Free Republic

WASHINGTON, Aug. 20, 2008 – The United States must remain on the offensive to defeat global terrorism, President Bush told U.S. military veterans in Orlando, Fla., today. The only way to bring U.S. servicemembers home from Afghanistan and Iraq is victory, Bush told Veterans of Foreign Wars members at their convention. “We must not rest until that war is won,” Bush declared. Bush saluted the VFW members for their past service in uniform and for their volunteerism today. The organization, he said, donates about 13 million hours of vital services to communities nationwide each year. The men and women...

Remember when certain words or phrases meant good things to Americans? Many of these words have been singled out by groups as hateful to other Americans so they have become taboo. I would like to see what kind of list of taboo words, phrases or figures who were once positive but which have become or are becoming outlawed by the thought police. If possible also post the group it would be offensive to and why.

A mayonnaise ad that shows two men kissing has been withdrawn from television after 200 viewers complained that it was offensive. Heinz, which makes the New York Deli Mayo featured in the commercial, pulled the advertisement less than a week into its expected five week run, in response to the criticism. Viewers told the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) that the ad was inappropriate and unsuitable for children to see. The ASA has not yet decided whether to launch an investigation. snip..... It is understood that the commercial was not shown during children's television programming, because of new rules from Ofcom...

Afghan and security forces waited, and waited, for the Taliban Spring Offensive, but it never came. Gun battles with the Taliban were down 50 percent so far, compared to last year. Roadside bomb attacks were about the same. But Taliban casualties were up, as more Afghan and NATO forces went looking for them. Last year, 8,000 people died in Taliban violence. So far this year, the death toll is 1,200, indicating casualties for the year will be about half what they were last year. This year, a higher proportion of the dead are Taliban and al Qaeda, and a lower...

BAGHDAD - Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki took personal charge Wednesday of a military operation to rout al-Qaida in Iraq in what the U.S. has described as the terror group's last major stronghold, even as a tenuous cease-fire took hold over Baghdad's Sadr City slum. The campaign in the northern city of Mosul was the third by al-Maliki in two months as he attempts to stamp out Shiite militants and Sunni extremists across the country. Also Wednesday, a suicide bomber killed 22 people and wounded 40 in an attack on a funeral tent in a village west of Baghdad, Iraqi police...

Cobb County commissioners voiced support of county employees Monday in reaction to an inflammatory speech fellow Commissioner Annette Kesting gave at a Marietta church recently. "It is unfortunate that commissioner Kesting would comment on race and religion, which has no bearing on how our employees perform their duties and serve the public," Commissioner Helen Goreham said Monday morning. Commissioner Tim Lee said of Kesting's remarks: "It is safe to say, I don't share her point of view on the employees or the work environment." An official with the Anti-Defamation League called Kesting's comments "unfortunate." "Some of her remarks sounded offensive...

WASHINGTON, Jan. 23, 2008 – The U.S. commander of NATO’s Regional Command East in Afghanistan today said he does not think the Taliban will launch a spring offensive in his area of operations. Army Maj. Gen. David Rodriguez, also commander of Combined Joint Task Force 82 based at Bagram Air Base, told Pentagon reporters here that improvements in Afghan government control and delivery of services to the people of the region have blunted the Taliban’s appeal in the region. Regional Command East covers the provinces bordering on Pakistan. A year ago, the area was a battleground against Taliban and al...

WASHINGTON, Jan. 11, 2008 – Forces in Iraq have ramped up efforts this week to stamp out remaining al Qaeda hot spots there, pummeling areas with air strikes and bombs and surging troops in previously uncontrolled territories. Coalition forces attacked suspected hideouts in the north, including in Diyala province, and air strikes yesterday concentrated on the southern outskirts of Baghdad in the Arab Jabour region. “We are not leaving holes or safe havens for the enemy,” Army Brig. Gen. Joseph Anderson, chief of staff for Multinational Corps Iraq, said in a conference call with military analysts. So far, military officials...

The US began a new offensive in northern Iraq, pursuing al-Qaeda in Iraq and affiliates even further outward towards the border. Military planners expected to meet some significant resistance, as they had predicted that AQI had found some space to regroup. Apparently, that level of resistance has not materialized: The top U.S. commander in northern Iraq said Wednesday a nationwide operation launched against insurgents was meeting less resistance than expected, but that troops would pursue the militants until they were dead or pushed out of the country. Maj. Gen. Mark P. Hertling told reporters in Baghdad that in his area...

