Free Republic

It is impossible to evaluate events in Russia today without understanding the mysterious series of bombings in 1999 that killed 300 civilians and created the conditions for Vladimir Putin to become Russia’s dictator for life. The bombings changed the course of Russia’s post-Soviet history. They were blamed on the Chechens. In the wake of initial success, Russia launched a new invasion of Chechnya. Putin, who had just been appointed prime minister, was put in charge of the invasion and his popularity soared. Six months later, he was elected president. On July 14, 2016, I filed a request for documents on...

The continued cooperation of Najibullah Zazi with the investigation into his attempt to carry out terrorist attacks in New York City has led to the arrest of a fourth suspect, a Pakistani citizen, two days ago, and has shed some new light on the details of the case and the specific targets Zazi and his co-conspirators intended to hit. Few developments in the case have come out of Pakistan, where the fourth suspect, who has not been named, was arrested. Authorities say he will be extradited to the United States soon, but that "he may not ultimately be charged in...