel Chair on transferred Gitmo detainees

Rogers: Torture report will cause deaths

"There's an immense amount of focus and time and review that goes into these operations," Hagel told reporters, according to a pool report. "So, I don't think it's a matter of going back and having a review of our process. Our process is about as thorough as there can be."

"Is it imperfect? Yes. Is there risk? Yes. But we start with the fact that we have an American that's being held hostage, and that American's life is in danger. That's where we start, and then we proceed from there," said the outgoing secretary.

Both Rogers and Schiff also defended the administration's hostage policy -- and like Hagel -- they acknowledged that improvements need to be made to U.S. rescue operations.

"When you pay ransom, you get more kidnappings. That's certainly what we saw across Africa. We're certainly seeing it in Yemen as well," Rogers said. "If we're going to be extorted into paying ransom to al Qaeda so that they can rape women and blow up buildings and kill civilians, men, women and children, that's a pretty bad plan to start with. I agreed with the President's decision."

Schiff reinforced Roger's position that paying ransoms only fuels more violence.

"I think you end up funding other hostage taking and the cycle just perpetuates itself, so I think our decision is the right one," he said. "Rather, try to rescue our hostages than pay ransoms, and, of course, prospectively trying to keep our people out of harm's way. I think that is really the right policy, as painful as it is, and as enormously agonizing as it is for the families of these hostages."

Watch State of the Union with Candy Crowley Sundays at 9am ET. For the latest from State of the Union click here.

Bergen: U.S. is safer now

• Pakistan kills an American al Qaeda commander who was on FBI "Most Wanted" list


• Peter Bergen says the death of Adnan G. El Shukrijumah makes U.S. safer


• Bergen says he was key in plan to bomb NY subway around 8th anniversary of 9/11 attacks


• He says al Qaeda continues to dwindle as a threat due to elimination of most of its leaders

Editor's note: Peter Bergen is CNN's national security analyst, a vice president at New America and professor of practice at Arizona State University. He is the author of "Manhunt: The Ten-Year Search for bin Laden -- From 9/11 to Abbottabad."

(CNN) -- In August 2008, Najibullah Zazi, an Afghan-American, and two friends from his high school in Queens flew from Newark, New Jersey, to Peshawar, Pakistan, where they hoped to join the Taliban.

In Peshawar, the trio met with "Ahmad," an al Qaeda operative who put them in touch with two al Qaeda leaders. Those leaders asked the three from Queens to participate in attacks against the United States. Zazi refused. He wanted to fight the U.S. military in the fields and mountains of his homeland, not to kill American civilians in the streets of his adopted country.

So, according to American prosecutors, al Qaeda's leaders brought in someone more persuasive -- someone who could speak to Zazi in his own language, someone who had also grown up on the streets of New York City in the 1990s, a man who had had a meteoric rise in the ranks of al Qaeda over the past decade from camp dishwasher to the leader of the group's operations in the West. His name was Adnan Shukrijumah.

Adnan Shukrijumah, al Qaeda

Eventually Shukrijumah would be added to the FBI's "Most Wanted Terrorists" list and a $5 million reward would be put on his head.

And on Saturday, Shukrijumah was killed in Pakistan by the Pakistani military.

Shukrijumah was born in Saudi Arabia in 1975, but his family moved to Trinidad in the '80s and then to Brooklyn in the early '90s.

In 1995, Shukrijumah's family left New York for the Fort Lauderdale area in Florida, where he did odd jobs like selling used cars, earning money that he used to pay for his studies in chemistry and computer science at Broward Community College.

Some Muslim men in Florida gave Shukrijumah books and videos about the holy wars in Kashmir and Afghanistan, and he was so moved by these stories of holy war that in late 1999 he traveled to Afghanistan to attend an al Qaeda training camp.

Around this time, Shukrijumah told his mother that he was opposed to what he considered the excesses of the West, such as alcohol and drug abuse as well as the skimpy clothes that women wore in Florida. In May 2001, he left Florida again, and by June he was back in Afghanistan.

Shortly after the 9/11 attacks, Shukrijumah called his mother in Florida, saying, "Did you hear what happened? They are putting it on the Muslims." His mother advised him not to come back to the States, and she said in 2010 he did not contact her again.

It was Shukrijumah who, in late 2008, made the pitch to Zazi and his buddies from Queens -- Zarein Ahmedzay, another Afghan-American, and Adis Medujanin, a cab driver of Bosnian descent -- that they could help the cause of holy war best if, instead of fighting alongside the Taliban's tens of thousands of fighters, they went back to the States after their training by al Qaeda's bomb-makers and launched attacks there.

At the time that Shukrijumah was making his pitch to the trio from Queens, the CIA drone war in the tribal regions of Pakistan was heating up. It was the last six months of President George W. Bush's second term, and the Bush administration had significantly amped up the drone program. Angered by the CIA drone program, Zazi agreed to return to the States to launch an attack. He also volunteered to be a suicide bomber, as did his two friends.

They discussed with Shukrijumah potential targets such as the New York Stock Exchange and Times Square, as well as a Walmart store.

