Free Republic

I just watched an interview with the daughter of the American Peace Activist held hostage in Iraq. While I can respect the strength of the man's convictions, I sharply and fundamentally disagree with them. He specifically stated that if taken hostage he did not want US or Iraqi forces to attempt his rescue with any use of force. Despite this, it is clear that he was there in direct opposition to US forces and was in fact abetting the very people our forces and the free Iraqis are fighting. When asked by the host if there was anything that she...

<p>Al-Jazeera has broadcast a video in which kidnappers threaten to kill four Christian peace activists unless their demands are met by Dec. 8... Developing...</p>

SACRAMENTO – U.S. military authorities on Wednesday began investigating whether a California National Guard unit was established to spy on U.S. citizens, as about 30 demonstrators outside guard headquarters confronted officials backed by armed soldiers. The federal probe of the nation's largest National Guard force involves the U.S. Army's inspector general, the federal National Guard Bureau's inspector general and the National Guard Bureau's legal division. The unit has raised concern among peace activists that the Guard is resorting to the same type of civilian monitoring that characterized Vietnam War-era protests. "These are your mothers, grandmothers and neighbors," said George Main,...

War WAS the Answer......Uday and his father are no longer in power. The gulags are gone, the torture has ended. I think these people are brain dead.

Objections aside, statue may stay in Peace Park By KERY MURAKAMI SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER The bronze girl with the paper crane may stay home after all. Seattle Parks and Recreation officials recommended last night that the park board leave the statue of Sadako Sasaki -- the Japanese schoolgirl who became a symbol for peace after she died in the bombing of Hiroshima -- at a tiny, out-of-the-way park in the University District. Some argued that with another war killing children as the backdrop to the debate, the statue of Sasaki, dressed in her school uniform and holding aloft a paper...

The recent controversy surrounding the "Swift Boat Veterans" ad challenging John Kerry’s Vietnam record and his later statements as a leader of Vietnam Veterans against the War (VVAW) have fallen into predictable partisan perspectives. Republicans and their media attack machine still insist that Kerry’s medals are suspect and his VVAW activities were treasonous. Kerry and the Democrats, in turn, have found further documentary evidence and eye-witness accounts to support his version of the Vietnam incidents. As far as Kerry’s 1971 testimony about US atrocities in Vietnam, Kerry has reiterated that he was just recounting reports from the Winter Soldier Investigations....

An Open Question for Anyone Concerned With Matters of Defence, National Security, and the Coming Election I’ve become concerned in the last few years or so as to the extent that left-leaning sentiments may have come to be expounded by some organizations related to the military. For example, although Defence , Watch/SFTT seems to go to bat for enlisted personel in legitimate ways they also seem to foster a sense of victim-hood similar to that encouraged by those groups that claim to help out various minority and special interest groups. They also seem to encourage the kind of suspicion, distrust,...

LONDON : The US-led war on Iraq, far from countering terrorism, has helped revitalise the Al-Qaeda terror network, the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) think-tank warned. The London-based body said in its annual Strategic Survey 2003/2004 that the deadly train bombings in Madrid in March, the worst terror strike in Europe for more than a decade, showed that Osama Bin Laden's terror network "had fully reconstituted". It also predicted the Islamic group would step up its anti-Western attacks, possibly even resorting to weapons of mass destruction and targeting Americans, Europeans and Israelis while continuing to support insurgents opposing the...

<p>On March 20, I drove along East Sunshine past a small group of peace activists on one side of Sunshine holding up a piece of tarp with sheets of 8?-by-11-inch paper attached supposedly telling the stories of American soldiers killed in Iraq ("Wall bridges feelings of loss," March 21 News-Leader). Directly across the street were two 18-year-olds, Jason Highley holding up a sign reading "Terrorists are the enemy, not George W. Bush" and Matt Simpson was holding up another sign that said "Freedom's not free." Those two boys have learned more in 18 years than those across the street, such as Ed Janosik, have in 75 or 80 years. Yes, we grieve for those who have given their lives, and also for their families. And yes, each of those who have given their lives deserve to be honored to the highest degree. Those brave men volunteered to do what they were doing when they lost their lives because they knew that if the terrorists are not stopped, a lot more Americans will lose their lives as a result. After they have fallen, to use their stories in that manner dishonors them rather than honors them, because protest demonstrations such as that only give encouragement to the terrorists.</p>

Having seen first-hand the suffering that war and occupation have caused Iraqis and Palestinians, Doug Johnson and Lysander Puccio decided to share their experiences with anyone willing to listen. They both agreed to ride the "Wheels of Justice," a brightly painted old school bus, across the United States to tell their stories. And they arrived Friday afternoon at the Gallatin County Courthouse in Bozeman. "One of the things we do when we get back (from a war zone) is talk about what we experienced there with our own eyes," said Puccio, a member of Direct Action Palestine and a social...