WASHINGTON, Nov. 5, 2007 – Coalition and Iraqi forces launched a major offensive, called Operation Iron Hammer, across four northern Iraqi provinces today, while five terrorists were killed and 30 others were captured in separate actions in the central and northern parts of the country, military officials said. Operation Iron Hammer involves three U.S. brigade combat teams and three Iraqi army divisions. It is designed to exploit previous successes against al Qaeda and set the conditions for continued reconciliation efforts in key northern provinces, U.S. officials said. “This operation is a relentless pursuit of al Qaeda, who we have seen...

MERLIN, Oregon - The state of Oregon has ordered a family to turn in the vanity license plates on its cars because their Dutch last name, which is written on the plates, is similar to an offensive word. The plates, UDINK1 UDINK2 and UDINK3 are on the vehicles of Mike and Shelly Udink and their son Kalei. Two of the plates are five and seven years old. One was issued last year. Last summer, Kawika Udink's application for UDINK4 was rejected and the state ordered that the other three plates be returned.

MIRANSHAH, Pakistan (Reuters) - Several thousand villagers fled a Pakistani tribal region on Wednesday, where an army offensive was expected any day following pressure on Pakistan from the United States to act against al Qaeda cells. Since President George W. Bush spoke on Saturday of being "troubled" by al Qaeda regathering its strength in Pakistan's tribal lands, some kind of counter-terrorism operation has appeared highly probable in North Waziristan. "We have no choice but to pray to Allah for the safety of our lives," said Akbar Khan, a laborer in the main town of Miranshah, worrying that his family risked...

ALGIERS (AFP) - A week-long offensive by Algerian special forces in a mountainous area east of Algiers has killed between eight and 11 Islamist militants, security sources said on Saturday. The soldiers, who include paratroopers, are tracking a group of around 100 militants in the Akfadou mountains, 160 kilometres (100 miles) east of Algiers in the Kabylie region, the sources said. The inhospitable area has also been bombarded heavily by artillery and by aircraft, residents told AFP. The operation follows a raid last week on an army barracks in the Yakouren forest in the same region and a suicide bomb...

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, July 19 -- The Pakistani army fought pitched battles with militants Wednesday in a restive tribal area bordering Afghanistan following an insurgent assault that killed 17 troops. The fighting in North Waziristan, an area where the al-Qaeda leadership is believed to be active, went on late into the night, residents said. A local official confirmed that at least six loud explosions were heard in the hills that surround Miram Shah, the main town in North Waziristan. It was not immediately clear who or what had been targeted. The fighting came during a period of deep turmoil in Pakistan,...

BAQOUBA, Iraq, July 18, 2007 — Iraqi Security Forces and Coalition Forces expanded their efforts to secure Baqouba by surrounding one eastern portion of the city and beginning a deliberate, house-to-house search there for al Qaeda operatives July 17. Elements of the 5th Iraqi Army Division, along with the 5th Battalion, 20th Infantry Regiment, and 1-12 Combined Arms Battalion, are searching the neighborhood known as “Old Baqouba,” during this next phase of Operation Arrowhead Ripper, which began June 19. “People are now walking the streets and visiting the re-opened markets — children are playing outside. This same security will return...

WASHINGTON, June 6, 2007 – Coalition forces have the upper hand against Afghan insurgents despite previous fears of a bloody Taliban spring offensive aided by Iranian technology, the deputy director for operations on the Joint Staff said here today. “I will tell you, I think in fact the offensive is not theirs but ours,” Army Brig. Gen. Perry Wiggins told Pentagon reporters in a news conference. Coalition troops have been highly active in Afghanistan’s eastern and southern sectors, Wiggins said, and the Taliban’s leadership and fighting force has suffered “serious losses.” Mullah Dadullah Lang, the Taliban’s top military commander and...

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates - Al-Qaida's latest offensive appears to be taking place on computer and television screens, and uses techniques associated more with Madison Avenue than Fallujah. Although viewership is difficult to measure, analysts say the group's videos seem to be reaching a wider audience than ever, piggybacking on the popularity of blogs and video-sharing programs like YouTube. Key to the operation are two broadcast anchors, Libyan firebrand Abu Laith al-Libi and an American fugitive, Adam Yehiye Gadahn. "You're losing on all fronts, and losing big time," Gadahn, also known as Azzam al-Amriki, told President Bush in an Internet...

