Free Republic

With tensions at an all time high in Afghanistan following the Koran burnings, the urination video, and the killing of 16 civilians attention is now falling on a long line of "Infidel" apparel and gear. Exhausted from how they feel they're being perceived, troops have taken to wearing patches and carrying items that label themselves infidels and offer translation in local dialect. In the Muslim world an infidel means literally "one without faith" who rejects the central teachings of Islam. Military.com tracked down Clayton Montgomery at Mil-Spec Monkey, a large online seller of infidel gear, who says his most popular...

Riyadh, 2 April (AKI) - Swiss football referee Massimo Busacca vowed he would wear a whistle with the Swiss Cross symbol on it during of the Saudi championship on Wednesday, despite anger voiced in the Kingdom at the 'crusader' item. "I have respect for all religions, including Islam, but I don't see anything offensive in this and am optimistic. I will not give up my 'crusader' whistle," he told pan-Arab daily Al-Sharq al-Awsat. Many in Saudi Arabia had called for Busacca to sport a different whistle to avoid offending Muslims. He has previously refereed several soccer matches in the Kingdom....

Afghan Taliban militants have branded the reprinting of a satirical cartoon of the Prophet Mohammad in Danish newspapers and a film on the Koran by a Dutch politician as part of a "Crusader war" against Muslims. The Islamic movement, which is leading an insurgency in Afghanistan against Afghan and foreign troops led by NATO and the United States, also called for aid for the Palestinians in their conflict with Israel. "We see the publication of cartoons and insult of the Holy Koran as part of the Crusaders' war," the Taliban said in a statement posted on the group's Web site....

HARACTER COUNTS; some- times it counts in the count. In Florida, Arizona Sen. John McCain yesterday won the Republican primary, overcoming big disadvantages favoring former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney. What disadvantages? Let us, well, count. Mr. Romney built a huge campaign apparatus in Florida over the last year, while Mr. McCain, since his campaign nearly expired last summer, was able to do very little organizationally in the Sunshine State. Many Floridians voted early--before Mr. McCain picked up the endorsements of Florida U.S. Sen. Mel Marinez and the state's governor, John Crist (to say nothing of Sly Stallone). The number of...

From Kengor,p.205 During his first three years in office and particularly since the spring of 1983, Ronald Reagan had pushed a plan to deploy intermediate-range nuclear forces (INFs), also known as Pershing II's , in Western Europe. His goal was to prompt the Soviets to remove their medium-range nuclear missiles from Eastern Europe. He told Yuri Andropov that if the Kremlin removed its missiles, there would be no need for the United States to deploy INFs. Reagan called this the zero-zero option: he wanted both sides to slash INFs to zero levels. If Andropov would not agree to do this,...

According to the Catalan newspaper La Vanguardia, the Spanish football club Barcelona is altering its famous badge in some Arab countries in order to avoid offending Muslims. The badge is especially altered in Saudi Arabia or Algeria, where the Barcelona shirts are being sold without the red cross of Saint George, the patron saint of the Catalan region which Barca claims to represent, the La Vanguardia newspaper found in a private investigation. The badge, which was created in 1906, features a single vertical red line in Saudi Arabia and Algeria, due to the fact that there, the red cross represents...

Turkey is unlikely to join the EU for at least 15 years Turkey finally began talks on joining the European Union in October 2005, more than 40 years after it first began to woo the emerging bloc. Now it seems that things are already going wrong. What are the main problems? More generally, what are the main arguments for and against Turkish membership of the EU, and how does the accession process work? Why is Turkey's EU membership bid in trouble? There are two issues. TURKISH MARATHON 1959 - Turkey applies for associate membership of EEC 1963 - Association...

NEW DELHI (AFP) - Pope Benedict XVI's attack on Islam has stirred anger in India with the head of the National Commission for Minorities saying he sounded like a medieval crusader. Pope Benedict provoked worldwide outcry with comments Tuesday during a visit to his native Germany in which he talked about the "issue of jihad, holy war", a term used by Islamic extremists to justify acts of terror. "The language used by the pope sounds like that of his 12th-century counterpart who ordered the crusades," said Hamid Ansari, chairman of the influential National Commission for Minorities. The commission's role includes...

