Free Republic

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's just-concluded trip to Europe signals that the United States is back in the diplomacy business in earnest again. Part of the reason is that after four years of Colin Powell, the United States now has a secretary of State in full. A contradiction President Bush's critics have never confronted is that they spent the past four years lamenting the Bush administration's poor diplomacy at the same time they celebrated its top diplomat. They only turned on Powell when he took the administration's case against Saddam Hussein to the world with his February 2003 speech to...

Most of the Arab media has been taken by surprise about the earlier announcement of the handover in Baghdad. The follow up of the activities of Al-Jazeera, Al-Arabyiah, Abu Dhabi and some others indicates that they put and prepared huge Anti-Iraqi & Anti-American propaganda on the 30 June 2004. The earlier took over of power was a big blow indeed for such propaganda. Their papers dispersed all over by the new time All the Arab media appaeared confused and in disarry while trying to set out propaganda in hurry. They tried their best to get some of the pro-Wahabi mullahs...

<p>You know what I’m thankful for this Thanksgiving?</p> <p>I'm thankful for celebrating the day with my family, even though thousands of soldiers are not.</p> <p>I'm thankful I’m protected over here, because they're watching out for me over there.</p> <p>I'm thankful for a hot meal, even though they'd be thankful for almost any meal.</p>

Grenade Attack in Baghdad Kills U.S. Soldier Sun June 22, 2003 09:34 AM ET BAGHDAD (Reuters) - A U.S. soldier was killed and another was wounded in a grenade attack on a military convoy south of Baghdad Sunday, the U.S. military said. A U.S. statement said the two soldiers had been evacuated by road after the attack in Khan Azad, 20 km (12 miles) south of the capital. One was dead on arrival at hospital. It was the latest in a spate of attacks on U.S. forces in which 19 soldiers have been killed since President Bush declared major combat...

Iraqis Suffer From Radiation Symptoms By SABAH JERGES Associated Press Writer June 22, 2003, 9:10 AM EDT AL-MADA'IN, Iraq -- Dozens of people are showing up every day at a hospital near a defunct Iraqi nuclear plant, suffering from rashes, bloody noses and other symptoms of radiation poisoning, doctors said Saturday. The Tuwaitha nuclear facility, 12 miles south of Baghdad, was left unguarded after Iraqi troops fled the area on the eve of the war. It is thought to have contained hundreds of tons of natural uranium and nearly two tons of low-enriched uranium, which could be used to make...

Canadian sets herself afire at French Embassy in London over Iranian arrests Wednesday, June 18, 2003 LONDON (CP) - A Canadian citizen reportedly set herself on fire outside the French Embassy on Wednesday, the second such protest in two days by activists protesting French measures against an Iranian opposition group. Meda Hassani, believed to be in her mid-20s, poured gasoline on herself and set herself on fire shortly after 7 p.m., more than an hour after a demonstration by opponents of the current Tehran regime, her friend and fellow activist Laila Jazayeri told The Associated Press. A man involved with...

June 15, 2003, 9:42PMJackson Lee calls on Bush to name Middle East envoy By ROSANNA RUIZ Copyright 2003 Houston Chronicle Upon her return from a summit in Norway involving Palestinian and Israeli women leaders, Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee said here Sunday that she will call on President Bush to name a special envoy to monitor the peace process in the Middle East. She proposed former Secretary of State Madeline Albright, and former Presidents Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton or George Bush as ideal candidates for the job. "We cannot have a start and stop to the peace process -- it's imperative...

Bush's ideological facade hides political goal Sunday, June 15, 2003 - EVERY PRESIDENT for nearly a century has had political operatives in the White House to advise him on how his decisions would play with the public and tell him what the ramifications of policy would be on his re-election prospects. But few Americans are cynical enough to believe that this political gamesmanship is anything other than a means to an end, the end being to effectuate policy. Teddy Roosevelt had trusts to bust and Manifest Destiny to fulfill; FDR a Depression to tame; Richard Nixon a detente to achieve;...

<p>There is nothing new about a son picking up the sword laid down by a father; history is filled with such events.</p> <p>In 1988, shortly after the election of George H.W. Bush, I sat with his son, George W. Bush, in an office just blocks from the White House. The younger Bush had been my boss in the campaign, and we were talking about who was going to the White House. At one point, George W. sighed and asked rhetorically, "What's going to happen to me?"</p>

US will print Iraqi dinars portraying Saddam Hussein AP Friday, Jun 13, 2003,Page 12 The US-controlled Iraq Central Bank is printing new bank notes bearing the likeness of Saddam Hussein -- an effort to overcome a severe shortage of Iraqi dinars and to counteract fears of a surge in counterfeit currency. The crisp new 250-dinar bills -- now worth less than US$0.20 each -- were being issued because of a shortage that is causing a growing liquidity crisis in the country. Compounding the problem, a new 10,000-dinar note issued just before the war by Saddam's government never won the public's...

U.S. Ambassador to Saudi Says Over 40 Americans HurtMon May 12, 2003 11:12 PM ET LONDON (Reuters) - U.S. Ambassador to Saudi Arabia Robert W. Jordan told CNN television network on Tuesday that over 40 U.S. citizens had been hospitalized in explosions which ripped through Westerners' compounds in Riyadh overnight. "We have somewhat over 40 Americans hospitalized at this stage," he said. He said he thought it was entirely likely there would be more casualties and that there were a "fair number of other nationals" injured and perhaps killed. The blasts came hours before Secretary of State Colin Powell was...

