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Some Democrats urge delay in building a U.S. missile system in Eastern Europe By Eric Lipton Published: August 20, 2008 As the Bush administration speeds ahead with plans to construct a missile defense system in Eastern Europe, some Democrats in Congress want to put on the brakes, saying it has not been adequately tested.

I can't help but notice how the lefties are so silent on the Georgia/Russia activity. But when they do spout an opinion it is that somehow this has to be AMERICA's FAULT this happened.

WASHINGTON - Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama accused President Bush on Thursday of launching a "false political attack" with a comment about appeasing terrorists and radicals. The Illinois senator interpreted the remark as a slam against him but the White House denied that Bush's words were in any way directed at Obama, who has said as president he would be willing to personally meet with Iran's leaders and those of other regimes the United States has deemed rogue. In a speech to Israel's Knesset, Bush said: "Some seem to believe that we should negotiate with the terrorists and radicals, as...

"Senator Obama does not agree with President Carter's decision to go forward with this meeting because he does not support negotiations with Hamas until they renounce terrorism, recognize Israel's right to exist, and abide by past agreements." --Obama spokeswoman Jen Psaki, April 10, 2008 Jimmy Carter met with Hamas anyway, of course. He embraced Khaled Meshal, its leader, in Damascus on April 18. On April 19--Passover Eve--Hamas terrorists driving armored personnel carriers and car bombs disguised as Israeli Defense Force jeeps attacked border crossings in the Gaza Strip, wounding more than a dozen Israeli soldiers. All as Hamas fired rockets...

How the Eton-educated wartime Aga Khan offered '30,000 armed Arabs' to help Hitler - but still evaded treason trialLast updated at 18:34pm on 8th March 2008 Secret plan to help Hitler: Aga Khan III, pictured at the races   Britain dropped a secret plan to charge the Aga Khan's grandfather with treason despite evidence that he offered to help Hitler in the war, documents just released reveal.  Ministers shelved the proposed prosecution of Sultan Muhammad Shah – who was Aga Khan III at the time – for fear it would inflame Muslims.  The spiritual leader of the world's Zizari Ismaili...

The entire body of the Jewish people today – in Israel, in Europe, in America, in Australia and New Zealand, and throughout the world – is in grave danger. Our very existence as a people and as a faith is in jeopardy. The threat to our survival has two components to it: the external siege being waged against Israel and the Jewish people throughout the world by the international jihadist movement, its sympathizers and appeasers; and the internal siege that we Jews, both in Israel and in the Diaspora, including the United States, are waging against ourselves.

Several current and former high-level government officials familiar with the authors of the National Intelligence Estimate on Iran described the report as a politically motivated document written by anti-Bush former State Department officials, who opposed sanctioning foreign governments and businesses. The report released this week said Iran once had a covert nuclear weapons program, but shut it down in 2003. The authors" aim is to undercut the White House effort to increase pressure for sanctions on Iran and to argue that Iran dropped its nuclear-weapons program in 2003 because of diplomatic efforts in which the authors had participated, the officials...

For the third straight year, British academics have made a substantial move toward a boycott of Israeli academics. Yesterday, the policymaking congress of the U.K.'s University and College Union voted 158 to 99 to recommend to its 120,000 members that they bar academic exchanges with Israeli researchers. The move, which will be considered over the next year, seeks to pressure Israel to improve its relations with Palestinians. If passed, the boycott could alienate Israeli scientists from a nation considered an ally of the Jewish state. In response to the vote, the British Royal Society reiterated a 5-year-old statement against such...

May 17: Sen. Edward Kennedy, and from left, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff, Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez, Sen. Saxby Chambliss and Sen. Johnny Isakson. WASHINGTON — A bipartisan group of Senate lawmakers and the White House struck an immigration reform deal Thursday that would grant legal status to the estimated 12 million illegal immigrants already in the United States and increase border and interior enforcement initiatives. The plan would establish a temporary worker program for new arrivals to the United States with a separate program for agricultural workers. The bill also would include provisions for new technology to ensure against...

