Free Republic

In academia today, “academic freedom” protects those who compare the 9/11 victims to Nazi higher ups, but it does not cover a professor with the temerity to challenge the beliefs of Muslim students in a single encounter which constituted, in the words of his boss, an “assault on their dignity.” Thomas Klocek, a part-time adjunct professor at DePaul University, knows this first-hand; he was unlucky enough to fall on the wrong side of the political correctness fence. With no current income and facing the possibility of losing the health insurance he desperately needs for a serious kidney condition, he has...

To the casual observer, now-infamous University of Colorado professor Ward Churchill—who labeled 9/11 victims “little Eichmanns”—would seem little more than an unfortunate speck on the fringe of the far left. An investigestion by this journalist, however, uncovered substantial evidence suggesting otherwise. The media was quick to describe Ward Churchill's 2002 essay—where he also wrote of the “gallant sacrifices” of the “combat teams” that killed almost 3,000 Americans—as “little noticed.” (USA Today, February 9) It was, however, noticed—and honored—by a liberal organization last year. Churchill adapted his essay into a book, “On the Justice of Roosting Chickens,” which earned honorable mention...

To the casual observer, now-infamous University of Colorado professor Ward Churchill—who labeled 9/11 victims “little Eichmanns”—would seem little more than an unfortunate speck on the fringe of the far left. An investigestion by this journalist, however, uncovered substantial evidence suggesting otherwise. The media was quick to describe Ward Churchill's 2002 essay—where he also wrote of the “gallant sacrifices” of the “combat teams” that killed almost 3,000 Americans—as “little noticed.” (USA Today, February 9) It was, however, noticed—and honored—by a liberal organization last year. Churchill adapted his essay into a book, “On the Justice of Roosting Chickens,” which earned honorable mention...

townhall.com Printer-friendly version CAIR condemns '24'—but it won’t condemn Islamic terrorists Joel Mowbray (back to web version) | Send February 21, 2005 What has Fox’s hit TV show “24” done to prompt TV Guide to report “24 in Hot Water” and Entertainment Weekly to ask, “Has ‘24’ Gone Too Far?”? Its bad guys are terrorists who are… Muslims. That’s it. Few of us need reminding that we are not simply waging a war against terror, but against the radical Islam that animates the enemy. The enemy is not coincidentally Muslim, but they are the enemy because their radicalized version of...

When Secretary of State Colin Powell stepped down earlier this month, the flood of political obituaries were packed with praise, but almost all contained obligatory paragraphs highlighting the top diplomat’s “low point”: his February 2003 speech on Iraq to the United Nations.But no matter how much conventional media wisdom says otherwise, Powell’s presentation on the eve of the Iraq War remains as true today as it was then, which is to say almost entirely so. To claim, as the New York Times editorialized recently, that “Mr. Powell in fact offered half-truths, poorly analyzed intelligence and outright fantasies” is pure fiction...

In naming Condoleezza Rice as his pick for secretary of state, President Bush is sending his most loyal adviser to his most disloyal agency: The State Department. But no matter what changes she makes -- and many are needed -- the bureaucracy is entrenched almost to the point of being impenetrable, meaning real reform could well prove illusory. Miss Rice will soon take the reins of a massive 47,000-person operation that is literally sprawled out across the world. It is an insular institution that operates in a remarkably similar way from one administration to the next, typically viewing presidents, as...

The massive anti-GOP protest rally in Manhattan yesterday is best defined by the pyromania that the mainstream media buried or ignored: an alleged arsonist set fire to a float—a paper maché dragon—within spitting distance of Madison Square Garden, while someone was inside the float, according to a law enforcement figure.  (Two people were burned, including one police officer, though neither was seriously injured.)Befitting the whole event, the most prominent posters around the conflagration at 34th St. and 7th Ave. were for the group United for Peace and Justice.  The alleged arsonist doubtlessly was a supporter of UPJ—the entire 100,000+ demonstrators...

