Free Republic

Do we all remember when they left was saying that if Obama won the election, that things would get better with the Islamic world? Since he has taken office he has done nothing but cater to the Islamic world, yet the threat is as great as ever. Would anyone on the left care to answer why? Al-Qaida predicts Obama's fall by Muslim nation By PAUL SCHEMM and HADEEL AL-SHALCHI CAIRO – Al-Qaida on Tuesday released a new 106-minute long video predicting President Barack Obama's downfall at the hands of the Muslim world.

ZAMBOANGA CITY — The military assault against fleeing bandits in Sulu is continuing even after soldiers have overran their main camp. Major General Benjamin D. Dolorfino, Western Mindanao Command chief, told BusinessWorld Sunday’s capture of the main Abu Sayyaf camp was a major blow to terrorism, citing the earlier capture of another main camp in neighboring Basilan province last August.... At least 17 bandits were immediately killed during the half-day clash, while others scattered and escaped. The bandits retaliated on Monday, ambushing a band of Marines who were headed to their base at 2 p.m. Eight soldiers and five bandits...

Al-Qaida on Tuesday released a new 106-minute long video predicting President Barack Obama's downfall at the hands of the Muslim world. The Arabic-language video, entitled "The West and the Dark Tunnel," is part of series of messages by the organization marking the eighth anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks. Bin Laden released a short message of his own on Sept. 14. Like similar long messages on previous anniversaries, it featured testimony from several leading al-Qaida figures intercut with news footage from the past year.

Investigation Into Possible Terror Plot Prompts FBI To Warn Mass-Transit Systems Around U.S. Feds Believe Up To 12 Suspects Could Be Involved In Possible Madrid-Like Attack On NYC Subways Counterterrorism officials have issued security bulletins to police around the nation about terrorists' desire to attack stadiums, entertainment complexes and hotels -- the latest in a flurry of such internal warnings as investigators chase a possible bomb plot in Denver and New York. In the two bulletins -- sent to police departments Monday and obtained by The Associated Press -- officials said they know of no specific plots against such sites,...

Iranian police have warned shopkeepers not to display female mannequins without a hijab, or showing bodily curves, Irna news agency reports. Display of bow ties and neckties, and the sale of women's underwear by men are also banned, the police said. The move is part of a crackdown on Western influences and enforcement of dress codes in recent years.

Troops React to McChrystal Report The soldiers I have talked to in Afghanistan say they would welcome more troops, as Gen. Stanley McChrystal has recommended - any help they can get to get out of here and get back home. The war here is under-resourced, under-funded and until recently largely ignored in favor of the war in Iraq. There is double the number of troops in Iraq than in Afghanistan right now - and many wonder why Iraq was allowed to distract us from the gains made here early on in the war. But even if more troops are sent...

The U.S. military commander in Afghanistan says he has evidence that factions of Pakistani and Iranian spy services are supporting insurgent groups that carry out attacks on coalition troops. Taliban fighters in Afghanistan are being aided by "elements of some intelligence agencies," Army Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal wrote in a detailed analysis of the military situation delivered to the White House earlier this month. McChrystal went on to single out Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence agency as well as the Quds Force of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard as contributing to the external forces working to undermine U.S. interests and destabilize the government...

Then there is the catalogue of Mr. Obama's embarrassing moments on the world stage, a list which includes: giving England's Queen Elizabeth II an iPod with his speeches on it; giving British Prime Minister Gordon Brown a collection of DVDs that were not formatted to the European standard (by contrast, Mr. Brown gave Mr. Obama an ornamental desk-pen holder made from the oak timbers of Victorian anti-slaver HMS Gannet, among other historically significant gifts); calling "Austrian" a language; bowing to the Saudi king; releasing a photo of a conference call with Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in which the president...

WASHINGTON — Military officials voiced frustration and congressional leaders urged caution Tuesday over what they described as President Barack Obama's shifting strategy in Afghanistan, six months after he committed thousands more U.S. troops to the stalemated war there. Administration officials maintained they were looking at all options to protect the U.S. and its allies by shutting down al-Qaida leaders who are believed to be hiding in areas of Pakistan bordering Afghanistan. Critics at the Pentagon and on Capitol Hill said the White House was in danger of taking its eye off the fight that has turned increasingly deadly for American...

President Obama is exploring alternatives to a major troop increase in Afghanistan, including a plan advocated by Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. to scale back American forces and focus more on rooting out Al Qaeda there and in Pakistan, officials said Tuesday. SNIP The sweeping reassessment has been prompted by deteriorating conditions on the ground, the messy and still unsettled outcome of the Afghan elections and a dire report by Mr. Obama’s new commander, Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal. Aides said the president wanted to examine whether the strategy he unveiled in March was still the best approach and whether...