WASHINGTON - Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (news, bio, voting record) said Thursday the war in Iraq is "lost," triggering an angry backlash by Republicans who said the top Democrat had turned his back on the troops. The bleak assessment was the sharpest yet from Reid, who has vowed to send President Bush legislation calling for combat to end next year. Reid said he told Bush on Wednesday that he thought the war could not be won through military force and only through political, economic and diplomatic means. "I believe myself that the secretary of state, secretary of defense and...

... The most remarkable aspect of this most recent Iranian hostage crisis is the lengths to which so many prominent people in the West have gone to make excuses for inexcusable Iranian behavior. ...snip... This extent to which liberals are willing to accept inferior status to Muslims even in their own countries is mind-boggling. In Britain, schools are dropping references to the Holocaust to avoid offending Muslims, the Daily Mail reported. In Minneapolis, some Muslim cab drivers reject passengers carrying alcohol, and Muslim clerks in a grocery store have refused to wait on customers who want to buy pork products....

A Call to Non-Treasonous Congressmen Following the Treasonous and Unconstitutional Actions made in the past, starting in 2002 with Senator Rockefellar's trip to the Middle East: "I took a trip by myself in January of 2002 to Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Syria, and I told each of the heads of state that it was my view that George Bush had already made up his mind to go to war against Iraq — that that was a predetermined set course which had taken shape shortly after 9/11." I, a United States citizen, call on those Congressmen who agree that the...

The fourth anniversary of the U.S. invasion of Iraq on March 20, 2003, will be marked Saturday with a rally, protest march and peace party in San Rafael. The event will begin at 11 a.m. with music in the San Rafael City Plaza and will continue from noon to 1 p.m. with a series of speakers including Supervisor Susan Adams. The rally will be followed from 1 to 2 p.m. by a march through downtown San Rafael that will stop at City Hall for an address by Rep. Lynn Woolsey, D-Petaluma. A peace party will begin at 2 p.m. in...

The former first lady also said has learned the lessons of the last two presidential campaigns, both lost by Democrats who responded slowly to criticism. "When you are attacked, you have to deck your opponent," Clinton said. "I have been through the political wars longer than some of you have been alive. We've got to be prepared to hold our ground and fight back." Clinton, who announced her candidacy last weekend, said Democrats cannot concede the security issue. "We have to nominate someone who can have the trust and confidence of the American people to make the tough decisions as...

In the spirit of holding our political leaders accountable, this year-end review will tabulate the worst lies told by Bush and company, along with several stories that were underreported in the media. Much of what was generated got lost in the fog of war, but the long arm of history will retrieve these moments. As the president said in his news conference this week, if they’re still writing about No. 1—George Washington—there’s plenty of time before the historians can properly evaluate No. 43. Judging by the mess in Iraq, it could be 200 or 300 years—if ever—before Bush is vindicated....

The first cracks in the united front over Iraq between Tony Blair and President Bush appeared last night as the Prime Minister offered Iran and Syria the prospect of dialogue over the future of Iraq and the Middle East. Mr Blair said there could be a new “partnership� with Iran if it stopped supporting terrorism in Iraq and gave up its nuclear ambitions. Syria and Iran could choose partnership or isolation, he said. The Prime Minister tried to exploit moves in Washington to rethink strategy on Iraq by holding out the prospect of engagement with two countries once dubbed by...

The Ming dynasty emperors in China (1368-1644) were the biggest builders of the famous Great Wall. A native Chinese dynasty coming to power in the wake of a Mongol occupation, they wanted to strengthen their defenses against the nomadic peoples to the north. But a Manchu army crossed over it and conquered them anyway. In the years after World War I, France, recognizing its weakness vis-à-vis Germany, built a supposedly invincible fortification along its frontier with Germany called the Maginot Line. Built very high, of concrete and steel, with forts at 10-mile intervals, the wall nonetheless failed to prevent Germany...