I am stunned by all the books coming out with anti-Christian themes. Most of them are obvious with titles like The God Delusion and the latest trash, God Is Not Great, but some hide their intent. I bought a book on Amazon called, The Room. The cover looked interesting so I bought it, not quite sure, but maybe expecting a science fiction. Instead it was a character who was obviously an atheist. He plants messages of doubts about the Lord, God, just any faith. I wanted to see how bad the message would get, but after half the book, I...

WASHINGTON, April 18, 2007 – Coalition and Afghan National Army operations have blunted the Taliban spring offensive in eastern Afghanistan, Army Brig. Gen. Joseph Votel said at a Pentagon news conference today. Votel, the deputy commanding general for operations for Combined Joint Task Force 82, spoke to reporters via a video hook-up. Votel said coalition operations seem to have countered the long-anticipated Taliban spring offensive. “We have been more offensive than I think they have in our posturing and in our ability to dominate areas on the battlefield,” Votel said. “As a result of that, I think we've seen...

Taliban flee Afghan-led Nato offensive By Tom Coghlan in Nad Ali, Helmand Last Updated: 3:26am BST 30/03/2007 Complete success is being claimed for the largest Afghan-led operation yet against the Taliban. Afghan army forces and police have now purged the Nad Ali district of Helmand of 400 Taliban fighters, following a series of chaotic battles. Allied commanders estimated 70 Taliban fighters were killed in the fighting, while many others fled or gave up their weapons. Locals said that the dead included at least one senior commander, Mullah Abdul Bary. "Of course there are some Taliban left in here, but they...

Troops to thwart Taliban's spring offensive Last Updated: 2:00am GMT 07/03/2007 British troops were at the forefront of fighting yesterday as Nato unleashed its largest ever operation in Afghanistan to pre-empt the Taliban's planned spring offensive. Operation Achilles, involving at least 4,500 Nato troops and around 1,000 Afghan soldiers, was launched in the anarchic southern province of Helmand, the country's main centre for opium production and the scene of many battles involving the British last year. Last night the Ministry of Defence announced the death of a Royal Marine on the first day of the operation. The Marine, who has...

Nato offensive 'kills 30 Taleban' At least 30 suspected Taleban fighters have been killed in a ground and air attack by Nato-led forces in southern Afghanistan, local police said. Troops surrounded a rebel base in the Kajaki area of Helmand province and fought a five-hour battle, they said. Nato confirmed the clash but has not commented on the casualties. The attack comes ahead of a predicted surge in Taleban activity for the spring. Last year saw a record number of insurgent attacks. 'Spring offensive' Helmand police chief Ghulam Nabi Mulakhel said 15 rebel fighters were wounded in addition to those...

Taliban warn of summer offensive Sat Jan 27, 8:36 AM ET KABUL (Reuters) - The Taliban is gearing up for a massive summer offensive, with more than 2,000 suicide bombers ready for action and even more preparing, a senior commander said on Saturday. The warning comes a day after a top U.S. diplomat warned Afghanistan was in for a bloody and dangerous spring after the bloodiest year since the hardline Islamist Taliban was ousted by U.S.-led forces in 2001. "The Taliban will intensify their guerrilla and suicide strikes this summer," Mulla Hayat Khan told Reuters from a secret location. "This...

Ground forces mobilize outside a village in the Rashaad Valley as a team of OH-58Ds (Kiowa Warriors) fly overhead during a combined Iraqi Security Force and Coalition Force air and ground operation outside Kirkuk, Iraq. U.S. Army photo by Spc. Mike Alberts Iraq Security and Coalition Forces Conduct Major Offensive Operation disrupts IED cells and networks. By Spc. Mike Alberts 3rd Brigade Public Affairs KIRKUK, Iraq, Jan. 12, 2007 -- As the first morning light peaked over the desert horizon, helicopters landed onto fields outside their objective. Simultaneously, dozens of tactical vehicles crawled into position. The air and ground...

