Free Republic

MARINE CORPS BASE QUANTICO, Va. (Dec. 1, 2005) -- The Marine Corps’ newest addition to the Shoulder Launched Multipurpose Assault Weapon family of munitions, designed to root out al Qaeda and Taliban forces in the caves of Afghanistan, is proving its worth on the streets of Fallujah and elsewhere in Iraq. Although the SMAW-Novel Explosive round functions just like the 21-year-old SMAW High Explosive Dual-Purpose round, the SMAW-NE boasts a much larger explosive fill. The SMAW-NE contains four pounds of PBXN-113, an aluminized high explosive composition with similar characteristics to the 2.4-pound load of Aluminized Composition A3 fill in the...

UN fears instability in Kabul after Mayor demolishes 'illegal' homes By Phil Reeves, Asia Correspondent 05 September 2003 Kabul has always been the exception, a haven amid an unstable country where American troops are still tracking down anti-government guerrillas at huge expense, where swaths of the landscape are no-go areas because of the threat of violence. But now trouble has come unexpectedly to the Afghan capital. To the disgust of the United Nations, Basir Salangi, the Kabul police chief, has begun flexing his muscles, underlining tensions between the US-backed Afghan authorities and the international community. His target comprises one-room mud-brick...

<p>Mario Moreno says he was making repairs on the 48th Street structure when the city ordered it torn down for repeated building code violations.</p> <p>Mario Moreno sat on the steps of a neighbor's house in disbelief, crying as he watched the building in which he had invested so much of himself pounded into a pile of dust.</p>