Free Republic

Is the U.S. Failing in Afghanistan? It was malice in wonderland at the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Thursday as Bush Administration envoys insisted things are getting better in Afghanistan, while angry lawmakers from both parties cited facts and figures showing just the opposite. Even the senior Republican on the panel, Senator Richard Lugar, found the Administration's claims wanting. "I'm not sure that we have a plan for Afghanistan," he said. Long seen as the "forgotten war" eclipsed by Iraq in U.S. priorities, Afghanistan is in the Washington spotlight this week with the release of three independent reports concluding...

South Texas ranch at center of storm over effort to stem illegal immigration HEBBRONVILLE (AP) — A South Texas couple says the U.S. Border Patrol hasn't been much help in stemming the flow of illegal immigrants who make their way into the country across their ranch land. After continuing to find broken fences, food containers and other messes from migrants, Joe and Betty Lou Sutton last year called on Ranch Rescue, an Arizona-based group of armed vigilantes who believe citizens should protect the U.S.-Mexican border themselves. Now, the Suttons' ranch is at the center of a federal court case alleging...