Free Republic

With the results of Tuesday’s election still coming in, incoming and outgoing Knesset Members were quick to assign blame and take credit for the results. Likud Chairman Binyamin Netanyahu said he would remain as party head and work to reform the party despite the “harsh blow” it was dealt at the polls. Netanyahu also laid part of the blame at Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s doorstep, saying that “Sharon left us with a broken party” when he left to form the victorious Kadima faction. Likud MK Michael Eitan said of his party’s decline, "There is no doubt that we deserved a...

BAGRAM AIR BASE, Afghanistan, March 13, 2006 – Coalition forces are continuing assaults against extremists in the Pech Valley of Afghanistan's Kunar province following a roadside bomb attack that killed four U.S. servicemembers yesterday, military officials reported today. The coalition's response has resulted in the detention of 11 insurgents believed responsible for the attack. Operations to kill or capture other extremists, deny them sanctuary, and restore stability to the area are continuing, officials said. "The sacrifice of our fallen comrades only strengthens our resolve to bring stability to the people in this important region of Afghanistan," said Col. John Nicholson,...

WASHINGTON, Feb. 23, 2006 – The federal response to Hurricane Katrina demonstrated that the Defense Department is one of the only federal departments capable of playing a critical role in the nation's response to catastrophic events, a government report released today stated. In September, President Bush asked Fran Townsend, his homeland security adviser, to conduct a review about the federal response to Katrina. The result is a report titled "The Federal Response to Hurricane Katrina: Lessons Learned," which outlines what was learned from the government's response to the hurricane and how to better prepare and respond to future domestic...

BAGRAM AIR BASE, Afghanistan, Feb. 22, 2006 – An enemy force engaged Afghan National Police and coalition forces during a patrol in Ghazni province early today. Two enemy fighters were captured in the engagement. No Afghan police or coalition forces were injured. Afghan police and coalition forces were on patrol in Ghazni's Andar district when they received small-arms fire from an enemy force of an unknown size. When the police and coalition forces returned fire, the enemy broke contact and fled into nearby compounds, officials reported. During a joint, Afghan National Police-led search of one compound, two enemy fighters attacked...

WASHINGTON, Feb. 1, 2006 – The family of a fallen Marine President Bush honored as a hero during his State of the Union address last night and five servicemembers invited to attend the address expressed gratitude today for the nation's support for the military. Air Force Tech. Sgt. Jamie Dana, with military working dog, Rex, was among five servicemembers President Bush honored Jan. 31 during his State of the Union address. U.S. Air Force photo  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. Sara Jo and Bud Clay of Pensacola, Fla., parents of Marine Staff Sgt. Dan Clay, and Clay's widow,...

BAGHDAD (Army News Service, Jan. 5, 2006) – Coalition and Iraqi forces responded Jan. 4 after a suicide bomber laden with explosives attacked a funeral procession about 60 miles north of Baghdad and other militants attacked a convoy of 60 fuel tankers. After the attack on the funeral, located in the town of Muqdadiya, Coalition forces joined the Iraqi Security Forces to secure the site of the bombing. The suicide bomber killed at least 30 and wounded more than 40 people, according to reports. After the ambush on a convoy of fuel tankers Jan. 4, a militant group known as...

WASHINGTON, Dec. 26, 2005 – Iraqi police, firefighters and Task Force Baghdad soldiers responded to a series of car bomb attacks in central and eastern Baghdad today, military officials reported. At 8:30 a.m., a suicide car bomber detonated in the Karadah district, killing an Iraqi civilian and wounding an Iraqi police officer and an Iraqi civilian. The second car bomb exploded in eastern Baghdad at about 10 a.m., injuring five Iraqi police officers. At 10:43 a.m., a third car bomb detonated near an Iraqi police patrol in northeast Baghdad, killing four Iraqi civilians and wounding two Iraqi police officers. About...

