Free Republic

As the debate over a possible strike against Iran's nuclear facilities grows, it seems that is possible that such a move would be ineffective. According to a Friday report by Yedioth Ahronoth, top US officials, who are privy to the relevant intelligence shared by Israel and the United States, said that Tehran is rapidly approaching the "immunity zone"—the critical point in time after which the Islamic Republic's nuclear program will no longer be vulnerable to a military strike. The National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) report, recently submitted to the White House, paints a bleak picture, as it indicates "a significant progress"...

A string of bomb attacks across Iraq killed at least 50 people on Monday and wounded 144 more, police and hospital sources said, in one of the bloodiest days in the past weeks. Violence in Iraq has eased since the height of sectarian slaughter in 2006-2007, but insurgents still carry out deadly attacks, especially around the capital, and deadly car bombs on Sunday shattered a lull in violence in the lead-up to the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which started on Saturday. …

The number of mosques in the United States has increased 74 percent in ten years according to a study released by the Hartford Institute for Religious Research. In 2000, theU.S.reported 1209 places of worship for Muslims. In 2010, that number has risen to 2106. In 1990, the number stood at approximately 700. This, in a period of time when the radical Jihad side of Islam has established unwavering goals, in writing, that the United States is in their crosshairs for being conquered …from within. "The mosques are our barracks, the domes our helmets, the minarets our bayonets and the faithful...

The State Department began a three-day, closed-door meeting Monday to talk about U.S. free speech rules with representatives from numerous Islamic governments that have lobbied for 12 years to end U.S. citizens’ ability to speak freely about Islam’s history and obligations. Free speech advocates slammed the event as an effort to gradually curb public criticism of Islam, but it was defended by Hannah Rosenthal, who heads the agency’s office to curb anti-Semitism. The meeting is a great success, she said, because governments in the multinational Organisation for Islamic Cooperation have dropped their demand that criticism of Islamic ideas be treated...

A suicide bomber blew himself up today at Taka mosque located in the police headquarters in Ciberon (West Java) a town about 300 km from Jakarta. The toll is about 28 wounded, including several policemen. The suicide bombing is the first in the country's history and took place shortly before the usual Friday prayers, while the faithful were gathering inside the building. According to authorities the attack was organized by a group of Islamic terrorists in revenge for the recent anti-terrorism operations carried out by the police.

Koran burnings by Westerners are rightly frowned upon, but more regrettable is the trend of investigating, arresting, and even prosecuting those who set them aflame. Consider the cases to make the news since a Florida pastor first promised to torch Korans on the anniversary of 9/11. Examples from the United States: In September, the East Lansing Police Department offered a $10,000 reward for information about the person responsible for leaving a charred Koran outside a Michigan mosque. An individual surrendered, but the prosecutor shelved the case because "there is no criminal offense that I can charge under Michigan law." In...

A San Antonio pastor and an associate have been indicted on charges that they sold numerous fake green cards and Social Security cards to illegal immigrants. Felipe DeJesus Coronel Pacheco, 55, and Luis Angel Tovar Cisneros, 28, have been in custody since they were arrested last month by agents with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Coronel, pastor of Ministerios Epicentro Donde Nace La Bendición in Austin, had moved from Austin to San Antonio in mid-2010, records show. He was to seek bond at a hearing Thursday, but it was canceled after a federal grand jury indicted him and Tovar on...

Just curious, but is anybody paying attention to what just happened in Pakistan? It's dribbled out in bits and pieces, but I don't recall anyone putting the whole picture in perspective. Here's what's happened. More than a year ago, Asia Bibi, a 45-year-old mother of five, was working in the fields in the Punjab province when some of the Muslim women working alongside her asked her to fetch water. When she returned, several women said they would not accept it because she was a Christian and therefore "unclean." Insults were exchanged and in the process Bibi made some insulting remarks...

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Someone set fire to an Islamic center on Sunday, two days after a man who worshipped there was accused of trying to blow up a van full of explosives during Portland's Christmas tree lighting ceremony. Other Muslims fear it could be the first volley of misplaced retribution. The charges against Mohamed Osman Mohamud, a Somali-born 19-year-old who was caught in a federal sting operation, are testing tolerance in a state that has been largely accepting of Muslims. Muslims who know the suspect say they are shocked by the allegations against him and that they had given them no hint of...