Zazi returned to New York in mid-January 2009. He had been living on the Afghan-Pakistan border for five months, during which time he had been in almost continuous contact with members of al Qaeda. He was now ready to launch what al Qaeda's leadership hoped would be the most lethal terrorist attack in the States since 9/11.

Luckily, Zazi's plan to blow up bombs in the Manhattan subway around the time of the eighth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks was detected by U.S. intelligence agencies that were monitoring the email account of a known al Qaeda operative in Pakistan who was in touch with Zazi. Zazi and his two friends were arrested before they could carry out the plot.

It was Shukrijumah who oversaw this plot. After all, who better to oversee al Qaeda plots to attack the States than someone who had grown up in Brooklyn and Florida?

View my Flipboard Magazine.

A Pakistani army spokesman said on Twitter on Saturday that Shukrijumah was killed in South Waziristan along Pakistan's border with Afghanistan.

The fact that Shukrijumah is now dead makes the United States a little bit safer from al Qaeda's plotting. And the fact that Shukrijumah was killed in a Pakistani military operation is a sign that Pakistan continues to expand its operations against militants based on its border with Afghanistan in a meaningful way, which has long been a demand of the United States.

Finally, Shukrijumah's death is indicative of how al Qaeda's core organization that launched the 9/11 attacks continues to dwindle in size and capacity, because almost all of its leaders are now dead or captured.

The elimination of almost all of al Qaeda's leaders in Pakistan suggests that the once-global organization may become just another Pakistani-based jihadi group with limited or no ability to operate outside of South Asia.

Read CNNOpinion's new Flipboard magazine.

Follow us on Twitter @CNNOpinion.

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Hagel: Afghans 'want us here'

• Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel made his fourth and final trip to Afghanistan this weekend


• Hagel said unlike in Iraq, Afghanistan officials want a continued US troop presence


• Nearly 11,000 U.S. troops will remain in Afghanistan in the beginning of 2015

Tactial Base Gamberi, Afghanistan (CNN) -- Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel traveled to Afghanistan this weekend, his fourth and last trip to the country as he makes way for his likely replacement, Defense Secretary nominee Ashton Carter.

CNN traveled with Hagel to tactical base Gamberi in Eastern Afghanistan, where the outgoing defense secretary met with troops.

Hagel is the first enlisted combat veteran to serve as defense secretary.

Asked by CNN whether it will be a loss for the Pentagon to have a defense secretary without combat experience, Hagel said he will not judge.

"That's not for me to decide," Hagel said. "Everybody brings to their positions their own set of experiences and their own strengths."

Hagel: More U.S. troops than planned will remain in Afghanistan next year

At the end of December, U.S. forces will end their combat role in Afghanistan and instead focus on counterterrorism missions and training, advising and assisting Afghan troops.

The U.S. made a similar investment in Iraq, training Iraqi security forces that later collapsed as the terror group ISIS advanced in the country.

Hagel does not see Afghanistan's security force buckling like in Iraq, citing Afghanistan's willingness to sign an agreement allowing a residual American troop presence in the country.

"They want us here. They want us to help them assist, advise, train," Hagel said. "How we left Iraq was totally different. The Iraqi government did not want us there. The Iraqi people did not want us there."

Nearly 11,000 U.S. troops will remain in Afghanistan in the beginning of 2015. American forces will drop to 5,500 in 2016 and by 2017 the coalition will consolidate to Kabul.

Still, while the U.S. draws down in Afghanistan the danger for forces remaining in the country does not. US troops will engage in combat if threatened and will provide air support for Afghan units if needed.

"Bottom line is we've got to realize this is still a war zone, this is still a war," Hagel said.

Hagel's visit comes as the capital city has seen a recent spike in violence. But Taliban attacks are down in 2014 when compared to the previous year.

Hagel said he has confidence in the Afghan security forces ability to protect Afghanistan from terror by the hands of al Qaeda and the Taliban.

"[There are] still challenges ahead, but I think every sign is that they can do this," Hagel said.

Searching for the 'center' of America

Caleb Patterson, 4, rests beneath a flatbed trailer during a church picnic held near Plato, Missouri, in 2012. Plato is the "mean center of population" for the United States. That means, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, it's the place "where an imaginary, flat, weightless and rigid map of the United States would balance perfectly if all residents were of identical weight."

A map of the United States shows Plato's location. Photographer Benjamin Hoste has visited the town at least nine times in recent years.

Brandon Davis cuts brisket during a church picnic in Plato, which has a population of only 109.

Money sits on the table after Herb Lindsay and Leon Mace finished their morning coffee at a nearby convenience store.

Local resident Bob Morgan holds up one of the many walking sticks he carved himself. Morgan, a World War II veteran and cowboy, was building barns and bending metal into his 80s, Hoste said. He passed away in August at the age of 89.

An American flag flaps in the wind during an ATV Rodeo in nearby Roby, Missouri.

A hornet nest collection resides in the corner of Debo McKinney's ad hoc museum. His private barn has a treasure trove of antiques, collectibles and unusual items.