PARIS (Reuters) - Deputy al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri has urged a militant Algerian Islamist group to punish "Crusader nation" France, even though it vehemently opposed the U.S.-led war in Iraq, a newspaper said on Thursday. The Le Figaro daily cited a security expert who had reviewed the entire tape, released on Monday, in which Zawahiri called on the Algerian GSPC group to become "a bone in the throat of the American and French crusaders". He also urged the GSPC -- the Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat -- to sow fear "in the hearts of the traitors and the apostate...

Nationally known anti-tax crusader George Henry "Nick" Jesson will serve 27 months in prison for tax fraud, a judge has ruled. U.S. District Judge Percy Anderson on Monday also ordered Jesson, 55, to pay $215,454 in restitution to the federal government. The Fountain Valley resident, who ran for California governor in 2002, was taken into custody after his sentencing. Assistant U.S. Attorney Sandra Brown said she believes the sentence was "wholly appropriate" and would deter others from considering anti-tax protests. Jesson's wife, Trina Thi Vu, declined to comment after the sentencing, as did her attorney, citing pending state tax charges...

Reason rules the day for now, as a measure at my alma mater Northwest Nazarene University to drop its Crusader mascot name was defeated. But continued vigilance will be needed. The university's Board of Trustees - champions of political correctness that they are - now support finding a cuddly, soft definition of the crusades in step with our hip-hop modern times.

The pending Boeing/Lockheed "United Launch Alliance" (ULA) to provide the Air Force with expendable rockets would unfairly strand taxpayers with a half-billion-dollar-a-year subsidy: that's the message the 350,000-member National Taxpayers Union (NTU) delivered to Congress today, in an open letter urging lawmakers to end subsidies for the companies' current and proposed space-booster schemes. Federal policymakers are expected to consider the merger deal as early as this week. "Launch platforms for satellites can be expendable, but tax dollars never are," said NTU Director of Government Affairs Paul Gessing. "Over the past decade, the Air Force's Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle (EELV) initiative...

LAS VEGAS (AP) - Anti-tax crusader Irwin Schiff and an associate were found guilty Monday of charges including conspiracy, tax evasion and tax fraud that could get each of them decades in federal prison and millions of dollars in fines. Schiff, 77, who argues that paying taxes is voluntary, was handcuffed and led from U.S. District Court after a jury found him guilty of all 13 charges. "There's no reason to put me in jail," Schiff told Judge Kent Dawson, whose patience was tested while Schiff served as his own lawyer during the five-week trial. "I'm not a flight risk....

There is a fast closing window of opportunity for the large majority of "peaceful Muslims" living in the United States and the United Kingdom. It is long past time for those Muslims who are not complicit with these radical Islamic clerics and their disciples who are preaching violence and hatred toward your host countries to actively get involved in exposing them. You are in the best position to know who these fanatics are. They live among you. They use your mosques to preach, teach and inspire young Muslims. They capture the minds of your young sons and daughters with Islamic...

5/22/2005 Clip No. 710 Jordanian Professor Ghazi Rabab'a: Muslims Will Return to Cordoba and Granada The following are excerpts from an interview with Jordanian Political Science Professor Ghazi Rabab'a, which aired on Al-Majd TV on May 22, 2005 Rbab'a:I want to finish with what the Prophet Muhammad said: "Judgment Day will not occur until you fight the Jews, when you are on the east of the river and they are on its west, until the tree and rock say: 'Oh Muslim, oh servant of Allah, there is a Jew behind me, come and kill him, except for the Gharqad tree,...

The coming economic crisis. Unemployment. Health care for the poor. The almost 1,500 dead soldiers. The almost 100,000 dead Iraqis. Armstrong Williams and Maggie Gallagher. The Christian Conservative takeover of our nation. The missing 9 billion. The missing weapons of mass destruction. The impending invasion of Iran, and Syria. The total failure to protect us on 9-11.