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Mexico's new government, struggling with rampant drug trafficking and crime, ordered thousands of troops to the western state of Michoacan on Monday to fight drug cartels locked in a vicious turf war. President Felipe Calderon's security cabinet said more than 5,000 soldiers and Marines were being deployed to crack down on drug gangs in the state, a key air and sea transshipment point for U.S.-bound cocaine. "We will establish control points on highways and secondary roads to limit drug trafficking, along with raids and arrests," Interior Minister Francisco Ramirez Acuna said. The soldiers, accompanied by federal...

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip - The Israeli military launched a three-pronged offensive in the northern Gaza Strip early Tuesday, killing a top Hamas commander in its latest operation against Palestinian rocket squads. An elderly Palestinian woman died in a gunbattle between troops and militants. Militants persisted with the rocket fire, launching five homemade projectiles, including three that landed in southern Israel. One critically wounded a man in the town of Sderot, a frequent target, striking the ground a half-mile from a convoy carrying the United Nations' top human rights official, who was touring the town. The military confirmed operations in...

The CEO of Hacienda Restaurant met with concerned citizens Thursday night to discuss a recent billboard campaign. The ads were removed after complaints they were insensitive to Mexicans. "I wish we hadn't done it. Like I said before I apologize," Hacienda CEO Bob Kill told the group. Kill says he's sorry this billboard was ever put up. "These stereotypes that we are sombrero wearing, taco wielding people who break pinatas. We are professionals people who have made so many positive contributions to this country," said Elias Moo of Notre Dame. The billboards sparked complaints from local Mexicans who say they...

BAGRAM AIR BASE, Afghanistan, Aug. 18, 2006 -- Six U.S. and coalition troops peer out from a remote position on a ridge top in Afghanistan. At sunset on the third day of their vigil, a large force of Taliban extremists carrying heavy machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades surround and pin down the team. An A-10 Thunderbolt II deployed to the 455th Air Expeditionary Wing, at Bagram Air Base, Afghanistan, from the 81st Fighter Squadron at Spangdahlem Air Base, Germany, flies a combat sortie over Afghanistan May 26 in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. A-10s are deployed to Bagram from...

...I doubt anyone (including Indians or the ACLU) would have a problem if Snyder renamed the 'Skins the "Washington Honkeys." In fact, the "Fighting Whites" were an intramural basketball team formed at the University of Northern Colorado in 2002. The team was formed as a sort of payback to all the teams across the country who use Indian names and symbols as mascots...

JERUSALEM - Israel's prime minister declared Monday there would be no cease-fire with Hezbollah guerrillas, saying "we will not give up on our goal to live a life free of terror." His Security Cabinet approved widening the ground offensive. Although Israel suspended most airstrikes on south Lebanon for 48 hours, its warplanes struck deep inside the country early Tuesday. They hit an area that is a stronghold of Hezbollah guerrillas, witnesses said. Warplanes also hit Hezbollah fighters battling with soldiers near the border as the guerrillas fired mortars into Israel. The cutback in Israeli airstrikes and a pause by the...

IN the last few years, it has seemed that perhaps America's long-buried history of blackface is being allowed to peek out of the closet. Bob Dylan named his most recent studio album "Love and Theft," after Eric Lott's landmark 1993 study of the form; and in his curious 2003 film, "Masked and Anonymous," Dylan even got Ed Harris to "black up" for a scene. Spike Lee also explored the subject in "Bamboozled," and competing biographies of Stepin Fetchit joined "Where Dead Voices Gather," Nick Tosches' meditation on the minstrel superstar Emmett Miller, on bookshelves. "Old Dan Tucker," the opening track...

AL TAQADDUM, Iraq (May 4, 2006) -- A line of tracers and a corkscrewing missile flash up from the ground a thousand feet below a CH-46 Sea Knight helicopter, which immediately takes evasive action. Trailing bright sparkles of light emit from its aft sections, as a gout of flame spits from its side-door machine gun. Saving the helicopter from enemy fire are the flying skills of its pilots, the deadly aim of its enlisted crew and an electronic countermeasure flare system. The job of maintaining the M2 .50-caliber machine guns and flares that are instrumental in the helicopter's survival belongs...

A bill requiring students to learn about the contributions homosexuals have made to society and that would remove sex-specific terms such as "mom" and "dad" from textbooks has passed another hurdle on the way to becoming the law of the land in California. Having already been approved by the state's Senate Judiciary Committee, SB 1437, which would mandate grades 1-12 buy books "accurately" portraying "the sexual diversity of our society," got the nod yesterday of the Senate Education Committee. The bill also requires students hear history lessons on "the contributions of people who are lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender to...