If al Qaeda wants to strike on U.S. soil before the elections, it still has available to it a gaping loophole it exploited pre-9/11: Saudis’ easy access to U.S. visas. Despite supposed reforms implemented by the U.S. State Department, current statistics—obtained exclusively by this columnist—reveal that nearly 90% of all Saudi visa applicants get approved. To put this in perspective, applicants in most other Arab nations—the ones that didn’t send us 15 of 19 9/11 hijackers—are refused visas three to five times more often than Saudis. (State refused multiple requests for comment.) September 11 mastermind Khaled Sheikh Mohammed reportedly told...

Now that President Bush is turning his attention to reforming the national security apparatus, one policy prescription not explicitly endorsed by the panel could prove to be one of the most effective: enforcing existing visa laws. Though it sounds simple enough, the State Department has yet to reform meaningfully this crucial component of the war on terror. The beauty of using visa policy is that no new laws need to be written; State merely needs to enforce existing ones. The backbone of visa policy for temporary travelers, a category which included all 19 hijackers, is a law known as 214(b)....

Continuing his quest to be more all over the map than the Grateful Dead in the band's heyday, John Kerry has offered yet another new position on the Iraq war. He’s for it—for now. Uttering words no sane person ever predicted would pass through his lips, Kerry started his statement with, “I’ll answer it directly.” (Editor’s note: That quote is authentic. We couldn’t believe it either.) President Bush had challenged his opponent to announce whether or not he would still authorize the war knowing what we know today. The rest of Kerry's response? “Yes, I would have voted for the...

Paul Bremer, the U.S. civilian administrator in Iraq, is now facing underhanded attempts at undermining his agenda from State Department officials in Baghdad, with one referring to his sweeping de-Baathification policies as "fascistic," according to an informed source in Iraq. The senior administrator who made the comment, Robin Rafael, is not alone in her sentiments, as several other Foggy Bottom officials stationed in the country are trying to covertly remake Iraq as they want it, not as Bremer — or the president who sent him there — wants it... ...At least Rafael and O'Sullivan only have bad judgments working against...

Continuing the State Department’s efforts to undermine President Bush in Iraq, Consular chief Maura Harty recently filled two key Iraq-related positions with people whose track records suggest nothing but incompetence—or worse—coziness with the House of Saud.  Supposed “agent of change” Harty recently named a former top deputy of “courtesy culture” pioneer Mary Ryan (Harty’s predecessor who was pushed out last summer) to a high-level State Department task force, and then she chose as the consular chief for the new Baghdad embassy a woman who enjoys very close relations with the Saudi royal family. Continued

Visas that Should Have Been Denied A look at 9/11 terrorists’ visa applications. The cover story in National Review's October 28th issue (out Friday) details how at least 15 of the 19 September 11 hijackers should have been denied visas — an assessment based on expert analyses of 15 of the terrorists' visa-application forms, obtained exclusively by NR. In the year after 9/11, the hand-wringing mostly centered on the FBI and CIA's failure to "connect the dots." But that would not have been a fatal blow if the "dots" had not been here in the first place. If the U.S....

<p>High-level State Department officials have circulated e-mails accusing Rep. Dan Burton and Bush administration officials of McCarthyism and neo-Nazism for criticizing the visa system's failure to keep the September 11 terrorists out of the country.</p> <p>The internal e-mails, copies of which were obtained by The Washington Times, come as the State Department announced that it has reprimanded two staffers for earlier e-mails criticizing a member of Congress.</p>

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Consular officials liken visa critics to neo-Nazis Ben Barber THE WASHINGTON TIMES Published 7/18/2002 High-level State Department officials have circulated e-mails accusing Rep. Dan Burton and Bush administration officials of McCarthyism and neo-Nazism for criticizing the visa system's failure to keep the September 11 terrorists out of the country. The internal e-mails, copies of which were obtained by The Washington Times, come as the State Department announced that it has reprimanded two staffers for earlier e-mails criticizing a member of Congress. Chuck Keil, the consul general in Rome, complained to several State Department officials — including Deputy Secretary of...