Free Republic

MINNEAPOLIS -- In counterpoint to recent ads attacking U.S. Norm Coleman, a veterans' group that supports the U.S. troop surge in Iraq will run a 60-second "Thank You" spot for his stance on the war. The group, Vets for Freedom, would not say how much it is spending on the ads. "It thanks him for his support thus far for the mission in Iraq," said Pete Hegseth, who heads the national group of Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans and is a Minnesota native. Minnesota GOP spokesman Mark Drake said the ad will provide balance in the public discussion of the...

ALGIERS, (Reuters) - The Algerian army, stepping up a counter-offensive after attacks by al Qaeda's north Africa wing, has killed around 16 of the group's fighters in the past three days, newspapers reported on Saturday. At least 13 members of the al Qaeda Organisation in the Islamic Maghreb were killed near borders with Tunisia in Tebessa province, some 634 km (396 miles) east of the capital Algiers, independent dailies Liberte and El Khabar said. The army was acting on information provided by a captured rebel, the papers cited security sources as saying. In a separate operation, the military killed three...

Romney makes cameo at RNC meetings His wife was the one scheduled to appear, but Mitt Romney himself surprised members of the RNC by showing up to address the group's summer meetings today in Minneapolis. Per an attendee, Romney gave his usual stump speech but also spoke about the city's bridge collapse tragedy and what he did as governor with regard to infrastructure. He had been in Des Moines this morning, so the trip was only a short hop in the air. Btw, if you don't think that immigration is still the numero uno issue for many Republicans check out...

Milblogger Matt Sanchez is currently at FOB Falcon and has been asking questions at the base about Scotty Beauchamp, whose stories for the New Republic are being investigated by both the Army and the editors at TNR. Sanchez reports: Despite a full day of dealing with securing a dangerous Baghdad neighborhood, even Lt. Colonel Crider was aware of the recent Beauchamp scandal and could only shake his head at how absurd the initial details of the accounts seemed....[With calls from the] New York Times, O'Reilly Factor, ABC, CNN, Hot Air, in the past two weeks, Major Luedeke has dealt with...

At the 1960 Republican National Convention in Chicago, Barry Goldwater famously told conservatives to "grow up." It's time we hear that message again. As in 1960, the conservative movement seems grumbling, disaffected, even downright angry -- and, most importantly, it sometimes seems more interested in complaining and moaning than in uniting, constructively, to achieve political success. What's worse is that we seem to be fighting among ourselves. Every chance we get, we take shots at other conservatives. Nobody, it seems, is good enough. We moan that nobody is another Reagan. Nobody is another Churchill. Nobody is another Washington. To which...

Mexico is at war. No, not a war with the United States over immigration, though the war for stability and modernity Mexico is waging has profound effects on that hot-button North American issue. Let's take Mexico's figurative battle first, the "political fight for modernization." Figurative, however, doesn't mean without the threat of severe civil disorder. Conducting legitimate elections is certainly a "front" in Mexican modernization. So is navigating the storm of post-election partisan rivalry, massive street demonstrations and threatened violence. A retrospective look at the July 2006 presidential election and its dicey aftermath suggests Mexico is maturing as a democracy....

WASHINGTON, DC - A third individual was arrested and charged with conspiracy to commit money laundering arising from a scheme involving bribery, conspiracy and money laundering related to Department of Defense contracts in Iraq and Kuwait, according to a report released by Assistant Attorney General Alice S. Fisher of the Criminal Division and Assistant Attorney General Thomas O. Barnett of the Antitrust Division. The individual, Carolyn Blake, is the sister of John L. Cockerham, a major in the U.S. Army who was charged on July 22, 2007 with bribery, money laundering and conspiracy arising out of his service as an...

No matter what its historical relevance or context, the political and legal dimensions of historical jihad cannot be played out in the international or public policy affairs of modern society. FSM Contributing Editor Dr. Walid Phares explains why modern Jihad is unquestionably against the law. ____________________________________________ Why Military Jihad in Modern Times Is Illegal By Walid Phares One of the strangest, but not unexpected, battles of words and ideologies is over the claims made about the Muslim perception of jihad and Jihadism and their impact on public speech. Although there are various clashes on this level, it is appropriate here...

BAGHDAD – “We want to use you as bait,” Sergeant Eduardo Ojeda from Los Angeles, California, told me before I embedded with his unit on what was shaping up to be a night raid. “Excellent,” I said. “That’s why I’m here.” This is what passes for black Army humor in Baghdad. “Our TST [time-sensitive target] blew up a vehicle and killed four soldiers and an interpreter in the next AO [area of operations],” he said. “He’s somewhere in our AO now.” He could tell by the frozen and dubious look on my face that I wasn’t sure I wanted to...

New York Times Pulitzer Prize winner John Burns on Iraq, Iran and how the surge is working. HH: Pleased to welcome back to the Hugh Hewitt Show John Burns of the New York Times. Mr. Burns, welcome, it’s been about six months since we spoke, and I gather you’re in Baghdad today? JB: I am indeed. HH: How long have you been back in Baghdad? JB: About three months. We take long rotations here, and then we reward ourselves with nice long breaks back home in the United States, or in my case, in the United Kingdom. HH: Well, there...