Ahead of what is now certain to be a contentious meeting with President Bush today, President Chirac of France reneged on his previous support for a united international approach to halting Iran's nuclear program. In two interviews on the eve of his trip to Turtle Bay to attend the U.N. General Assembly, Mr. Chirac threatened to restart negotiations with Iran. His comments called into question the united position of the five permanent members of the Security Council and Germany, whose foreign ministers had said that unless Iran suspended enrichment by the end of August, the council would consider punitive measures....

There is precedent for this. The current satanic president of Iran, President "Tom", was also one of the ringleaders a long time ago of the invasion and occupation (kidnapping) of the American Embassy in Teheran--now he is at the pinnacle of power dealing directly with the USA.One hopes these rabid, anti-US foreign officials with violent pasts, are on the US government's radar when they visit the USA and meet at the White, cleared for top level contact with our own leaders...

Editorial: At the 9/11 crossroads A Cap Times editorial, Sept. 11, 2006 Five years ago today, America found itself at a crossroads. The country could respond to the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon in an opportunistic manner defined by ignorance, raw emotion and political cowardice. Or the country could respond with the seriousness that the incidents of Sept. 11, 2001, demanded. George Bush chose the cavalier course. His refusal to stretch beyond his own weakness has cost the United States and the world dearly. Osama bin Laden and his chief lieutenants remain at large. The...

WASHINGTON -- The sprint to November's elections began in earnest Tuesday with President Bush and congressional Democrats each trying to seize the national security issue by offering sharply contrasting assessments of progress in the war on terror. The president delivered the second in a series of speeches designed to shore up flagging public support for the war in Iraq and to highlight what he called government success in combating terrorism since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. As Bush addressed military officers at a Washington hotel, Capitol Hill Democrats countered by releasing a report detailing bleak trends in Iraq, Afghanistan, Iran...

On July 28, 2006, a Muslim entered the building of the Seattle Jewish Federation and shot every Jew he saw, murdering one woman and wounding five others. On the same day, Mel Gibson was arrested on DUI charges and while intoxicated let loose with anti-Semitic invective at the Jewish police officer who arrested him. Question: Which story has most troubled the Left? The answer is known to any American who can hear or read. So, the real question is: Why? Why has the shooting and murder of Jews elicited less angst from the Left than the anti-Semitic statements made by...

Islam enjoys a large and influential ally among the non-Muslims: A new generation of “Useful Idiots,” the sort of people Lenin identified living in liberal democracies who furthered the work of communism. This new generation of Useful Idiots also lives in liberal democracies, but serves the cause of Islamofascism—another virulent form of totalitarian ideology. Useful Idiots are naïve, foolish, ignorant of facts, unrealistically idealistic, dreamers, willfully in denial or deceptive. They hail from the ranks of the chronically unhappy, the anarchists, the aspiring revolutionaries, the neurotics who are at war with life, the disaffected alienated from government, corporations, and just...

Spy Case May Offer Clues How Chinese Missile Ended Up in Hezbollah's Arsenal by Ed TimperlakePosted Jul 26, 2006In February 1999, Dr. Ronald N. Montaperto was identified by PBS’ News Hour during a segment on “human rights in China� as “a senior fellow at the Institute for National Strategic Studies at National Defense University.� He was also said to be “advising the Pentagon on Chinese military issues.� At the same time he was preening for PBS, however, he was an espionage agent for the People’s Republic of China. A joint Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) and FBI investigation nailed Montaperto’s...

Historian David Littman is a representative to the United Nations (Geneva) of the Association for World Education. He has spent years tracking the rise of Islamic influence at the UN. According to him, “In recent years, representatives of some Muslim states have demanded, and often received, special treatment at the United Nations.� “As a result, non-diplomatic terms such as ‘blasphemy’ and ‘defamation of Islam’ have seeped into the United Nations system, leading to a situation in which non-Muslim governments accept certain rules of conduct in conformity with Islamic law (the Shari’a) and acquiesce to a self-imposed silence regarding topics touching...

