Free Republic

I thought you might like to see the email I sent Juan Cole in response to his August 8th post about my husband. Sorry if it runs a little long - "Was American journalist Steve Vincent killed in Basra as part of an honor killing? He was romantically involved with his Iraqi interpreter, who was shot 4 times. If her clan thought she was shaming them by appearing to be having an affair outside wedlock with an American male, they might well have decided to end it. In Mediterranean culture, a man's honor tends to be wrought up with his...

The past few months have not been kind to President Pervez Musharraf of Pakistan. The downturn began when CIA Director Porter Goss effectively admitted that Osama Bin Laden was in Pakistan, where the United States was unable to capture him because of "national sovereignty" issues, which is agency-speak for "Pakistan is obstructing the effort." Another blow to Gen. Musharraf came with the recent arrest of Hamid Hayat, a California native who admitted to being trained in a terrorist camp outside Rawalpindi, where Gen. Musharraf makes his official residence. In reaction, a senior Pakistani government official stated "there are no training...

It would be accurate to deem Tuesday’s Washington Post article - which described the latest, still-classified National Intelligence Estimate concerning Iran - as a bombshell. The NIE, according to the Post, pushes the date for Iranian nuclear ability back a full decade, far beyond other popular estimates. A rough three to five year figure has long been the private and sometimes public refrain of the Bush administration’s heavy hitters, officials such as Secretary Rice, Secretary Rumsfeld, and Vice President Cheney. Obviously, much to the delight of the Post, there exists a serious disconnect. So which side is right? The NIE...

The recent comments of Chinese General Zhu Chenghu – in which he threatened the United States with nuclear attack over the issue of Taiwan – represent the most public manifestation of China’s growing belligerency on the world stage. The concerted effort on the part of the Chinese to establish their hegemony over the critical region of Central Asia has been comparably covert, but no less menacing. With America entering the area militarily following the September 11th attacks, these Chinese efforts have only intensified, giving rise to a new “Great Game.” Viewing American deployments as dangerous encroachments into their territorial periphery,...

The far-Left is nothing if not tenacious. Not only has Amnesty International condemned the United States in the harshest possible terms -- in the middle of a war when international image is vital -- but its most recent report spends more time criticizing the rogue pranks at Gitmo more harshly than the death camps run by the North Koreans. Rather than apologizing after referring to the American detention center in Guantanamo Bay as a gulag, Amnesty International has attempted a unique maneuver to break out of its public relations death spiral. The “non-partisan” advocacy group has taken to calling actual...

Early on the morning of March 16th, 1984, William Buckley left for work at the American embassy in Beirut, Lebanon. Officially, Mr. Buckley, a decorated veteran of the Special Forces, served as the political officer at the embassy. In reality, however, Mr. Buckley was the embassy’s CIA station chief. On his way to the compound, Buckley’s car was stopped by a group of masked men, who forced him from his car at gunpoint. His assailants would later be identified as terrorists from the group Islamic Jihad, which served as an alias for the real perpetrators, Hezbollah. The circumstances surrounding the...

In a recent speech to the Council of the Americas, Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice delivered an upbeat assessment concerning South America. She included the continent as part of the “larger tide of liberty” that was sweeping the globe, declaring the region “committed to democracy”. While the secretary’s optimistic tone is certainly pleasing to the ear, it fails to recognize the challenge posed by Venezuelan’s president, Hugo Chavez. An ally of both Fidel Castro and the government of Iran, Chavez has worked tirelessly to frustrate US efforts across the continent. His most recent provocation, among many others, was charging the...

President Bush’s nomination of John Bolton for the position of U.S. ambassador to the UN has stirred up controversy in all the right places. From the Los Angeles Times, which opined breathlessly that the President’s international efforts had suffered a “severe setback,” to the New York Times, which chastised Mr. Bush for spending his political capital on a “long time critic of multilateralism,” the President’s usual detractors are pulling no punches. Taking his cue from the liberal press, Senator Jon Corzine (D-NJ) also expressed his deep disappointment over the nomination, citing Mr. Bolton’s actions as being responsible for what he...

When FBI Assistant Director Dan Szady, who heads the agency’s counter-intelligence division, made a rare public appearance to speak at the National Intelligence Conference and Exposition held last month in Alexandria, Virginia, it wasn’t to discuss Iran, Iraq, or any country in the Middle East, as many may have expected. Instead, the 33-year veteran of the Bureau discussed the “huge” threat posed to our national security by the Chinese intelligence apparatus. His most harrowing charge, among many other disturbing accusations, concerned the existence of an estimated 3,000 Chinese front companies that presently operate within the US. The main purpose of...