Two have to read books about the Muslim takeover of Indonesia, Iran, Pakistan and Malaysia. The first book "Among the Believers" is about the takeover in the seventies. The second book "Beyond Belief" looks at the takeover 20 years later when he returns to the countries and continues his interviews. If heed is not taken, it will be the story of the future of the west as Muslims use the same tactics today in Euroope and the United States. Worth the read.

A conservative activist and former presidential candidate says it's an absolute outrage that in the height of a recession and huge government deficits, U.S. taxpayers will soon be footing the bill for rebuilding Islamic mosques in foreign countries. According to The Associated Press, the Obama administration plans to spend nearly $6 million in American tax dollars to restore 63 historic and cultural sites around the world, including mosques and minarets in 55 countries. The projects include $76,000 for a 16th century mosque in communist China, $67,000 for a mosque in Pakistan, and numerous others. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton calls...

Ramadan in 2010 will start on Wednesday, the 11th of August and will continue for 30 days until Thursday, the 9th of September. Based on sightability in North America, in 2010 Ramadan will start in North America a day later - on Thursday, the 12th of August. Note that in the Muslim calander, a holiday begins on the sunset of the previous day, so observing Muslims will celebrate Ramadan on the sunset of Tuesday, the 10th of August. Although Ramadan is always on the same day of the Islamic calendar, the date on the Gregorian calendar varies from year to...

Child Stabs President Bush to Death and Turns the White House into a Mosque in a Hamas TV Puppet Show Following is an excerpt from a puppet show, which aired on Al-Aqsa TV on March 30, 2008. Bush: Who are you? What brings you to my home? How did they let you in, boy? My guards! My soldiers! Get this boy out of here. Child: Nobody will take me out of here. Bush: Who are you to come here and threaten me?! You are on my own turf, you little child, you! Get out. My dear, bring your father, your...

National Security: As politicians tell people what they want to hear, real leaders administer the harsh medicine of truth. As President Bush explains why we must win in Iraq, most in Congress delude themselves.

Thousands of children, teens prepare for apocalyptic battle against 'evil' Hizbullah leads a youth movement that instructs tens of thousands of children and teenagers in military tactics and indoctrinates them with radical Shia Islam beliefs – including the waging of a final, apocalyptic world battle against "evil," according to materials found by Israel during last month's war in Lebanon. "Hizbullah established its Imam Mahdi Scouts to attract Shiite children and adolescents, to influence their hearts and minds and to prepare new generations of youth indoctrinated with radical Shiite Islam, which propounds the idea of the return of the Mahdi (messiah)...

Human rights groups and concerned individuals worldwide are demanding an end to stoning executions in Iran – and right now are pressuring the head of the Islamic nation's judiciary to lift the death sentence against a 34-year-old mother of two young children. Malak Ghorbany was sentenced to death June 28 by a court in the Iranian city of Urmia after being found guilty of committing "adultery." Under Iran's strict Sharia law, women sentenced to execution by stoning have their hands bound behind their back. They are wrapped from head to toe in sheets before being seated in a pit. The...

ISTANBUL, August 8 (Compass Direct News) -- Seven years after Issa Motamedi Mojdehi converted from Islam to Christianity, Iranian secret police have jailed him for abandoning Islam but officially charged him with illegal drug trafficking. Authorities formally charged the 31-year-old Christian with drug trafficking when he was arrested two weeks ago. But Savama (secret police) officials have told Motamedi Mojdehi that his real offense, said to be recorded in his confidential legal file, is abandoning Islam. Unless he renounces his Christian faith and returns to Islam, officials told him, he will remain in jail and possibly face execution. In a...

When a gunman opened fire on women at the Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle last Friday, he announced the shootings were intended to make a statement. "These are Jews," he told 911 dispatchers in a recorded conversation. "I want these Jews to get out. "I'm tired of getting pushed around, and our people getting pushed around by the situation in the Middle East"

About 2,000 children have marched through the streets of Beirut armed with fake rockets in a rally organised by Hezbollah to mark the anniversary of a deadly Israeli bombardment 10 years ago. Rows of boys wearing military fatigues and red berets marched with mock Katyushas on their shoulders on Thursday in memory of the Israeli bombing of a UN base in Qana in southern Lebanon on April 18, 1996, that killed 105 people. Girls in white head-to-toe chadors carried effigies of blood-stained white doves bearing the names of several southern villages where civilians have been killed in Israeli shellings over...