11/22/2005 - SOUTHWEST ASIA (AFPN) -- The emergency response team here went into action after a bus full of Soldiers overturned just outside the base gate. Fire department, security forces and medical personnel responded to a Nov. 18 call for help just before 10 a.m. The Soldiers were on their way to the base for airlift to Iraq, when the bus turned over and landed on its side -- causing one fatality and numerous injuries. The on-scene commander said the emergency response team was notified by explosive ordnance disposal troops near the scene. The response team immediately secured the scene...

TIKRIT, Iraq, Nov. 18, 2005 – More than 150 Iraqi civilians were reported killed or wounded in terrorist attacks that destroyed two Shiite mosques in Khanaqin during prayer services today, military officials here said. Soldiers from 1st Squadron, 32nd Cavalry, 101st Airborne Division, were assisting Iraqi security forces in response to the twin bombings. Iraqi authorities conducted medical evacuation of bombing victims. U.S. forces sent medical specialists and supplies to assist the Iraqis. Media reports said terrorists entered the mosque and detonated explosive belts. Khanaqin is near the Iran border in Diyala province. Iraqi explosive ordnance disposal teams searched the...

WASHINGTON, Oct. 11, 2005 – The deputy secretary-general of the Arab League was among a group of delegates who came under attack Oct. 10 from small-arms fire in northwestern Baghdad, , military officials reported. After hearing the gunfire, Amr Moussa and other Arab League delegates sought refuge in a nearby mosque. Two platoons of Iraqi army soldiers responded to the incident and, despite coming under small-arms fire themselves, were able to safely evacuate the trapped delegates from the mosque. In other developments, Task Force Baghdad aviation and ground forces combined efforts to defeat terrorists in southern Baghdad Oct. 9. UH-60...

NEW YORK — To African-Americans, Hurricane Katrina has become a generation-defining catastrophe — a disaster with a predominantly black toll, tinged with racism. They've rallied to the cause with an unprecedented outpouring of activism and generosity.

UNITED NATIONS - Secretary-General Kofi Annan (news - web sites)'s new chief of staff heads to Washington on Wednesday to meet with critics and supporters of the United Nations (news - web sites) following a critical report of U.N. actions in the oil-for-food program in Iraq (news - web sites). Mark Malloch Brown's high-profile trip is aimed at informing U.S. lawmakers about ongoing U.N. management and administrative reforms and appears to be the opening salvo in a new offensive by Annan to present the world body in a more positive light. One of the U.S. lawmakers Malloch Brown is scheduled...

Jeff David: Democrats respond to GOP with more of Brand X Let's pretend for a moment. Let's make believe we're all Democrats here. I know that's a stretch of the imagination in a parish that went for Bush with 77 percent, but even if you're a dyed-in-the-wool Republican, try to think for one moment like the opposition. Here you are. You're in Louisiana. You're an active Democrat. You got Mary Landrieu elected. You got Kathleen Blanco elected. But there's a strange feeling creeping over you. Like something is slipping away. Creeping old age? Yes, but everyone suffers from that. The...

Officials Say Soldiers' Complaints Are Being Addressed President Bush and Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said today that soldiers' complaints about the safety of their vehicles and other issues are being addressed, and they pledged to do all they can to protect troops being deployed in Iraq. In separate sessions with reporters, Bush and Rumsfeld were asked today about a town-hall-style meeting yesterday in Kuwait in which soldiers preparing to head into Iraq complained to Rumsfeld about a lack of armor on some vehicles, inferior equipment, personnel policies that extend their tours of duty and difficulties receiving their pay. One...

Pataki: Democrats failed to respond to terror threat BRENDAN FARRINGTON Associated Press Posted on Sun, Apr. 18, 2004 MIAMI BEACH, Fla. - New York Gov. George Pataki urged supporters to back President Bush's re-election by saying Democrats' failure to respond to previous acts of terrorism led the way to the attacks on Sept. 11, 2001. Pataki criticized the Clinton administration for not properly responding to the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center, attacks on U.S. embassies in Africa, the bombing of the USS Cole and an attack on a U.S. military barracks in Saudi Arabia. "We cannot forgot these...