Washington, D.C.): Under Secretary of Defense Douglas Feith's announcement Wednesday that he would return to private life brings to a close four distinguished, but grueling, years at the forefront of the War on Terror. It offers an occasion both to salute this outstanding public servant and to castigate his ever-voluble critics. Most of the reportage on Secretary Feith's departure this summer has dredged up various unsubstantiated charges that have been made against Mr. Feith and/or his subordinates. The fact that no credible evidence has yet been offered to back up any of these transparent attempts at character assassination for political...

It's the most important find in living memory. It was found in the desert in Chad by an international team and is thought to be approximately seven million years old. "I knew I would one day find it... I've been looking for 25 years," said Michel Brunet of the University of Poitiers, France. Scientists say it is the most important discovery in the search for the origins of humankind since the first Australopithecus "ape-man" remains were found in Africa in the 1920s. The newly discovered skull finally puts to rest any idea that there might be a single "missing link"...

(Reuters) - An American missionary held hostage for more than a year by Muslim rebels in the southern Philippines was killed and his wife wounded but rescued on Friday in a gunbattle between the kidnappers and troops, officials said. A Filipina nurse held hostage by the same Abu Sayyaf rebels -- which has links to Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda network -- was also killed in the firefight, Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo said in a statement

NEW YORK -- David Chang said it was Sen. Bob Torricelli himself who called and told Chang to make large cash payments directly to him in his home. In court papers filed in the federal courthouse in Newark, N.J. on Wednesday afternoon, and obtained exclusively by Newschannel 4, Chang said he made "14 such deliveries to Torricelli's home in Englewood, N.J. Each payment was approximately $8,000 or $9,000." That adds up to more than $100,000. Chang came out with these new accusations against Torricelli in a bid to get no jail time. Chang said Torricelli would call him from Washington...

I know that there are more than a few Freepers who watch 24 every week. I thought the season finale was amazing. What did you guys think?

Anyone seeing the breaking news flash on Headline News? A report of a car explosion, possibly a bomb, in a Hassidic neighborhood in Brooklyn. At least one man injured.

Pro-Putin cult urges return to Soviet 'glory' By Clem Cecil in Moscow (Filed: 27/01/2002) A SINISTER new organisation, backed by the Kremlin, is urging the Russian people to reject pro-Western views and go back to the "glory" of Soviet Russia. The 50,000-strong group which calls itself "Walking Together" has strict rules and indoctrination methods, but unlike the Chinese group it has the support of the authorities. "We want to create a new generation to help the president bring Russia out of crisis," said its founder, Vasily Yakimenko. The Kremlin's clear involvement can be traced back to the group's beginnings. ...

Dear Colleagues and Students: This short analysis is from stratfor.com, an international intellligence newsletter. Stratfor has no illusions about the US - No. Alliance atrocity at the prison camp, nor about how it will now make the Taliban more desperate, ultimately costing American lives as well. We should remember that Pres. Bush & Co. do not care about the lives of our soldiers. They care about attaining their imperialist objectives -- to control oil and gas in this, the richest part of the world, for the profit and political power which will accrue to them as a result. Sincerely, Grover ...

More Ginger details may be coming By Michael Kanellos CNET News.com More details on Ginger, the alleged scooter at the center of controversy and wild speculation for close to a year, may emerge next week amid a flurry of patent applications from its inventor. "Good Morning America" anchor Diane Sawyer said earlier this week that the show will reveal what Ginger--also known as IT--is next week on the show. Judging from Sawyer's comments, Ginger watchers expect the segment to air Monday. ABC, the network that hosts the show, is running a guess-the-identity-of-Ginger contest. Meanwhile, Dean Kamen, the inventor of the ...

Most consevatives hate the New York Times, often with good reason. Personally, I only read it for a few sections and editorial writers. However, I think the NY Times should be applauded for something they have been doing since Sept.11.Turn to the last page of the Nation Challenged section. The portraits of grief page. This page should be required reading for everyone in America.I fear that the shear number of dead has numbed America. 5,000 people dead is such a faceless and cold number. To better understand the magnitude of this disaster, you should read Portraits of Grief.I try to ...

Bush to bin Laden By THOMAS L. FRIEDMAN The White House has asked U.S. networks to limit broadcasts of statements by Osama bin Laden. I wish that instead of censorship, the president would respond to him. Here's what Mr. Bush could say: Dear bin Laden: I've listened to the statement you released through Al Jazeera TV. Since I know that no Arab or Muslim leader will dare answer you, I thought I would do it. Let me be blunt: Your statement was pathetic. It's obvious from what you said that you don't have a clue why we're so strong or ...