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad told The Associated Press on Tuesday he will request leniency for three American hikers who apparently strayed across Iran's border. The Iranian leader said the Americans broke the law, and "we're not happy that this happened." "What I can ask is that the judiciary expedites the process and gives it its full attention, and to basically look at the case with maximum leniency," Ahmadinejad said. "The judiciary has its own procedures to follow, but I'm hopeful." He did not elaborate. He spoke in New York on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly. Families of...

When it comes to Afghanistan, the British have a special perspective: Every mistake the United States has made recently, they made 150 years ago. So it's worth listening to British experts in the debate over Afghan strategy. Afghanistan drove the British bonkers for much of the 19th century. They couldn't control the place, but they couldn't walk away from it, either. They found that there wasn't a military solution, but there wasn't a non-military solution. It was a question of managing chaos. Sound familiar? The best answer the British came up with was working with tribal leaders — paying them...

During last year's campaign, Sen. Joe Biden famously remarked that, if his ticket won, it wouldn't be long before "the world tests Barack Obama like they did John Kennedy" on foreign affairs. Last week, President Obama, brilliantly wielding the powers of his office, managed to fail that test not just once but twice, buckling in the face of Russian pressure and taking a giant wooden nickel from Iran. With both a collapsing economy and natural gas reserves sufficient to produce 270 years of electricity, the surplus of which it exports, Iran does not need nuclear electrical generation at a cost...

In what Israeli commentators said was a coup for Israel, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu told reporters following his meeting with U.S. President Barack Obama and Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas that Israel and the PA would begin negotiations soon, without a commitment from Israel to a building freeze in Judea and Samaria, as the PA had demanded. Tripartite Meeting Launched With Handshake and Admonition Published: 09/22/09, 10:56 PM Israel-PA Talks to Begin, Without Commitment to Freeze by David Lev and Hana Levi Julian Follow Israel news on and . (IsraelNN.com) In what Israeli commentators said was a coup for Israel,...

Like wine turned to vinegar, the “good war” in Afghanistan has gone bad, creating a political minefield through which candidates will need to navigate carefully. Not long ago, the war in Afghanistan, unlike its companion in Iraq, enjoyed wide public support, enabling Democrats to demonstrate toughness in response to terrorism. For reasons substantive and political, many complained that President George W. Bush, and the press, ignored the more important conflict there to focus on an unnecessary war in Iraq. In the “be careful what you wish for” category, as American involvement in Iraq has begun to wind down, the war...

JERUSALEM – Both the Israeli government and the military here refused to respond to comments by Zbigniew Brzezinski, the national security adviser during the administration of President Jimmy Carter, who said the U.S. should confront Israeli jets if that nation chooses to take military action against Iran's nuclear installations. "We will not dignify Brzezinski with a response," a source in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office told WND. Netanyahu's spokesmen and the Israel Defense Forces refused to provide an official reply. Discussing the possibility of an Israeli airstrike against Iran, Brzezinski declared in an interview with the Daily Beast website, "We...

Stadiums, Hotels Put On Alert Amid Terror Probe Tuesday, Sept. 22, 2009 in New York. Associated Press Writers Tom Hays And Devlin BarrettNEW YORK – The government expanded a terrorism warning from transit systems to U.S. stadiums, hotels and entertainment complexes as investigators searched for more suspects Tuesday in a possible al-Qaida plot to set off hydrogen-peroxide bombs hidden in backpacks. Police bolstered their presence at high-profile locations. Extra officers with bulletproof vests, rifles and dogs were assigned to spots such as Grand Central Terminal in New York. Plainclothes officers handed out fliers at a nearby hotel with a warning...

Outstanding commercial we'll never see on our politically correct television.

At the height of their anti-Iraq War fever, Democrats accused Pres. George W. Bush of cooking up the war for political reasons. It must have been their guilty consciences speaking. Democrats are the party of extreme situational politics on national security. Almost every major Democrat with presidential aspirations voted to authorize the Iraq War, then turned on it. As the Iraq War spiraled downward, many Democrats called for more troops, then resisted the surge. It has practically been mandatory for all good, card-carrying Democrats to trumpet the centrality of the Afghan War since 2003, using it as a rhetorical club...

Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas have been brought together in New York for their first face-to-face meeting since the Gaza war eight months ago. US President Barack Obama is keen for the men to discuss ways of achieving Middle East peace but neither the Israeli Prime Minister, nor the Palestinian President appeared to want the meeting at all. Mr Obama summoned both of them anyway and before the meeting began he made it sound like he was about to bang some heads together. "We cannot continue the same pattern of taking tentative steps forward and then...