But we Americans seem to have short memories. What else could explain the fact that we, generally speaking, so-often lambaste the French, calling them “cowards” for not allying themselves fully with us in every instance? We constantly throw in their faces the fact that we came to their rescue in World Wars I and II. And we’ve all heard the jokes: “Surplus French military rifles for sale. Never fired. Dropped once.”

IN these violent times, Um Ahmed takes steps to ensure her safety, strapping on a suicide belt before going to bed at night. The mother-of-eight is one of a group of 20 women who, according to the local al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades commander, is prepared to die for her cause, should there be an unexpected Israeli assault on Abasa, near the southern Gaza town of Khan Younis. Ahmed, and women like her, are changing the face of terrorism by declaring their willingness to die for the cause. The first recorded suicide bomber involved in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict was a woman, 28-year-old...

Death of the concept What else has to happen before the architects of this catastrophe admit their failure? Meir Eindor The entire new concept of security, based on the notion that Israel should dig in and realign itself behind a fortified wall, crumbled at Kerem Shalom. Once and for all it was proven that there is no substitute for a strong IDF presence in areas where terrorists organize. The evacuated area has been filled with dozens of sub-groups of terror organizations, and hundreds of armed cells receive weapons, some from "official" sources, some (mostly anti-tank weapons) which move freely across...

ON WEDNESDAY, June 7, U.S. military forces, in President Bush's words, "delivered justice to the most wanted terrorist in Iraq," Abu Musab al Zarqawi. Before considering the possible implications for the war in Iraq and the global struggle against terror, we should pause to celebrate so striking an instance of injustice avenged, and justice vindicated. The unjust--even the barbarically unjust--prevail all too often in this world. It is good for civilized people to see, as Marshall Wittmann put it, that "evil has suffered a setback." In the blunt words of Paul Bigley of the United Kingdom, whose brother Ken was...

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Union pledged on Monday to make Iran a generous offer of technology, economic and other incentives but stressed Tehran must comply first with international demands to halt sensitive nuclear activities. The 25-member bloc wants to present Iran with a stark choice of accepting the offer, expected to be delivered around the end of the month, or risk seeing international support grow for a U.N. resolution that would pave the way for possible sanctions. "It will be a generous package, a bold package that will contain issues related to nuclear, economic matters and maybe if necessary...

Oil prices slipped off record highs above $75 a barrel in Asian trade this morning on profit-taking after the market's unprecedented advance last week. But dealers said continuing concerns over Iran's controversial nuclear programme would keep crude prices above $70 until the issue was resolved. The market's slight cooling came after global finance chiefs called for action against runaway oil prices and OPEC member Kuwait proposed reactivating standby capacity in an effort to prevent further increases. New York's main contract, light sweet crude for June delivery, was at $74.85 compared with its record close of $75.17 in the US on...

OIL has raced to an all-time high as Iran continued to defy world pressure to halt its nuclear programme, while a quarter of Nigeria's output lay idle after rebel attacks and Iraq's once considerable oil industry was mired in crisis. Without naming the United States directly, Iran's oil minister, Vaziri Hamaneh, said that countries trying to intimidate his country over what it regards as its right to enrich uranium were the ones to blame for the nervousness that has rattled oil markets, with prices now over $75 a barrel. "Research in enrichment should not be the cause for that sort...

Editor's note: The quotations below are taken from William J. Federer's new book "The Faith of FDR – From President Franklin D. Roosevelt's Public Papers 1933-1945," published by Amerisearch, Inc., P.O. Box 20163, St. Louis, MO 63123; www.Amerisearch.net, 1-888-USA-WORD. This 400-page book is also available as an ebook. In compiling these quotes, many statements were uncovered which seemed to have relevance to America's present War on Terror. "We are united against those ... substituting terror for law" -- FDR, March 12, 1942, Economic Club of New York "We will accept only a world consecrated to ... freedom from terror." --...

  The United Nations and European Union have reached agreement to issue a joint statement condemning cartoon "insults to Islam" that were first published in a Danish newspaper and have been widely reprinted recently, resulting in a rash of violence throughout the Muslim world. According to a report in WAM, the United Arab Emirates news agency, the agreement is the work of Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, secretary general of the Organization of Islamic Conference. The agreement, according to Ihsanoglu, will mean a formal rebuke by the U.N. and EU of the Danish paper Jyllands-Posten for publishing the offensive cartoons. The statement, he...