U.S. to Syria: Don't Be 'On Wrong Side of History'Sun May 11, 2003 03:02 PM ET JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Secretary of State Colin Powell said on Sunday that Syria would find itself "on the wrong side of history" if it tried to destabilize postwar Iraq or continue harboring radical Palestinian groups. Powell spoke in an Israeli television interview after launching talks with Israel and the Palestinians on implementing a new "road map" peace plan. He said Syrian President Bashar al-Assad should have "every incentive to respond" to issues he raised in talks with him in Damascus a week ago addressing...

Afghans Protest Against Karzai's Taliban OfferSun May 11, 2003 10:09 AM ET KABUL (Reuters) - Several hundred Afghans staged a demonstration in Kabul on Sunday against President Hamid Karzai's offer of amnesty to some members of the ousted Taliban regime. The protesters called the offer, made during a meeting with the clergy last month, a "national betrayal." Karzai said at the time it was aimed at uniting Afghanistan after 23 years of conflict and extended "only to those Taliban members whose hands are not stained with Afghans' blood." Those covered include a former foreign minister, Mullah Mohammad Ghau. A spokesman...

Leaders clash on U.S. base proposal President rejects plan to station American forces on Czech soil By Kevin Livingston Staff Writer, The Prague Post (May 8, 2003) Hints that the United States might seek to move its German military bases to former Eastern bloc countries, including the Czech Republic, are polarizing politicians. Government leaders are lining up on both sides of the issue. In an interview with a German newspaper, President Vaclav Klaus compared the proposal to the Soviet occupation of Czechoslovakia. "The stationing of foreign troops would probably not be welcome," he said. Foreign Minister Cyril Svoboda, who has...

Sun 11 May 2003 Russia funding resurgent Taliban Ian Mather RUSSIA is funding the Taliban's guerrilla war against the American-backed government of Afghanistan, leaders of the fundamentalist group have claimed. In a move that carries echoes of attempts by the United States to undermine Soviet forces during their occupation of Afghanistan in the 1980s, Russian intelligence is now providing covert backing to a resurgent Taliban, senior figures in the extreme Islamic movement have alleged. The alarming claim will prove acutely embarrassing to Russian President Vladimir Putin, who has been trying to rebuild relations with the US in the wake of...

Sun 11 May 2003 Prince Andrew escapes death from bodyguard's shot TOM CURTIS PRINCE Andrew narrowly escaped being killed when his personal detective accidently fired his gun, it was revealed last night. The bullet narrowly missed the prince, passing through a desk and a wall before becoming embedded in a corridor 10ft from where the Duke of York was standing. The experienced officer reported to be responsible, Detective Sergeant Jeff Fuller, is said to have been relegated to unarmed duties pending an inquiry by Scotland Yard. It is the third time there has been a firearms accident involving royal protection...

Iranian Opposition Group in Iraq Gives UpBy LOUIS MEIXLER Associated Press Writer May 10, 2003, 4:56 PM EDT CAMP ASHRAF, Iraq -- Surrounded by American tanks, an Iranian opposition group under orders to surrender agreed Saturday to turn over its weapons and submit to the demands of U.S. forces, Army officials said. The United States used the occasion to warn other forces not to assert power. Representatives of the Mujahedeen Khalq operating near Baqubah, 45 miles northeast of the capital, struck the agreement after two days of negotiations with U.S. forces. Their capitulation was reported by the U.S. Army's V...

TIKRIT, Iraq -- Three American soldiers were killed and a fourth injured when their Black Hawk helicopter crashed Friday during the rescue of an Iraqi child wounded in an explosion, U.S. military officials said. On Friday evening, two Black Hawk helicopters were sent from the Tikrit area to help the child, who had suffered serious head injuries when unexploded ordnance went off outside Samarra, U.S. military officials in Tikrit said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Bomb Explodes in South Philippines, 13 KilledSat May 10, 2003 09:27 AM ET By Rosemarie Francisco MANILA (Reuters) - Muslim rebels linked to al-Qaeda claimed responsibility for a bomb explosion in the southern Philippines on Saturday in which at least 13 people were killed and dozens wounded, officials said. The blast occurred just outside the main market in the town of Koronadal on the southern island of Mindanao. Officials said 13 people, including the suspected bomber, were killed and about 40 injured. The Abu Sayyaf, a Muslim rebel group better known for kidnap-for-ransom in the south of the Roman Catholic...

TSA Work Force Grows From 13 to 64,000 Tue Dec 31, 4:27 AM ET By LESLIE MILLER, Associated Press Writer WASHINGTON - In little more than a year, the Transportation Security Administration has grown from 13 employees to 64,000, 42 percent more than Congress wanted. TSA chief James Loy said Monday that 23,000 of those new federal workers are airport baggage screeners hired to monitor checked bags for explosives. Another 33,000 are airport passenger screeners the people who check travelers before they get to the gate. The remaining 8,000 workers hold various positions, from airport security directors and deputies to...