U.S., Iraqis Launch 'Operation Swarmer' By QASSIM ABDUL-ZAHRA, Associated Press Writer 7 minutes ago U.S. forces, joined by Iraqi troops, on Thursday launched the largest air assault since the U.S.-led invasion, targeting insurgent strongholds north of the capital, the military said. The U.S. military said the offensive dubbed Operation Swarmer was aimed at clearing "a suspected insurgent operating area" northeast of Samarra and was expected to continue over several days. "More than 1,500 Iraqi and Coalition troops, over 200 tactical vehicles, and more than 50 aircraft participated in the operation," the military statement said. Samarra, 60 miles north of Baghdad,...

DEMAGOGUES TO THE RIGHT OF THEM, appeasers to the left of them, media in front of them, volleying and thundering. Can the Bush administration continue to charge ahead? Does it have the will--and the competence--to lead the nation for the next three years toward victory in the long war against radical Islamism? From Copenhagen to Samara, the radical Islamists are on the offensive. From Tehran to Damascus, the dictators are trying to regain the upper hand in the Middle East. From Moscow to Beijing, the enemies of liberal democracy are working to weaken the United States. Across the world, the...

THE rosaries-ovaries T-shirt warn by an Australian Greens senator was deeply offensive to Catholics, Prime Minister John Howard said today. Australian Greens Senator Kerry Nettle wore the "keep your rosaries off my ovaries" T-shirt earlier this week as the Senate started its emotion charged debate over who should control the abortion drug RU486. The T-shirt was sponsored by the Young Women's Christian Association (YWCA). Mr Howard today said the message was offensive to Catholics across the country. "I think that was deeply offensive to many Australian Catholics," he told Southern Cross Broadcasting. He said the Greens were sneering at a...

California’s property owners, incensed by the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent Kelo decision, are going on the offensive with a ballot initiative that aims to limit the government’s sweeping eminent domain powers. But powerful developers who benefit from the status quo are sure to put up a fight. The California Property Owners Protection Act would eliminate the state and local governments’ ability to take personal property for non-public uses. Public uses would be strictly defined as the building of roads, parks, and public edifices. Non-public uses include the transferring of an individual’s land to another person or private entity. The initiative,...

Best-selling author and Muslim dissident Ibn Warraq argues that freedom of expression is our western heritage and we must defend it against attacks from totalitarian societies. If the west does not stand in solidarity with the Danish, he argues, then the Islamization of Europe will have begun in earnest. The great British philosopher John Stuart Mill wrote in On Liberty, "Strange it is, that men should admit the validity of the arguments for free discussion, but object to their being 'pushed to an extreme'; not seeing that unless the reasons are good for an extreme case, they are not good...

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip - Tens of thousands of angry Muslims marched through Palestinian cities, burning the Danish flag and calling for vengeance Friday against European countries where caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad were published. In Washington, the State Department criticized the drawings, calling them "offensive to the beliefs of Muslims." While recognizing the importance of freedom of the press and expression, State Department press officer Janelle Hironimus said these rights must be coupled with press responsibility. "Inciting religious or ethnic hatred in this manner is not acceptable," Hironimus said. "We call for tolerance and respect for all communities and...

Opening the Book of Daniel I watched the opening episodes of NBC’s new sitcom (I think that’s what it was) “The Book of Daniel”. I was aware some critics had panned the show ,and that a few NBC affiliates opted not to carry it. Having watched the first two hours, I was happy to note there were frequent commercial breaks ;which helped break up the monotony of the archly written and played scenario. While I watched, I had a nagging sense of déjà vu-but it wasn’t until this morning that I figured out what that was all about. The Book...

CAMP KOREAN VILLAGE, Iraq (Nov. 28, 2005) -- Nearly three years ago, many soldiers from the former Iraqi military of Saddam Hussein’s era fought against coalition forces during the initial invasion of Iraq. Today, many of these same soldiers, now assigned with 1st Battalion, 1st Brigade, 1st Division of the reconstituted Iraqi Army, are taking on a new responsibility in re-establishing security in their native country, clearly witnessed in recent offensives near the Syrian border. “I fought against the Americans when they invaded Iraq in the south,” said Pvt. Hussein Ali, 23, of Basra, Iraq, an infantryman carrying a rocket-propelled...

