http://www.freerepublic.com/tag/iraqiamericans/ en-us Fri, 24 Oct 2008 08:03:55 GMT Focus Forum 15 http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2113866/posts ANN ARBOR, Mich. – An Army translator kidnapped two years ago Thursday is still unaccounted for, the only U.S. servicemember who remains missing in the current Iraq war. Ahmed Kousay al-Taie was visiting his wife's family in central Baghdad Oct. 23, 2006, when a group of armed, masked men dragged him to a waiting car. Al-Taie, a 41-year-old specialist when he was captured, is now 43 and a sergeant. The last public news of him came in February 2007, when a Shiite militant group called Ahl al-Bayt Brigades released a 10-second video of him on the Internet. The military is... AP http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2113866/posts#comment Fri, 24 Oct 2008 08:03:55 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2030423/posts "Americans" for Hezbollah Via Memorandum, we get this USA Today story about discrimination against Muslims in America and a Gallup poll showing that many Americans mistrust Muslims. The USA Today article defines discrimination broadly, anything from a rude comment to assault.And from NPR, a profile of the Lebanese-American community in Dearborn Michigan includes this: Osama Siblani runs the Arab-American News, America's largest such newspaper. He says the fighting is fueling anger in his community -- not at Hezbollah, but at the Bush administration."The anger that you see in the Arab community, you do not see in the eyes of the... federalistjournal http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2030423/posts#comment Fri, 13 Jun 2008 06:41:16 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/2017855/posts San Jose, CA., May 18, 2008 / 12:40 pm (CNA).- One week ago today leaders of the Chaldean Catholic Church in California formally received into communion a bishop of the Assyrian Apostolic Church of the East, his clergy, and about 3,000 Assyrian Christians. The Assyrian Church, centered in modern-day Iraq, dates back to the earliest days of Christianity.  According to the California Catholic Daily, the church eventually embraced the teachings of Nestorius, the fifth-century Archbishop of Constantinople whose doctrines were condemned by the Council of Ephesus in 431.  Beginning in the sixteenth century, large numbers of Nestorian Assyrians came... CNA http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/2017855/posts#comment Mon, 19 May 2008 00:16:19 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1990009/posts Fadi Fadhil -- Freddie to his friends -- is probably marking the fifth anniversary of the Iraq war's launch with closer attention than the average Minnesotan. Fadhil, an Iraqi citizen living in Minneapolis, served as an interpreter for U.S. forces in Baghdad, his hometown. From April 2003 to February 2005, he guided American soldiers through some of their most challenging days. Lt. Col. Michael Baumann, commander of a battalion task force with the 5th Brigade Combat Team of the 1st Cavalry Division, with whom Fadhil worked, calls him a vital "cultural bridge." Baumann, of Lakeville, moved heaven and earth to... StarTribune http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1990009/posts#comment Sat, 22 Mar 2008 21:26:20 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1988628/posts VIDEO: Local (Everett) Iraqis Support War, Hope For IraqIraqis living in Everett see the five-year anniversary of the war as a time to celebrate the future of their country. Related Video: EXTENDED INTERVIEW: Local Iraqi man Ali Al-Faham explains support kirotv.com http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1988628/posts#comment Thu, 20 Mar 2008 07:47:23 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/1915391/posts I am again posting the story on one of our American heroes Army Specialist Ahmed Altaie. I have posted several times in past about Ahmed's case asking for anyone who reads the post to contact their Senators and Congressman to ask for an update on Ahmed's status. This was done in the hope that if there were enough inquires it would elevate the investigation into his whereabouts. To date: no new information has been received or released concerning Ahmed's status since March 15, 2007. Ahmed is a Iraqi American U.S. Army linguist soldier, from Ann-Arbor, Michigan who was kidnapped on... Conservative Thoughts http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/1915391/posts#comment Wed, 24 Oct 2007 01:38:00 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1887015/posts TEHRAN, Aug 25 (MNA)-- Hundreds of Iraqis residing in the U.S. converged in the front of the Saudi embassy in Washington on Friday condemning Riyadh’s policy towards Iraq, Sotaliraq said on its website. With slogans “Down with Terrorism” and “Shia and Sunni Should Unite in Iraq,” demonstrators called for the immediate halt to Saudi support for terrorism in Iraq and the issuance of “takfiri” religious decrees (fatwas) by Saudi scholars. Nazar Heydar, the director of Iraq information center in Washington and a member of the international center for campaign against terrorism, said “by this demonstration we meant to draw the... Mehr News http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1887015/posts#comment Mon, 27 Aug 2007 02:57:04 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1765026/posts It’s the Sunni Head Choppers vs Shiite Head Cutters. The epic battle of Bad Muslim vs Bad Muslim has made it’s way to the good ole U S of A! While Nancy Pelosi's Democratic Party's Chief of Intelligence is still trying to figure out the difference between Sunni and Shiite Muslims are in the wide world of Islamic Fundemtalism/Terrorism, the sectarian violence that has haunted the Bush administrations plans for peace in Iraq, have finally found their way to our own backyard in my home state of Michigan in Jihad central itself, Dearborn or as we have come to know... MensNewsDaily.Com http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1765026/posts#comment Wed, 10 Jan 2007 01:32:34 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/1723781/posts The Arabs that pushed us to war in Iraq, Where are they now?http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/1951039.stm Iraqi refugees hope for US strike http://memri.org/bin/articles.cgi?Page=archives&Area=sd&ID=SP19601 An Egyptian Columnist Attacks Pro-Iraqi Arab Lobby (so there is an Arab Lobby pro Iraq war...) http://www.tomgrossmedia.com/mideastdispatches/archives/000681.html Arabs, not Jews, driving Bush’s Iraq plans” (2002) http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/middle_east/jan-june98/iraq_4-27.html Iraqi refugees now in the US are united by tragedy, hatred of Saddam Hussein ... Give us the temporary support we need (1998) http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/inatl/longterm/iraq/stories/arabs7.htm Arab states have escalated their attacks on Iraqi President Saddam ... "There is no shred of support for Saddam anywhere in the Arab scene," (1999) _______________ Above are just a... http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/1723781/posts#comment Sun, 22 Oct 2006 09:32:56 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1559834/posts Farris Hassan: Journalist or Jihadist?By Joe Kaufman and Beila Rabinowitz, PipeLineNews.org January 16, 2006 - Miami, FL - PipeLineNews.org - The AP story was splashed all over the papers and television - 'U.S. Teen Runs Off to Iraq by Himself.' On the internet, people playfully compared his saga to the 80's comedy hit 'Ferris Bueller's Day Off.' Farris Hassan was the talk and toast of the entire country, "...a young man who feels guilty about the comfort he enjoys, who is brilliant but foolhardy, a boy brimming with idealism and the desire to make a difference." This is the way... PipeLineNews.org http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1559834/posts#comment Tue, 17 Jan 2006 21:32:10 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1554948/posts The Florida teen who sneaked off to Iraq over winter break also finagled a sitdown in Lebanon with a big shot from Hezbollah, one of the Mideast's top terrorist organizations. "I had to travel through alleyways and I finally walked - this was in the southern Shiite section of Beirut, the poorest section. So walking through alleyways, going up crooked staircases with bullet holes in the walls. And there was no sign saying, this is the Hezbollah office, of course not," Farris Hassan tells MSNBC's Rita Cosby in an interview airing tonight. A sheepish Farris, 16, also tells Cosby he's... New York Daily News http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1554948/posts#comment Mon, 9 Jan 2006 23:59:45 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1550810/posts Fort Lauderdale teen rests from Iraq trip, promises to share details By Tonya Alanez, Sallie James and Jamie Malernee Staff Writers January 2, 2006, 6:06 PM EST Crossing a busy street to speak briefly with the media isn't always the safest thing, but for a teenager who spent a portion of his holiday break alone in Baghdad, it was a comparatively safe trip in the name of politeness. Farris Hassan, the Fort Lauderdale 16-year-old whose solo trip to Iraq stunned his family, made a brief statement to reporters Monday afternoon, promising more comprehensive comments Tuesday evening and saying little else.... Sun Sentinel http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1550810/posts#comment Mon, 2 Jan 2006 23:30:44 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1550446/posts MIAMI - A 16-year-old who took off