Free Republic

Hey check it out, Tim Lynch from Free Range International from Afghanistan on what's really going on with the Marines! You won't hear it on Cable!

LASHKAR GAH, Afghanistan (AFP) – Afghan men, women and children fearing imminent fighting between the Taliban and US troops, loaded up trucks on Monday and streamed out of one of the world's main sources of heroin. Wrapped in blankets to fend off the winter chill, families packed up goats, furniture and clothes, clogging roads with taxis, cars and tractors in a major exodus to safety, dodging roadside bombs planted to kill US and NATO troops. "We left the area because lots of aircraft were flying over and lots of forces were moving back and forth," Shir Ali Khan told AFP...

Courtesy UK Ministry of DefenceElements of the Royal Welsh, Grenadier Guards and Scots Guards have taken part in an air and ground ISAF operation to the south of Nad e-Ali, Helmand Province, Afghanistan.The operation, being conducted with Afghan National Security Forces, is part of the preparation for a major ISAF offensive known as Operation MOSHTARAK.Op MOSHTARAK has been planned to remove insurgents from areas of central Helmand not previously cleared by ISAF troops. Major General Gordon Messenger briefed the media today on Op MOSHTARAK. He said that the operation was fully supported by Afghan President Hamid Karzai and that...

BRISTOL, Va. – Theresa Titman knows all the jokes about the last name she proudly displays on a personalized license plate, but she isn’t laughing over a state agency’s recent ruling. Last month, the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles notified Titman and her husband that they must surrender the tag she’s had for seven years – T1TMAN – because someone might find it “socially, racially or ethnically offensive or disparaging and used to describe intimate body parts or genitals.” The tag was issued “in error,” according to the letter. “They’re not getting my tag,” Titman said. “I was utterly –...

SANAA, Yemen -- Yemeni forces, backed by the United States, launched an attack Thursday on a meeting of al-Qaeda operatives where a Yemeni American preacher linked to the suspected gunman in the Fort Hood attacks might have been present, U.S. and Yemeni officials said. The strike on an alleged al-Qaeda hideout in southeastern Yemen killed at least 30 suspected militants and was the second such assault in the past week, according to Yemeni security and government sources. One of the possible meeting participants was Anwar al-Aulaqi, a U.S. citizen and extremist preacher who exchanged e-mails with the Army psychiatrist suspected...

WASHINGTON, Dec. 4, 2009 – As the Pakistani military achieves success against extremists operating in Pakistan, the campaign also is aiding anti-insurgent efforts in Afghanistan, the commander of U.S. Central Command said today. In fact, the months-long Pakistani offensive is putting the Taliban, al-Qaida and other extremists in the region “under significant pressure,” Army Gen. David H. Petraeus told National Public Radio host Steve Inskeep during a segment of the “Morning Edition” news program. The Pakistani campaign is assisting U.S. and coalition efforts in Afghanistan, Petraeus said, noting Afghan Taliban leader Mullah Omar “is generally thought to be located most...

RABBI FIRST U.S. VICTIM OF JIHAD KAHANE CEREMONY OFFENSIVE TO OBAMA thelastcrusade.orgAny commemoration in the Knesset (Israeli Parliament) of the anniversary of Rabbi Meir Kahane's assassination would be harmful to the peace process, the American Embassy told The Jerusalem Post.The American comments came after the Jerusalem Post obtained e-mails in which an embassy official told Knesset Speaker Reuven Rivlin's office that any plans for such a ceremony was "something that Senator [George] Mitchell and his team are following with concern."The e-mails also implied that such a ceremony would be frowned upon by President Barack Obama who is attempting to...

ISLAMABAD – Pakistan's army pushed deeper into a Taliban sanctuary close to the Afghan border Tuesday, claiming to have killed 42 militants in the latest stage of an offensive against extremists blamed for relentless attacks in recent weeks . In the capital, gunmen attacked a high-ranking Pakistani army officer in the second targeted shooting against top military brass in less than a week, part of a wave of violence sweeping the country in apparent retaliation for the 11-day long offensive in South Waziristan. The army officer, and his mother who was traveling with him, escaped unhurt from the assault in...

DERA ISMAIL KHAN, Pakistan – Pakistani troops and the Taliban fought fierce battles Sunday in a militant sanctuary near the Afghan border, with both sides claiming early victories in an army campaign that could shape the future of the country's battle against extremism. A Taliban spokesman vowed the Islamist militants would fight to "our last drop of blood" to defend their stronghold of South Waziristan, .. Victory for the government in South Waziristan's tribal badlands would eliminate a safe haven for the Taliban militants blamed for surging terrorist attacks and the al-Qaida operatives they shelter there. .. Defeat would give...