A cartoon in Italy's leading daily, Corriere della Sera, yesterday summed up the mood of nervousness in Europe's press. It depicted an artist drawing caricatures of Mohammed, looking terrified as his cartoon explodes into an atomic mushroom cloud, with the features of an angry bearded cleric. The French newspaper, Le Journal du Dimanche, carried a signed editorial, asking blasphemers in the Western world to stop provoking those with religious faith. But it also accused despots and human-rights abusers from across the Muslim world of manipulating the cartoon row to attack Western democracies. Spain's El Mundo accused Syria and Iran of...

I long ago lost count of the number of times I've switched on the TV and seen crazy guys jumping up and down in the street, torching the Stars and Stripes and yelling ''Death to the Great Satan!'' Or torching the Union Jack and yelling ''Death to the Original If Now Somewhat Arthritic And Semi-Retired Satan!'' But I never thought I'd switch on the TV and see the excitable young lads jumping up and down in Jakarta, Lahore, Aden, Hebron, etc., etc., torching the flag of Denmark.

snip- Scotland Yard said a decision not to arrest protesters was taken because of public order fears. It confirmed that police had received more than 100 complaints from the public about the protesters' behaviour. snip- Yesterday, more than 1,000 demonstrators staged a second protest outside the embassy. The only arrests made were of two men found carrying cartoons of Mohammed. Police said they had been detained "to prevent a breach of the peace".

THE BOSTON GLOBE SAYS: "CARTOONISTS = NAZIS." Why won't the Boston Globe stand for the principle of free speech and show their support for the cartoonists whose lives are being threatened by Muslims demanding their beheading? Because the cartoonists are just like the Nazis, that's why! Or is it the Klan? Here, read this from Saturday's Boston Globe editorial page for yourself: "Depicting Mohammed wearing a turban in the form of a bomb with a sputtering fuse is no less hurtful to most Muslims than Nazi caricatures of Jews or Ku Klux Klan caricatures of blacks are to those victims...

Best-selling author and Muslim dissident Ibn Warraq argues that freedom of expression is our western heritage and we must defend it against attacks from totalitarian societies. If the west does not stand in solidarity with the Danish, he argues, then the Islamization of Europe will have begun in earnest. The great British philosopher John Stuart Mill wrote in On Liberty, "Strange it is, that men should admit the validity of the arguments for free discussion, but object to their being 'pushed to an extreme'; not seeing that unless the reasons are good for an extreme case, they are not good...

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip - Tens of thousands of angry Muslims marched through Palestinian cities, burning the Danish flag and calling for vengeance Friday against European countries where caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad were published. In Washington, the State Department criticized the drawings, calling them "offensive to the beliefs of Muslims." While recognizing the importance of freedom of the press and expression, State Department press officer Janelle Hironimus said these rights must be coupled with press responsibility. "Inciting religious or ethnic hatred in this manner is not acceptable," Hironimus said. "We call for tolerance and respect for all communities and...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Washington on Friday condemned caricatures in European newspapers of Islam's Prophet Mohammad, siding with Muslims who are outraged that the publications put press freedom over respect for religion. "These cartoons are indeed offensive to the belief of Muslims," State Department spokesman Kurtis Cooper said in answer to a question. "We all fully recognize and respect freedom of the press and expression but it must be coupled with press responsibility. Inciting religious or ethnic hatreds in this manner is not acceptable."

The head of Belgium's state security service has resigned amid allegations that his department failed to disclose nuclear technology transfers to Iran. Koen Dassen stepped down after it emerged that warnings from the CIA about such transfers had gone unheeded. A Belgian firm, Epsi, allegedly sold Iran an isostatic press, which can strengthen nuclear weapons components. An international embargo bans nuclear technology transfers to Iran, which denies plans to build an atomic bomb. A Belgian official report said the security service had "assuredly failed in its mission to provide information to the authorities and proved itself inefficient", the French news...