to Iraq alone to experience the lives of its people firsthand arrived back in Florida on Sunday, ending a three-week Middle East odyssey — much to the relief of his parents. Farris Hassan, who said it all started out as a personal journalism project, was getting a crash course in media as throngs of reporters and photographers waited for him at Miami International Airport. He smiled and gave a thumbs up before joining his family in a waiting car. "I do want to tell you how flattered I am. The media has been... AP via Yahoo!News http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1550446/posts#comment Mon, 2 Jan 2006 03:54:30 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1549591/posts BAGHDAD, Iraq (Dec. 30) - A 16-year-old from Florida who traveled to Iraq on his own without telling his parents was put on a flight home Friday, the U.S. Embassy said, while warning Americans of the dangers of undertaking similar journeys... ...Hassan, a junior at Pine Crest School, a prep academy of about 700 students in Fort Lauderdale, recently studied immersion journalism - a writer who lives the life of his subject in order to better understand it. The teenager, whose parents were born in Iraq but have lived in the United States for about 35 years, says he wanted... AP / AOL News http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1549591/posts#comment Sat, 31 Dec 2005 01:05:46 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1549567/posts Iraqis listen to the sermon of a cleric during Friday prayers at Immam Hussein Ali shrine in Kerbala, 110 km (68 miles) south of Baghdad, December 30, 2005. Iraq's most powerful Shi'ite politician met the country's Kurdish president at a lakeside retreat on Thursday to sketch out plans for a grand coalition government capable of ending violent sectarian unrest. (REUTERS/Mushtaq Mohamad) Various Media Outlets http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1549567/posts#comment Sat, 31 Dec 2005 00:15:17 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1549393/posts Most mothers would love the idea of a teenage son who enjoys debating and reading, rather chasing girls and staying out late with friends. But one idealistic 16-year old has invented a new way for recalcitrant children to worry their mothers to distraction after he went to Baghdad alone in the name of cutting-edge journalism. Armed with only an Arabic phrase book and some cash, Farris Hassan can count himself lucky to be alive after a series of adventures involving desert taxis and frantic phone calls. Hassan, a 16-year-old from Florida, hopped on a flight without his parent's permission and... Times Online (UK) http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1549393/posts#comment Fri, 30 Dec 2005 18:14:21 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1549377/posts BAGHDAD, Iraq — Excerpts from an essay written recently by Farris Hassan, 16, of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., who traveled to Iraq without telling his parents: There is a struggle in Iraq between good and evil, between those striving for freedom and liberty and those striving for death and destruction. You are aware of the heinous acts of the terrorists: Women and children massacred, innocent aid workers decapitated, indiscriminate murder. You are also aware of the heroic aspirations of the Iraqi people: liberty, democracy, security, normality. Those terrorists are not human but pure evil. For their goals to be thwarted, decent... Foxs News Online http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1549377/posts#comment Fri, 30 Dec 2005 18:03:54 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1549146/posts BAGHDAD, IRAQ - Maybe it was the time the taxi dumped him at the Iraq-Kuwait border, leaving him alone in the middle of the desert. Or when he drew a crowd at a Baghdad food stand after using an Arabic phrase book to order. Or the moment a Kuwaiti cab driver almost punched him in the face when he balked at the $100 fare. But at some point, Farris Hassan, a 16-year-old from Florida, realized that traveling to Iraq by himself was not the safest thing he could have done with his Christmas vacation. And he didn't even tell his... Houston Chronicle http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1549146/posts#comment Fri, 30 Dec 2005 10:33:24 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1549028/posts Farris Hassan’s not-so-excellent adventure U.S. teen goes to Iraq to see ‘struggle between good and evil’ By Jason Straziuso The Associated Press Updated: 6:55 p.m. ET Dec. 29, 2005 BAGHDAD, Iraq - Maybe it was the time the taxi dumped him at the Iraq-Kuwait border, leaving him alone in the middle of the desert. Or when he drew a crowd at a Baghdad food stand after using an Arabic phrase book to order. Or the moment a