Powell to step down as chairman of FCC, officials say By STEPHEN LABATON and JOHN O’NEIL WASHINGTON, Jan. 21 - Michael K. Powell will step down today as chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, officials there said, ending a four-year term that was marked by the tightening of standards on decency and attempts to loosen restrictions on media ownership. ADVERTISEMENT Mr. Powell was appointed to the commission in 1997 by President Bill Clinton and promoted to chairman by President Bush in 2001. Associates of Mr. Powell’s have reported for months that he planned to leave after the conclusion of Mr....

Lord, Keep our Troops forever in Your care Give them victory over the enemy... Grant them a safe and swift return... Bless those who mourn the lost. . FReepers from the Foxhole join in prayer for all those serving their country at this time. .................................................................. .................... ........................................... U.S. Military History, Current Events and Veterans Issues Where Duty, Honor and Countryare acknowledged, affirmed and commemorated. Our Mission: The FReeper Foxhole is dedicated to Veterans of our Nation's military forces and to others who are affected in their relationships with Veterans. In the FReeper Foxhole, Veterans or their family members should...

Ousted Army Chief Blasts Bush Iraq Policy Tue Sep 2, 4:49 PM ET By ROBERT BURNS, AP Military Writer WASHINGTON - Thomas E. White, forced to resign as Army secretary in May, has fired back in a book that describes the Bush administration's postwar effort in Iraq (news - web sites) as "anemic" and "totally inadequate." The book, which presents a blueprint for revitalizing Iraq, asserts that the administration underestimated the difficulty of putting that country back on its feet after the fall of Saddam Hussein (news - web sites). "Clearly the view that the war to `liberate' Iraq would...

On August 9, 2004 CAN news service reported that "the Jesuit magazine, America, will publish an article in its Aug. 16-23 issue, in which a pro-abortion politician says he will not let Archbishop Raymond Burke of St. Louis ‘coerce’ him into imposing the Church’s teachings on U.S. society." In the article, entitled "My Conscience, My Vote", U.S. Rep. David Obey (D-Wis.) whines that Archbishop Burke "attempted to use his interpretations of theology to coerce me into taking specific positions on matters that I believe are matters of constitutional law." Interpretations of theology? Obey means, obviously, the teaching of the Catholic...

Alliance settlement may be a model; Fund family's deal could cost it $600 million By Leticia Williams & Jonathan Burton, CBS.MarketWatch.com Last Update: 6:23 PM ET Dec. 16, 2003 WASHINGTON (CBS.MW) -- The groundbreaking settlements that mutual-fund company Alliance Capital Management Holding reached with state and federal regulators will raise the bar for other money managers hoping to settle their own cases, industry observers said. New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer's office confirmed Tuesday that the crusading state regulator finalized an agreement with Alliance (AC: news, chart, profile) that includes a 20 percent reduction of portfolio management fees for the...

Church of Greece head calls Turks ''barbarians'' By Karolos Grohmann Reuters ATHENS, Dec. 4 — The head of the Church of Greece on Thursday called neighbouring Turks ''barbarians'' who had no place in the predominantly Christian European Union. Controversial Archbishop Christodoulos, who has in the past clashed with the Greek government over its improved ties with arch-rival Turkey, said in a sermon in Athens the mainly Muslim nation's ambition to join the 15-nation bloc was unacceptable. ''They (Turkey) want to join the European Union. No barbarian can come into the family of Christians,'' he told a packed church in the...

Shaughn Butts, The Journal / Followers look on as Marc Emery smokes up Sunday.   EDMONTON - Wearing a conservative blue suit, B.C. marijuana activist Marc Emery lit up a water pipe in front of Edmonton police headquarters Sunday afternoon and was promptly arrested. The leader of the B.C. Marijuana Party contends poss ession laws no longer exist because of recent Ontario court decisions. Before lighting up, Emery said the fact that people can be political and take action makes Canada "the greatest place on Earth." Two Edmonton police constables stepped into the crowd and led Emery inside, to...

