New York Times on the not-so-safe euro zone: The euro is facing the most serious crisis in its 11-year history. Greece, one of 16 European Union members that uses the currency, must raise $76 billion this year -- more than $50 billion of it before June 30 -- or default.

A default would threaten the euro's global credibility, scare investors away from other struggling European economies and likely reverse Europe's fragile recovery.

Despite those very real dangers, Europe's richer nations -- most loudly Germany -- have been acting as if this is someone else's problem. Last week, the French newspaper Le Monde reported that Germany and France had begun contingency planning for possible financial assistance. Both governments denied it.

We hope the report turns out to be true. Failing to develop a plan to step in if needed would be incredibly shortsighted.

The euro is wondrously convenient for travelers and international businesses. There's one catch: Fiscal discipline is up to each participating country, and Greece has been anything but disciplined. It is running a deficit of nearly 13 percent of total output, more than four times the nominal limit for countries using the euro.

Its national debt is almost double the permitted limit. With its credit rating sharply downgraded, Greece must pay a stiff premium to finance that deficit. ...

Nor should the entire burden fall on Greece -- one of the European Union's smaller and poorer economies.

Any bailout must be accompanied by greater restraints on the fiscal sovereignty that Athens so egregiously abused. Letting Greece fail would be a disaster for all of Europe.

The Dallas Morning News on terrorism trial plan:

As a presidential candidate, Barack Obama made no secret of his plan to begin civilian trials of terrorism suspects and halt the U.S. military's closed-tribunal form of justice at Guantanamo.

We assumed, of course, that the Obama administration actually had a plan.

The administration's behavior in recent months suggests that it decided on a new course and started making bold announcements without actually thinking through the mechanics and consequences of these decisions.

A perfect example is Attorney General Eric Holder's November announcement of Manhattan as the venue for the high-profile trial of accused 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed.

Now that New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg is balking at the potential expense and upheaval, the Justice Department is looking for new venues. Holder isn't the only one embarrassed by this reversal; Bloomberg initially applauded a New York trial so justice could be administered at the scene of the crime.

The first signs of trouble emerged in early December when Bloomberg's office and New York's police commissioner, Raymond Kelly, complained that they were not consulted before Holder made his announcement.

That suggests a shocking lack of foresight and preparation by Obama's justice team, especially considering the high stakes of this trial. Obama's waffling about shutting down Guantanamo only adds to the air of indecisiveness. ...

In the courtroom, judges justifiably come down hard on ill-prepared lawyers. In the court of public opinion, the administration has earned a strong rebuke for its seat-of-the-pants leadership on Guantanamo and civilian terrorism trials.

(Feb. 9, 2010)