Shalyn Steinbrink and Dylan Daeis in the woods on Hartzog Farm.

Boots on fence posts is a regular occurrence in Missouri, Hoste said.

A stuffed Kodiak bear from Colorado is on display in McKinney's Plato home.

Verba Alkiri stands outside Roby Christian Church shortly after Sunday service.

Balloons float into the sky after being released following the annual Roby Parade to benefit the local firehouse.

Viktor Arrington works on a car in his auto-repair shop.

Ceramic lawn ornaments sit in front of Arrington's garage.

A lone truck sits along Highway 32 just outside Plato's border.

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• Photographer Benjamin Hoste has spent years documenting Plato, Missouri


• Plato was named the "mean center of population" for the United States


• View high-resolution photos of Hoste's photos from Plato

Editor's note: John D. Sutter is a columnist for CNN Opinion and creator of CNN's Change the List project. Follow him on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram. E-mail him at ctl@cnn.com. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of the author.

(CNN) -- Close your eyes and imagine of the "center" of America.

What do you see?

Is it the rolling plains of Kansas, or Manhattan's field of skyscrapers? The foggy Golden Gate, or a gated community?

Lately, all I can see is Ferguson, the now-famous Missouri town where, in August, a police officer shot and killed an unarmed black teenager, Michael Brown. It's a place no one had heard of a year ago but now finds itself at the center of the news cycle, at the center of our national attention and at the center of a new and profound sense of worry that racial injustice may long divide us still.

Photographer Benjamin Hoste

But the national focus is always shifting.

Not far from Ferguson -- 167.8 miles to be exact -- is a place that, by definition, is a different kind of "center" of the country -- the statistical mean center of population. That probably sounds meaningless, but, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, it's the place "where an imaginary, flat, weightless and rigid map of the United States would balance perfectly if all residents were of identical weight." The spot has moved west and south as Americans themselves have pushed out of the 13 Colonies and, now, into the desert Southwest. The dot, in that narrow sense, tells a particular part of our national story.

And, as of 2010, that spot rests in Plato, Missouri. Population: 109.

Plato's demographics mirror neither Ferguson's nor the nation's. In a country that is becoming increasingly diverse (whites no longer will be in the majority by 2043, according to the census), Plato is almost completely Caucasian. The nation is urbanizing (81% of Americans live urban areas, according to the 2010 census, up from 79% in 2000); Plato, meanwhile, is about as rural as they come. When I visited the town in 2011 for a CNN story, I clocked a drive across town at 1 minute and 9 seconds, and that's assuming you're obeying the 40-mph speed limit.

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In other words: Plato isn't America, but it's still part of America.

This paradox -- what does this almost-random place say about the rest of us? -- is what drew me to the tiny town for a story on a Census Bureau ceremony that designated the town as our national population center. It's also what captivated New York photographer Benjamin Hoste, who has visited Plato at least nine times in recent years. He plans to keep going back until about 2020, when the mean population center will change, likely moving to the west in tow with itinerant Americans.

I got a chance to talk by phone with Hoste recently, and you can see some of his photos from the project in the gallery above. We spoke before the protests broke out in Ferguson and across the nation following a grand jury's decision not to indict the officer who shot Brown. Maybe that's just as well because Hoste told me he aimed to take "timeless" photos of Plato: There is a photo of a boy laying on the grass by a trailer tire, for example, and a portrait of Bob Morgan, now deceased, holding two of his walking sticks. When I asked Hoste who the most interesting person in Plato was, his first of several replies was Morgan, who he said was a World War II veteran and cowboy. Morgan was building barns and bending metal into his 80s, Hoste told me.

Just an ordinary, hard-working dude.

Maybe it seems quaint in this time of turmoil.

But this place, like Ferguson, is part of our story.

That seems to be part of Hoste's assertion with these photos. He told me he's still trying to figure out in what ways Plato is and isn't relevant to our national identity -- or if any one place can actually be a microcosm for a nation of 316 million.

Plato, I'll remind you, is home to 109.

When he first visited Plato, Hoste said he was struck by the fact that it appeared to be a town that "doesn't really have a center." "There's no real middle of the town," he said, other than maybe the school, which is a community rallying point.

The same could be said of America. This is the age of the 99% and the 1% -- red and blue, black and white. We've always been a country divided, but those divisions seem to be especially visible now -- particularly the income gap, which has been widening since the 70s; the race gap; and, importantly, the underlying empathy gap.

Maybe that's where Plato has something humble but important to contribute to our national conversation. This is a place, according to Hoste, where people still talk to each other -- where they care about each other, and where they're willing to debate sensitive issues. Hoste is from the Los Angeles area and now lives in New York. His politics lean left, where Plato's are solidly right. Visiting Plato might have seemed like stepping into a foreign country. Except it was surprisingly easy for him to gel there.

"Their values are the same as my values," he told me. "They're very interested in trying to support their families. They're interested in having a good education for their children. They're interested in having some support for when they retire."

Imagine that.

Benjamin Hoste is a documentary photographer based in Brooklyn, New York. You can follow him on Instagram and Tumblr .