Ten of my Marine brothers were killed by an IED -(filmed, by the way,by one of the terrorists,and presented gleefully on al-Jazeera), and this is the way the Associated Press opened their story: JACKSONVILLE, N.C. - The grim news that a roadside bomb killed 10 Marines in Iraq arrived at Camp Lejeune just days after President Bush outlined his strategy for victory, a speech delivered in the face of increasing calls to bring the troops home. Have they no shame ?

Users of a city mosque are angry after an advert for a "gentlemen's club" went up opposite their prayer room. The picture of a scantily-clad woman has been plastered across a billboard in Conduit Street, Leicester, opposite the Central Mosque. Muslims who worship there said they found it offensive. Owners of the Aviary club said they had not received an official complaint but did not want to cause offence. Gul Mohammed, who works at the mosque, said: "It's not the kind of thing you want to see when you are doing your prayers. "Also, when people - men, women and...

WASHINGTON, Oct. 16, 2005 – U.S military forces in Iraq are staying on the offensive after completing security operations in support of that country's landmark, Oct. 15 constitutional referendum, officials said. Coalition forces reportedly killed several terrorists in a raid on a terrorist safe house in Karabilah, in western Iraq, on Oct. 16. The raid was part of a large-scale anti-terrorist operation that, apparently, had multiple intelligence sources. The safe house was being used to attack local Iraqi citizens, Iraqi security forces and coalition forces, officials said. When they arrived at the suspected safe house, coalition forces reportedly were engaged...

JERUSALEM - Israel shut down charities with ties to Hamas across the West Bank on Wednesday as it widened a five-day offensive against Palestinian militants despite their pledges to stop firing rockets at Israel. Moving to stop the violence from escalating, Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas traveled to Cairo to try to enlist the aid of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, while Palestinian officials said he would meet later this month with President Bush in Washington. State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said the Bush administration had talked to both the Palestinians and Israel about "the responsibilities they have" in defusing the situation...

DENVER — The University of Colorado has dropped its investigation into the American Indian heritage of the professor who came under fire for likening Sept. 11 victims to an infamous Nazi, the professor himself says. Full article at http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,166489,00.html

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, just one day after praising Sacramento politicians for trying to negotiate a deal on his reform agenda, took a combative tone Friday and insisted that the Nov. 8 special election "is not a referendum on me'' but on the state's lawmakers "who created the problems in California.'' The California governor, at an appearance at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, vowed to pass his self-styled reform agenda of shortened teacher tenure, a budget cap and a new political redistricting plan "no matter how many unions or special interests get in my way.'' But the governor's critics have a different...

DALLAS, Aug. 3, 2005 – The only way to defeat the multifaceted, adaptive insurgency in the Middle East is to go on the offensive, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said here Aug. 2. Speaking by phone to a meeting of the Dallas Chamber of Commerce, Rumsfeld talked about the diversity of the insurgency and emphasized that the coalition will win what he called a "test of wills." The insurgency represents a very small minority of the Iraqi population, Rumsfeld said, and does not embody the Muslim faith. "This is not a war between the United States and the Muslim faith...

MANILA (AP) - About 500 Muslim rebels have withdrawn from two Mindanao strongholds to let government forces launch an offensive against another Muslim group -- the al-Qaida-linked Abu Sayyaf, a rebel spokesman said Sunday. The Moro Islamic Liberation Front guerrillas, nearly 300 of whom were armed, withdrew from Talayan and Guindolongan Thursday to allow the jungle offensive to go ahead and avoid accidental clashes with government troops, rebel spokesman Eid Kabalu said. The guerrillas plan to return to their camps Monday unless the military asks for an extension, Kabalu said.

Washington -- When retired Gen. William Westmoreland (Ret.) died this week in Charleston, S.C., the press erupted with reminiscences, mostly about him and the Vietnam War, mostly permeated with the myths of the Kultursmog , the politically-polluted culture of our elites, our liberal elites. After Vietnam the general spent the rest of his life refighting the war. He never learned that it was a war we could not win. He was a failure. These are three of the foul thoughts that pollute the liberals' culture and were repeated in many of his obituaries. I knew Westmoreland later in life, not...