Free Republic

The West went into Yugoslavia to prevent ethnic cleansing, and ended up presiding over it Can’t blame the Serbs for protesting, which is what they do en masse as I’m writing this — not that it’s likely to do them any good. After the province of Kosovo seceded from Serbia on Monday, the major Western liberal democracies stumbled over each other in their eagerness to put the stamp of good housekeeping on it. By now a dozen nations or more, including the U.K. and U.S., have recognized the breakaway province of ethnic Albanian Muslims as an independent country. The apprentice...

MOSCOW - Russia's envoy to NATO warned the alliance Friday against overstepping its mandate in Kosovo and said Moscow might be forced to use "brute military force" to maintain respect on the world scene. Dmitry Rogozin said the Russian military also might get involved if all European Union nations recognize Kosovo's independence without United Nations agreement and despite strong objections from Russia and Serbia. The comments were the latest harsh rhetoric from Moscow protesting Kosovo's declaration of independence, which has sparked violent protests in Serbia and international disagreement over whether to recognize the fledgling nation. The comments also sparked quick...

KOSOVSKA MITROVICA, Kosovo (AP) — Serbs protesting Kosovo's independence for a fifth straight day Friday attacked U.N. police guarding a key bridge in northern Kosovo with stones, glass bottles and firecrackers on Friday. Serbia's prime minister appealed for calm as the European Union condemned rioting in the capital Belgrade overnight when demonstrators attacked the U.S. embassy and other Western mission. The United States and EU heavyweights Britain, France and Germany have formally recognized Kosovo. Serbian President Boris Tadic called an emergency meeting of the national security council, saying the riots that engulfed the capital overnight must "never happen again." In...

[snip] And at that time, the news media were still lavishing love on Obama. That situation is about to end. "He's the fashion plate of the moment," an editorial page editor remarked, "but fashion week is over." Sophisticated commentary now notes the growing creepiness of the Obama campaign: Its aversion to substantive policy discussions. The sermonizing -- "In the face of despair, we believe there can be hope." And the messianic bit -- "At this moment in the election there is something happening in America." (That would be he.) Volunteer trainees at Camp Obama are told not to talk issues...

The Cult of Obama Excitement over the campaign of Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama is reaching unparalleled heights, as he has won all eight caucuses and primaries since Super Tuesday. His campaign is raising a million dollars a day—double the rate of Hillary Clinton’s. The Economist is calling him “a political phenomenon.” But an increasing number of commentators—including some on the liberal side—are discussing a worrisome undercurrent in the trend: the fact that it is all about Obama the personality rather than Obama the potential president. Ignoring substance, an almost religious fervor is building in support of this untested politician....

Barack Obama is wearing a wristband in memory of a soldier killed in Iraq, given to him by a mother who said she wants the Democratic presidential candidate to keep others from dying. Tracy Jopek of Merrill, Wis., gave Obama the bracelet at a rally Friday night in Green Bay, and Obama was still wearing it Saturday as he campaigned across the state before Tuesday's primary.[farther down in the article]She said she's a Democrat who will vote for Obama in Wisconsin's primary Tuesday. Like Obama, she said she was against the war from the start and had a hard time...

Federal prosecutors describe CAIR as being an organization that supports terrorism…so WTF are these members of congress doing still supporting them? Homeland Security: In a new court filing, federal prosecutors describe the Council on American-Islamic Relations as a supporter of terrorists. So why are Democrats still supporting the organization? CAIR’s boosters on the Hill, where it’s headquartered just three blocks from the Capitol, have known for some time that several people in positions of power within the group have been directly connected to terrorism and have either been prosecuted or thrown out of the country. Yet lawmakers have gone right...

Rabat : The Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ISESCO) strongly condemned the decision taken by the Israeli occupation authorities to demolish the Al-Omari Mosque, built more than 700 years ago in Umm Tuba, a small village southeast of Al-Quds city. In a special communique, released on Friday, ISESCO faulted the pretexts used by Al Quds Municipality under Israeli jurisdiction to justify its decision to demolish the Mosque as being manifestly unfounded. It also called on the international community to bring pressure to bear on Israel to reverse its decision to destroy the Al-Omari Mosque of Umm Tuba, considering it...

<p>A suburban Philadelphia teacher has been arrested for making terroristic threats against her own school, including messages promising to kill people at the school.</p> <p>Police said the woman was a teacher at the Longstreth Elementary school in Warminster, Pa.</p> <p>Susan Romanyszyn, a fourth-grade teacher, said nothing as she surrendered at a local district justice office on charges she made 17 terroristic threats against the very school she worked at.</p>

In its abuse of American taxpayer dollars and trust, the United Nations has come up with many creative projects over the years, ranging from terrorist schoolhouses in Gaza, to procurement fraud, to per diems for pedophiliac peacekeepers. Now, the U.N. is on the brink of channeling millions in U.S. funds to pay for an encore of its notorious America-bashing, Israel-trashing conference held six years ago in Durban, South Africa. That U.N. jamboree, which opened in late August, 2001, was supposed to be all about the worthy cause of ending racism. Instead, it turned into such a frenzy of despotic and...

