Free Republic

The trial for the suspected Fort Hood shooter Maj. Nidal Hasan is underway. Since he is representing himself, he could end up cross examining the victims of his own attack. Witnesses say Hasan, an Army psychiatrist, opened fire at Fort Hood nearly four years ago, killing 13 people and wounding more than 30 others. Hasan isn't denying the allegations. In a brief opening statement Monday, he said "the evidence will clearly show that I am the shooter." Hasan called himself a "mujahideen" -- a Muslim holy warrior. "He further stated he realized during the war that he eventually found himself...

On September 15, 2012, the Saudi daily Al-Shuroukh published a document authored by Muhammad Al-Zawahiri, the brother of Al-Qaeda leader Ayman Al-Zawahiri, proposing a 10-year hudna to the U.S. the West. The document's publication followed Al-Zawahiri's presentation of the main points of the initiative in interviews with Western media. In the preface to the document, Al-Zawahiri put himself forward as mediator, and explains the need for the initiative, and the reasoning behind it. He presented himself as a member of what he referred to generally as "the Islamic movement," and noted that the initiative aims to serve the interests of...

The American-born Jihadist cleric Anwar Awlaki likely played an important support role in the September 11 attacks nearly ten years ago, according to a new book that examines the threat of home-grown terrorism. The book, “The Next Wave,” by Fox News national security reporter, Catherine Herridge, reveals new documents that find Mr. Awlaki was nearly arrested after the attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon for providing false information on his passport application. Today Mr. Awlaki is one of the leaders of al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. Mr. Awlaki is also the only known American citizen on a...

Israel is often being treated unfairly. The world looks at the plight of the Palestinians in refugee camps in Lebanon, Gaza, and other places, and many blame Israel. The UN claims that there are over 4.7 million Palestinian refugees, and many blame Israel. These voices say the Palestinians should be allowed to return to “Palestine.” But where is Palestine? Many say Israel must solve the problems of Palestine. But is Israel guilty of the plight of the Palestinian refugees? My answer is “No.” The Arab leaders are to be blamed – and Islam is to be blamed. Let me first...

<p>As opposed to the increasingly absurd steps being taken to identify and keep weapons off commercial aircraft, it would be advisable and practical to identify and empower volunteer counter-terrorists among the passengers, initially at least on domestic flights or on international flights by domestic carriers. This could even extend to arming those passengers on the aircraft.</p>

The area around the former World Trade Center is a sacred space. It is a place where thousands of Americans' lives were taken by the purveyors of a hostile ideology based on Islam. The Cordoba House, a 13-story mosque and Islamic cultural center planned for a site near Ground Zero, is at best inappropriate, and at worst an attempt to hijack the memory of the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks.... The United States should ban any overseas funding for construction of religious sites originating in countries that do not allow religious freedom and end the one-way relationship that allows those promoting...

What and when did US Army brass know about Maj. Nidal Hassan’s extremist views and his ties to a key jihadist cleric — and why didn’t they act before he gunned down 13 soldiers at Fort Hood six months ago? It’s a simple question — and a very significant one, to boot. But neither the Pentagon nor the Justice Department wants that information made public. Which is why the two top senators on the Homeland Security Committee — Joe Lieberman (I/D-Conn.) and Susan Collins (R-Maine) — have subpoenaed stonewalling Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Attorney General Eric Holder. “We have...

If the war against Islamic extremism were left to Comedy Central, it would have been lost by now. The network's decision to censor last week's episode of "South Park" depicting Muhammad was an act of unilateral surrender in the face of violent jihadist threats.... Comedy Central was not taking a principled stand against blasphemy because the episode showed Buddha snorting cocaine and - most outrageously - Jesus downloading Internet porn. "South Park" is an equal-opportunity slayer of sacred cows, both sectarian and secular, but the network is sending a message that it plays favorites to jihadists because they are the...

The term "War of Ideas" began appearing in the years following al-Qaeda terror attacks against the United States on 9/11. In the days following the massacres, the mainstream media displayed a stunning lack of determination in identifying where aggression was coming from and why.  In the hours following the bloodshed in Manhattan, Pennsylvania, and Washington, where about three thousand -- mostly civilians -- were killed, the main question raised by networks, publications, and commentators was "Why do they hate us?" Incredibly revealing, this slogan told the world and public at home that America did not know who the "they" (i.e.,...

The confrontation in the Indian subcontinent among al-Qaeda, the Taliban, and their allies on the one hand, and the three democracies they target -- Afghanistan, Pakistan, and India -- on the other hand must be reevaluated in terms of international cooperation against the jihadi threat. A regional system should be established to integrate the struggle against all jihadi forces in the subcontinent. There needs to be a separation of the ethnic and territorial questions from the fight against terrorism. Once that distinction is made, the possibility of internationalization of counterterrorism will be high. Jihadists based in any country of the...