The Bush administration wants Air Force Secretary James Roche to be the next Army secretary, InsideDefense.com has learned. Two industry sources tracking the issue said Roche is the favorite to fill the shoes of outgoing Army Secretary Thomas White, who recently resigned at the request of Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. Whether Roche will accept the position remains to be seen. Roche is viewed as a trusted aide who could “fix” problems in the Army, said one of the sources, noting Rumsfeld's well-publicized disagreements with White and outgoing Army Chief of Staff Gen. Eric Shinseki. White's effective date of resignation is...

<p>WASHINGTON (CNN) --Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld demanded U.S. Army Secretary Tom White step down Friday, a senior Pentagon official said, a move that follows two years of contention between the two.</p> <p>The official said Rumsfeld called White into his office and demanded his resignation, which White provided.</p>

Smaller, faster, but above all smarter The nation's capital of late has been riveted by a war--not the one between the U.S. and its terrorist enemies but the struggle over the first big Pentagon weapons program to be targeted for extinction by the Bush administration. At issue is the Army's controversial $11 billion Crusader gun--a monstrous self-propelled cannon conceived eight years ago in the heady days following America's heavy armor triumph in the Persian Gulf War. Able to fire farther and faster than the aging Paladin mobile gun now in service, the huge weapon has had the backing of the...

For education and discussion only. Not for commercial use. FRIDLEY, Minn. -- United Defense Industries has begun telling employees of up to 800 possible layoffs at its plant here if the company's Crusader artillery system is canceled by the federal government. United Defense announced Wednesday it is not planning a large layoff but that it is notifying employees because federal law requires contractors to alert their employees in such cases. Spokesman Jeff Van Keuren said employees would likely begin receiving their notifications in the mail Thursday. About 800 people in Fridley are working on development of the Crusader. The company...

<p>On the face of it, the flap over the artillery piece known as the Crusader is a classic case of weapons bloat - of the generals' wanting a new toy, and hang the expense (or even the utility) of the thing.</p>

C-SPAN Schedule At 0745, Crusader Artillery System Information , Pat Towell, Congressional Quarterly At 0900, Anti-Crusader Artillery System Andrew Krepinevich, Executive Director, Center for Strategic and Budget. Assess. At 0930, Pro-Crusader Artillery System Dave Maddox, General (Ret), Advisor, United Defense All times Eastern

WASHINGTON, May 12 (UPI) -- EXCLUSIVE A new ballistic technology that can fire burst rates in excess of one million rounds per minute from a 36-barrel weapon was one of the reasons Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld canceled the $11 billion Crusader artillery system. The technology is known as "Metal Storm," which is also the name of the Australian research and development company that owns it. The fastest weapons today are mechanical Gatling gun styles that can fire at the rate of some 6,000 rounds per minute. Infantry rifles average 600 rounds, which is the firing rate for a magazine of...

These are strange days in America, times when truths you thought were hard as stone simply vanish in the twinkling of a lie. It began on a fine blue morning eight months ago, when Mohammed Atta and his hijackers made the Twin Towers disappear and left only the dark shadows of unanswered questions in their place. Who helped the hijackers? Who was Atta meeting on his many flying visits to bucolic burgs in rural America? Was it just coincidence that two members of his team checked into the same motel where Timothy McVeigh holed up before the Oklahoma bombing? One...

NEW YORK - Enron's name is poison these days, so anything that can be slapped with that label already has one foot in the grave. Among the victims might be the Army's Crusader howitzer, which is championed by Army Secretary Thomas White, whose old Enron ties just might help Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld kill off the new howitzer by scaring away its Congressional supporters. White, a former Enron executive, has been criticized for his contacts with his old firm. That has made White something of a political liability for the Bush Administration, which naturally wants to distance itself from the...