LEE: There seems to be a collective social consciousness. SPIELBERG: I think we all have been given our marching orders... Maybe I shouldn't get into this. [Pause] I just feel that filmmakers are much more proactive since the second Bush administration. I think that everybody is trying to declare their independence and state their case for the things that we believe in. No one is really representing us, so we're now representing our own feelings, and we're trying to strike back. So Bush has been good for film? SPIELBERG: I wouldn't just say Bush. The whole neo-conservative movement. CLOONEY: Because...

It is alleged that Groucho Marx, upon once being invited to join a country club, declined on the grounds that he refused to belong to any group that would have Groucho Marx as a member. I think of that wisecrack every time I hear a liberal try to make a case for America's surrendering its sovereignty to the United Nations. As long ago as 1964, in his famous "Rendezvous with Destiny" speech, Ronald Reagan pointed out that one could muster a two-thirds vote on the floor of the General Assembly among nations representing less than a tenth of the world's...

Council bans Australian flag January 02, 2006 PLANS to fly Australian flags over the famous Bondi Beach pavilion were vetoed because of fears the symbols could incite more racial violence on Sydney's beaches. In a decision met with outrage from locals, returned servicemen and ethnic groups, Waverley Council voted 6-5 against the proposal, declaring the popular beach should remain clear of flags to "remove provocation"...

For years I've been driving loads of dry cleaning, overdue books and groceries past the Lake Forest Park for Peace vigils on Saturday mornings at Ballinger and Bothell ways. Last weekend, Christmas Eve, I finally stopped. Two weeks earlier, the group had passed the three-year mark. Every Saturday since Dec. 14, 2002, a hardy band of strangers turned friends and family has stood at the intersection of personal conscience and public scrutiny to protest the war in Iraq. This is a busy corner. The peace vigil holds forth from 11 a.m. to noon. A grassy, triangular traffic divider is covered...

A former German hostage who spent 24 days in the hands of captors in Iraq said Monday that her kidnappers were not criminals and had demanded humanitarian aid for Sunni Arab regions. Speaking to Doha, Qatar-based satellite channel Al-Jazeera, Susanne Osthoff said her captors told her not to be afraid as her kidnapping was "politically motivated." "Do not be afraid. We do not harm women or children and you are a Muslim," she quoted them as saying. "I was so happy to know that I had not fallen into the hands of criminals," she said. Osthoff, a Muslim convert who...

An Antiwar Challenge to Hillary Clinton SEE ALL POSTS PERMALINK COMMENTS (47) Former National Writers Union president Jonathan Tasini, one of the most outspoken progressive activists in the U.S. labor movement, is expected this week to launch a Democratic primary challenge to New York Senator Hillary Clinton on a progressive platform that features a call for bringing U.S. troops home from Iraq. Tasini has scheduled an announcement for Tuesday morning in New York City, setting up a campaign that could put unexpected pressure from the left on Clinton, the unannounced frontrunner for the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination who until...

WASHINGTON — A new study commissioned and partially funded by the Pentagon urges Israel to take the first step in launching a nuclear disarmament process in the Middle East, arguing that such a move is the only way to block Iran's development of weapons of mass destruction and head off a regional arms race. The report, titled "Getting Ready for a Nuclear-Ready Iran" and published last week by the U.S. Army War College, argues that Tehran's march toward nuclear weapons cannot be stopped by any of the military or diplomatic options currently on the table. Nuclear nonproliferation expert Henry Sokolsky...

Just how big a threat was Saddam Hussein? Let’s reprise what our leaders had to say on the subject. First, here’s the president: “If he refuses or continues to evade his obligations through more tactics of delay and deception, he and he alone will be to blame for the consequences. ... Now, let’s imagine the future. What if he fails to comply, and we fail to act, or we take some ambiguous third route which gives him yet more opportunities to develop this program of weapons of mass destruction...? “Well, he will conclude that the international community has lost its...