"A Mount Pleasant man is flooded with e-mails demanding that he leave America because he doesn't like the war. A Des Moines woman bristles when she sees the hate mail sent to her 17 year-old son after his anti-war quote appeared in the newpaper. A peace camp at the University of Iowa is attacked with eggs and urine.",As war grinds on in Iraq, some Iowans who have publicly opposed it have found that freedom of speech can sometimes be costly when some people react angrily."

“Stop The War NOW!” —Sign at “Direct Action To Stop The War” rally, April 6, 2003. “U.S. forces today mounted their most far-reaching move into Baghdad today, going into the heart of the Iraqi capital … Reporters say hundreds of jubilant Iraqis greeted the British tanks as they poured into the center of Basra.” —AP media reports, the same day. * * * DATELINE, BAGHDAD — Iraqi citizens looked on in horror today when, at the orders of President George W. Bush, American soldiers and marines began retreating from Baghdad to return to the United States. “We’re sorry,” one local...

US military not aware of coalition attacks on human shields AS-SALIYAH (AFP) - A senior US commander in the war on Iraq (news - web sites) said here he was unable to confirm reports that a US warplane attacked a bus in weswtern Iraq carrying international volunteers acting as human shields. "I am not aware of any reports of human shields, I cannot confirm that and have no information at all," Brigadier General Vincent Brooks told reporters here Tuesday at US Central Command's forward planning base. Earlier Tuesday Iraqi Information Minister Mohammed Said al-Sahhaf said in Baghdad that several people...

NEW YORK - About 215 protesters were arrested Thursday after they lay down on Manhattan's Fifth Avenue, blocking traffic in the latest of a series of demonstrations against the war. The "die-in" temporarily closed the avenue between 49th and 50th streets, near St. Patrick's Cathedral and the Saks Fifth Avenue store and across the street from Rockefeller Center. Most of those arrested face charges of disorderly conduct and obstructing governmental administration, police said. Anti-war groups had called for civil disobedience, hoping to draw more attention than the largely lawful protests held daily in the city since hostilities began in Iraq...

Good morning to all the peace activists in the western world. I am writing to thank you for all the hard work you have done for me. I have had a good run, and with your help, had a chance to extend it for a little while longer, but it is time for me to go. It has been fun. I cannot help but laugh myself silly every time I think of one of your George Bush posters that depict him as Adolph Hitler! This is a scream. Consider the fact that I am the one who is giving money...

At first glance, the events surrounding the Iraq affair seem quite bizarre. America, which provided the main power in defeating fascism in Germany, Italy and Japan in World War II, then defeated Soviet totalitarianism in the Cold War and has been the stalwart proponent of peace and democracy in the world since — as evidenced by the Balkans, Kosovo and Afghanistan — now stands under attack from much of the world. The streets of Europe, which we freed from tyranny, are now filled with protests against America's attempt to deactivate the classical secular fascist Saddam Hussein.

In a last-ditch show of opposition to war with Iraq, demonstrators formed a human ring around Seattle's Green Lake yesterday. All along the 3.2-mile path that surrounds the lake, thousands of people waved anti-war signs, chanted anti-Bush slogans and beckoned drivers to honk for peace. Some held hands. One small group sat on the cold, damp grass, eyes shut, reciting Buddhist prayers. The protest was among numerous similar events and candlelight vigils, from Bellevue to Bainbridge Island, timed to coincide with what appears to be the end game of diplomacy over how to handle the Iraq conflict. Yesterday, President Bush...

Editor, the Tribune: So the University of Missouri has a "peace studies" program, which uses university resources to encourage students to protest against their country and even to skip their taxpayer-funded classes to do it. Is this the same university that constantly whines that the people of Missouri are too miserly in their support for "higher" education? One wonders how many other asinine programs, departments and classes we are funding. Evidently, MU has no respect or appreciation for the sacrifices made by hard-working Missourians on its behalf. But it does explain the large number of anti-American letters to the Tribune...