My friend, Orthodox Rabbi, California-based writer, blogger, and fellow political conservative, Rabbi Dov Fischer, has the disturbing scoop on Ms. Fiorina. He is the head rabbi of Young Israel of Orange County, a Modern Orthodox synagogue, of whose Detroit branch both my grandfathers were co-founders. Rabbi Dov notes a very recent video, posted below, in which Ms. Fiorina details her very friendly, “working” relationship with shakedown artist, anti-Semite, and racist Jesse Jackson, when she welcomed him to his shakedown stop at Hewlett-Packard while she was CEO. Anyone who describes Jackson with the word “gracious,” as she did, is simply brain...

Oh the shame of it all. Last month, 1,300 pro-Palestinian activists from the US and Europe came to the region in the name of peace and social justice to demonstrate their solidarity with the Palestinians in Gaza. Led by the self-declared feminist, antiwar group Code Pink, the demonstrators' plan was to enter Gaza from the Egyptian border at Rafah and deliver "humanitarian aid" to the Hamas terrorist organization. But it was not to be. Led by Code Pink founder and California Democratic fund-raiser Jodie Evans, the demonstrators were not welcomed by Egyptian authorities. Many were surrounded by riot police and...

The “Mr. Koubriti,” referred to in the letter from Helfrick, is Karim Koubriti, an Islamic terrorist who plotted to blow up the U.S. Air Force Base in Incirlik Turkey, as well as Disneyland and hotels in Las Vegas. (More details about him here.) Though two federal juries said he was an Islamic terrorist, Mr. Koubriti now lives free in the Detroit area, where he is on the fast-track to become a U.S. citizen, and has a Commercial Drivers License (he drives a truck–just what you want Islamic terrorists in the U.S. doing as a profession). Mr. Straus worked with Mr....

As hands are wrung in the aftermath of the near-tragedy on a Northwest Airlines flight approaching Detroit, a conversation from London's Heathrow Airport in 1986 comes to mind. It consisted of an El Al security agent quizzing one Ann-Marie Doreen Murphy, a 32-year-old recent arrival in London from Sallynoggin, Ireland. While working as a chambermaid at the Hilton Hotel on Park Lane, Murphy met Nizar al-Hindawi, a far-leftist Palestinian who impregnated her. After instructing her to "get rid of the thing," he abruptly changed his tune and insisted on immediate marriage in "the Holy Land." He also insisted on their...

Here’s my usual disclaimer: I would love to be able to stop criticizing the Obama Administration but it keeps saying and doing things that shock and surprise me or—if you want to put it this way—live up to my worst expectations. I’m sitting on a U.S. army base briefing officers along with a high-ranking State Department official who works on the Middle East. At one point, he gets a quaver in his voice and starts talking about the Arab-Israeli conflict making quite clear which side he’s on. Sounding scared he says: “While a lot of problems in the world can...

The Northwest Flight 253 bombing attempt has once again reignited the debate over using profiling as a security technique. Many have pointed out over the years that ethnic profiling could have stopped the attacks of September 11. And it probably could have. But profiling alone is not the solution. First of all let's concede that America's intelligence capabilities are virtually useless. Shoe bomber Richard Reid was spotted by the Israelis. British intelligence knew about Umar. Nidal Malik Hasan did everything but walk around within the military establishment carrying a sign, "I Will Kill You All". And had he even actually...

Congratulations on an outstanding job, Osama. You masterfully pulled the strings, and the most powerful nation in the world jumped. You caused turmoil in major airports around the world on the busiest travel day of the year, cancelling and delaying thousands of flights. Now we discover that there is a new place to hide explosives as we scurry around to devise solutions. Passengers go through a pre... Passengers go through a pre-flight security screening at Ben-Gurion Airport. Photo: Ariel Jerozolimski [file] Creating havoc at airports will divert our attention from your real targets. Perhaps our fragile electricity grid? Or our...

Remember the Danish cartoons? A 27-year old Somali does: Danish police on Friday shot and wounded a man trying to enter the home of an artist who drew controversial cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed. The man, a 27-year-old Somalian who was armed with an axe, was caught trying to break into the home of Kurt Westergaard at 10pm local time, police said. Police shot the man, injuring him in his leg... Mr Westergaard's cartoon was seen at the time as the most controversial, as it depicted the Prophet with a bomb in his turban. "Controversial" but entirely vindicated by events...

Andy, you're right to call out the President for taking refuge in discredited cliches about "crushing poverty" as a "root cause" of terrorism: Young Mr Abdulmuttalab lived in a London flat worth £2.5 million - ie, four million bucks. Still, it's good to know the President has abandoned his laughable assurances that the Pantybomber was an "isolated extremist". After all, when the leader of the global hyperpower says things that any reasonably informed person at home and abroad knows are complete twaddle, he makes his country look stupid to the world. But I think we're still missing the larger point...

Danish police have shot a Somali man linked to al-Qaida who tried to enter the home of an artist who drew controversial cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed. The man, 28, who was armed with an axe and a knife, went to the home of Kurt Westergaard at 10pm local time on Friday, police said. Police shot him in the leg and arm and he was arrested. He is expected to recover. Mr Westergaard, 74, was commissioned by the Jyllands-Posten newspaper to produce caricatures of the Prophet Mohammed five years ago, including one which depicted the Prophet with a bomb in...