Barack Obama is stepping up his effort to correct the misconception that he's a Muslim now that the presidential campaign has hit the Bible Belt. At a rally to kick off a weeklong campaign for the South Carolina primary, Obama tried to set the record straight from an attack circulating widely on the Internet that is designed to play into prejudices against Muslims and fears of terrorism. "I've been to the same church -- the same Christian church -- for almost 20 years," Obama said, stressing the word Christian and drawing cheers from the faithful in reply. "I was sworn...

1. Was Barack Obama a Muslim? The issue of Barack Obama's possible Muslim past has re-emerged with conflicting reports about the presidential candidate's childhood in Islamic Indonesia. The controversy was initially touched off in early 2007 when several media outlets reported that Obama had attended a radical madrasa, or Islamic school, when he lived in Indonesia. Obama spokesman Robert Gibbs quickly countered with a statement: "Senator Obama has never been a Muslim, was not raised a Muslim, and is a committed Christian." The reports about the radical madrasa turned out to be false. But in March 2007, Gibbs amended his...

UNITED NATIONS, N.Y.—On Jan. 2, I made the rounds here. I stopped by the office of the spokesman for the secretary-general, passed the tapestry replica of Picasso’s “Guernica,” and went into the delegates’ lounge. There were few people about. No meetings were scheduled. I reflected. From the perspective of another year as a U.N. correspondent, it was discouraging that the United Nations had achieved nothing during 2007. With a new Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon of South Korea, in charge, the United Nations simply went through the motions of taking up critical issues and desperate situations. As correspondents here observed, when Ban...

UN beachside conferencing goes way beyond plans for a December blowout on Bali, and the UN agenda goes way beyond taxing us in the name of controlling the weather. Live, right now, the UN is continuing its grab to control the internet, with a Nov. 12-15 conference in Rio de Janeiro (beach facilities shown in accompanying photo). Big on the agenda is the UN-based campaign to take away control of the internet from the U.S. The aim, now that U.S. freedoms and resulting creativity (not Al Gore, his own claims notwithstanding) have brought mankind this marvelous gift of the internet,...

A new international treaty among the world's countries that would give control of OUR country and OUR territory to bureaucrats from other countries has been put on the table for discussion this month. Is that good for us as Americans? You decide. Then, you must call your Senator & Congressman & complain. ---------------------------------- Subject: Sea Treaty threatens national sovereignty Grassfire.org + + "I am absolutely convinced it undermines U.S. sovereignty." - Sen. Trent Lott (R-MS) 11/12/2007 Grassfire has just learned that the "Law of the Sea Treaty" being pushed for by the White House, and bolstered by a 17-4 vote...

"RENEWING THE AMERICAN DREAM" Thanks to your efforts, the Plant City Living Center recognized they were mistaken in not allowing residents to display Christian symbols. HUD says its policy is clear and that discrimination against Mrs. Arnold (and angels) will not be tolerated in HUD approved facilities. Plant City Living Center attorney Steve Edelstein issued this statement today: "I am pleased to report that the Plant City Living Center's recent newsletter regarding holiday decoration policies has been rescinded. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) guarantees the rights of citizens to display religious symbols in public. We support...

Sri Lanka has promised to look into allegations that 108 of its UN peacekeepers in Haiti paid for sex, in some cases with underage girls. The men are being sent home after being accused of sexual misconduct and abuse. Officials say the law will take its course once the soldiers arrive back in Sri Lanka, but warn that little tangible evidence has been produced. In the past, UN peacekeepers have been involved in a series of sex scandals, including this year in Ivory Coast. 'Zero tolerance' Sri Lanka has sent four senior officers, including a female brigadier, to Haiti to...

The UN Convention on Law of the Sea was just voted out of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee 17 to 4, with Sens. Vitter, Coleman, Isakson, and DeMint opposing. Supporters were hoping for only 2 no votes. The next battle will be convincing the Democratic leadership to bring it to a vote on the Senate floor. Posted by Matthew Cordell - October 31, 2007 11:45 AM - UN News

An event featuring ex-Mexican President Vicente Fox was cut short by a bomb scare tonight at the Landmark Theater, city police said. Fox ended his question and answer session and canceled a reception after someone called in the threat shortly before 9 p.m., said Katie Walsh, press consultant for the Syracuse University Student Association. Syracuse police, alerted to the bomb threat, ended the event after talking with the theater management and university organizers, said Sgt. Tom Connellan. The building was evacuated, and bomb-sniffing dogs were called in. No bomb was found.

When State Department Legal Adviser John B. Bellinger III gave a controversial June 6 speech on the subject of "The United States and International Law," he mentioned that the Bush Administration had "put forward a priority list of over 35 treaty packages that we have urged the Senate to approve soon, including the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea." The latter is now up for Senate ratification, with a vote scheduled on Wednesday, and one of its many controversial provisions is the regulation of land-based sources of pollution. This treaty covers the water and the land. But now...