DERA ISMAIL KHAN, Pakistan – More than 30,000 Pakistani soldiers launched a ground offensive against al-Qaida and the Taliban's main stronghold along the Afghan border Saturday, officials said, in the country's toughest test yet against a strengthening insurgency. The United States has long pushed the government to carry out an assault in South Waziristan, and it comes after two weeks of militant attacks that have killed more than 175 people across the nuclear-armed country. That has ramped up pressure on the army to act. Pakistan has fought three unsuccessful campaigns since 2001 in the region, which is the nerve-center for...

Earlier this month and despite the public scrutiny over the voter fraud and felony criminal activity associated with ACORN, the Department of Homeland Security went ahead and granted $997,402 to ACORN under the FY 2008 Fire Prevention and Safety Program. To most people, the timing and the amount of the grant would seem off base, but when you take into account the fact that DHS awarded ACORN–an organization with no clear expertise in fire safety and prevention–a fire prevention and safety grant, it’s just plain offensive.

You might think a posthumous Medal of Honor award ceremony would be a somber occasion, but not everyone would agree with you. Either this is an especially skillful photo shop effort or Michelle Obama has no clue whatsoever about the nature of this event. U.S. Army Sergeant First Class Jared C. Monti’s parents received the award for him. I hope they didn’t notice the first lady’s stunningly inappropriate dress, but that’s unlikely.

The four MiG-31E fighter jets that Russia will deliver to Syria will be without offensive capabilities and used for intelligence gathering alone, according to reports that reached Jerusalem from Moscow this week. According to these reports, Russia did not sell more planes to the Syrians for the simple reason that Damascus does not have the ability to pay for any more. The reports said that two of the planes would be operational, and the other two would be purchased for "cannibalization" purposes, amid a Syrian realization that Russia would not provide effective "after-sale service," and that these planes would be...

WASHINGTON, July 8, 2009 – The commander of a U.S. Marine brigade in southern Afghanistan is cautiously optimistic at progress made in the first week of an offensive there, but says more Afghan forces are needed.“We're still very early into this operation. … [I’m] very cautiously optimistic that things have gone well,” Marine Corps Brig. Gen. Lawrence Nicholson, commander of the 2nd Marine Expeditionary Brigade, said in a conference call from Marine Camp Leatherneck in Helmand province with reporters at the Pentagon. Some 4,000 Marines and 650 Afghan security forces launched the ongoing Operation Khanjar, which translates to Strike of...

ISLAMABAD – Pakistani ground troops moved into Taliban-controlled areas Friday and engaged in the first gunbattle of a new offensive in the volatile northwest, as an aerial and artillery bombardment pounded other targets. Officials said Friday's action did not represent the start of a full-scale operation in the tribal belt along the border with Afghanistan, but that most troops were now in place for when the orders came. The coming operation in South Waziristan, along with one winding down in the Swat Valley further north, could be a turning point in Pakistan's yearslong and sometimes halfhearted fight against militancy.

ISLAMABAD – Pakistan's army launched airstrikes and ferried in tanks and artillery as it confirmed Tuesday that it was preparing a major offensive against insurgents in al-Qaida and the Taliban's safest haven along the Afghan border. The highly anticipated military operation in South Waziristan is seen as a potential turning point in the yearslong and sometimes half-hearted fight against militancy in Pakistan. It could also help curb Taliban attacks on Western forces in neighboring Afghanistan. But the offensive in the lawless tribal region will also be the toughest yet for Pakistan's military, testing both its fighting capability and the government's...

A Texas woman put up an American flag for Memorial Day, and was told to remove it because it was offensive to a coworker. The kicker is the offended employee is not from the United States. I know ... shocker.

PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AFP) – Pakistan's military said on Saturday that a full-scale offensive in the northwest has put militants on the back foot following a pledge from President Asif Ali Zardari to eliminate the Taliban. Warplanes pounded rebel hideouts in the Swat valley, an ex-ski resort where up to 15,000 security forces have been deployed under orders to crush extremists in an escalating conflict that has displaced hundreds of thousands. "They are on the run," the army said in a statement, without making clear exactly how much progress it had made in driving militants from their positions. But the statement...

Swine flu name branded 'offensive' Last Updated: Tuesday, 28 April 2009, 03:01 GMT The outbreak of swine flu should be renamed "Mexican" influenza in deference to Muslim and Jewish sensitivities over pork, an Israeli health official has said. Deputy Health Minister Yakov Litzman said the reference to pigs is offensive to both religions and "we should call this Mexican flu and not swine flu," he told a news conference at a hospital in central Israel. Both Judaism and Islam consider pigs unclean and forbid the eating of pork products.

ISLAMABAD – Pakistan launched an operation against militants Sunday in a district covered by a government-backed peace deal, threatening the survival of a pact that raised U.S. concerns about the country's willingness to confront the insurgents. A top government official insisted the deal remained "intact" and denied American pressure prompted the offensive, while another warned that the Taliban in a valley that was the focus of the deal must disarm or "face action." A military statement said the offensive in Lower Dir had already killed "scores" of militants, including a commander, and left at least one paramilitary soldier dead. It...