Not all is gloom out there. That's the dominant message from the most recent Pew Global Attitudes Project's poll of 47 nations. Pew found that there is rising or constantly high contentment all over the globe with one's quality of life and family income. Satisfaction tends to be highest in the United States and Canada, but not far behind are Western Europe and Latin America. Even in Eastern Europe, Asia and Latin America, about one-third are highly satisfied with their quality of life and income. As the Pew Global analysts point out, there is a high correlation here with economic...

The Upcoming Presidential Election Should Be All About The Supreme Court for Social Conservatives Big Trouble We are in big trouble. Whether you consider the historical cycle of presidential elections; the results of the 2006 election; the mood of the country; or the unfavorable ratings of the President, the odds are that conservatives will have our heads handed to us on a silver platter in 2008. Unless our movement gets its act together quickly and gets on the same page, one thing is for sure-- we are in big trouble. No Perfect Candidate Many conservatives are frustrated by the field...

Mitt Romney was credited with a political coup last Tuesday when it was announced that Wendy Long has joined his campaign as a senior legal advisor and vice chair of his National Faith and Values Steering Committee. Long is a familiar name to conservatives who follow the courts. She is chief counsel to the Judicial Confirmation Network, an organization of conservative lawyers that has played a critical role in the confirmation battles for appellate and Supreme Court judges including Sam Alito and John Roberts. She was a litigation partner with Kirkland & Ellis LLP and previously a law clerk to...

Revisionist message from prison cell shakes al-Qaida colleagues In a prison cell south of Cairo a repentant Egyptian terrorist leader is putting the finishing touches to a remarkable recantation that undermines the Muslim theological basis for violent jihad and is set to generate furious controversy among former comrades still fighting with al-Qaida. -------- Sharif recently gave an electrifying foretaste of his conversion by condemning killings on the basis of nationality and colour of skin and the targeting of women and children, citing the Qur'anic injunction: "Fight in the cause of God those who fight you, but do not transgress the...

In Pakistan they are as famous as Beyoncé and Justin Timberlake, with 60m album sales between them, and their first musical collaboration has had 65,000 downloads and been number one on MTV. But the pop stars on one of the biggest Pakistani records of 2007 are not singing about young love or broken hearts, but terrorism. Yeh Hum Naheen, This Is Not Us, has become an anthem for Muslims wanting to distance themselves from extremism and violence and the artists want it to inspire a similar reaction in Britain, where the single has just been released. One of the singers,...

MANILA: Southeast Asian diplomats have completed the first draft of a landmark charter for the region, but left out a provision creating a human rights body after a row, a senior official said yesterday. The issue will now be decided at a meeting of foreign ministers of the Association of South East Asian Nations (Asean) today in Manila. “We’ve done our part,” said the official, who declined to be named because he was not authorised to speak for the task force that is drafting the charter. “We’re leaving it to our ministers to decide on how to deal with the...

BAGHDAD - Tens of thousands of Iraqis from the Shiite south to the Kurdish-dominated north poured into the usually treacherous streets Sunday to celebrate a rare moment of joy and unity when the national team won Asia's most prestigious soccer tournament. The revelers spanning the country's sectarian and ethnic divisions danced, sang and waved flags and posters of the team after Iraq beat three-time champion Saudi Arabia 1-0 to take the Asian Cup. Chants of "Long live Iraq" and "Baghdad is victorious" rang out across the country as Iraqis basked in national pride. Some of the revelers — mostly men...

Yesterday's UK Telegraph carried a story by Damien McElroy headlined "Iraqi Leader Tells Bush: Get Petraeus Out," in which he alleged that Iraqi Prime Minister Maliki and commander of US forces in Iraq, Gen. David Petraeus had stand-up shouting matches about strategy. McElroy claims that at one meeting, PM Maliki told Gen. Petaeus: "I can't deal with you anymore. I will ask for someone else to replace you." Pretty damning stuff - except that it is bogus. Here is what Col. Steven Boylan, chief public affairs officer for Multi-National Force-Iraq told this writer on the record in an e-mail: "Gen...

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico – A lawyer for an Algerian army veteran held at Guantanamo Bay said Friday he faces persecution from both the Algerian government and Islamic extremists if he is returned to his homeland as planned. A U.S. federal judge in Washington rejected an emergency motion Friday to prevent Ahmed Bel Bacha's repatriation, and one of his attorneys said they will appeal. Advertisement Bel Bacha is among at least two dozen Guantanamo detainees who have expressed fear that they will face abuse if sent to their native countries, according to human rights groups who dismiss as worthless diplomatic...

National Review Online asked a group of experts: "On Tuesday, Pew released a poll indicating that support for suicide bombings is on the decline in the Muslim world, among other things. How encouraging is this poll? What can we do — as a government, as private entities — to use the information constructively?" For all replies, see "Suicide Reversal?" It is good news if Muslim support for suicide bombings is indeed declining. But it need not have much to do, as the poll takers theorize, with improved personal circumstances. Two other factors likely have more importance. First, as Muslims themselves...