Kuwaiti cab driver almost punched him in the face when he balked at the $100 fare. But at some point, Farris Hassan, a... MSNBC http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1549028/posts#comment Fri, 30 Dec 2005 02:16:36 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1548877/posts Maybe it was the time the taxi dumped him at the Iraq-Kuwait border, leaving him alone in the middle of the desert. Or when he drew a crowd at a Baghdad food stand after using an Arabic phrase book to order. Or the moment a Kuwaiti cab driver almost punched him in the face when he balked at the $100 fare. But at some point, Farris Hassan, a 16-year-old from Florida, realized that traveling to Iraq by himself was not the safest thing he could have done with his Christmas vacation. And he didn't even tell his parents. Hassan's dangerous... Associated Press http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1548877/posts#comment Thu, 29 Dec 2005 22:07:32 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1541788/posts NOVI, Mich. — They fled Iraq 25 years ago, and the first Christmas they lived in the United States, they set up a Nativity scene on their front lawn. But this year, it wasn’t so easy for the Samona family, who are Chaldean Catholics living in Novi, Mich., outside Detroit. This year, their crèche brought threats of fines from a housing management company that supervises their home in a newly built community. It’s all part of a strong cultural tide assaulting the only religious federal holiday in the United States. To wit: — The city of Boston caused a furor... National Catholic Register http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1541788/posts#comment Fri, 16 Dec 2005 16:43:18 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1505983/posts NEW YORK (AP) - A Virginia oil trading company has pleaded guilty to grand larceny in the United Nations oil-for-food scandal, prosecutors said Thursday. Midway Trading of Reston, Va., was accused of being part of a scheme to pay kickbacks to Iraq in connection with oil purchases made under the program, Manhattan District Attorney Robert Morgenthau said. The company will pay a $250,000 fine for its guilty plea to first-degree grand larceny, Morgenthau said. Midway and a trading partner, Bulf Oil, are accused of paying more than $440,000 in kickbacks to Iraqi officials in connection with oil purchases, but falsely... ap on Bakersfield Californian http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1505983/posts#comment Thu, 20 Oct 2005 16:38:48 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1505031/posts AL ASAD, Iraq (Oct. 18, 2005 ) -- As statues of Saddam Hussein fell across Iraq, he watched from a television, safe in Glendale, Ariz. Then, he volunteered his safety and freedom to serve with the Marines in Iraq and to help bring freedom and democracy to his homeland. Gaby Biroutta, an interpreter with 1st Brigade Service Support Group, has been in Iraq for more than seven months, bridging the crucial communication gap between Marines and the citizens of Iraq. Biroutta, an Assyrian Christian whose family fled Iraq while Saddam’s regime was in power, speaks English, Arabic, Assyrian, Armenic, Kurdish... Marine Corps News http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1505031/posts#comment Wed, 19 Oct 2005 03:46:01 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1484008/posts DEARBORN, Mich. - Iraqi Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari met with members of the Detroit area's Arab American community and took questions at a town hall meeting Tuesday night. Hundreds of people gathered at the Ritz Carlton in Dearborn to get a glimpse of the Iraqi leader. "This is a unique opportunity," said Oday Hussan, 53, of Livonia. "This is the first time we can hear from our prime minister ... and for all Iraqis this is a great opportunity because the old regime would not give us this opportunity." Dr. Najwa Aljawad of Dearborn said she worked with the Iraqi... AP http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1484008/posts#comment Wed, 14 Sep 2005 03:23:39 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1460140/posts LEXINGTON, Ky. - (KRT) - Farah Madhat first wore a hijab as a sign of respect for the Muslim family she was staying with in the United Arab Emirates. When she returned to Kentucky from her study abroad in 1998, the Iraqi-American Muslim couldn't think of a reason to take the Islamic head covering off. "The only doubt I had was, `What will my friends say?'" she said. "But then a verse from the Quran came into play, reminding me we live in a temporal world." At 18, she decided to make hijab a part of her life. There are... Fort Wayne Gazette http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1460140/posts#comment Wed, 10 Aug 2005 00:01:27 GMT