Free Republic

.............The broad outlines of Bernie’s long-running infatuation with all things Soviet Russian are available to diligent researchers. We know Bernie went to Moscow for his honeymoon. This is sort of passed over and laughed off by his supporters, but it should not be. It that era it was considered a signature event in the life of a dedicated American communist. Something many American communists looked forward to as a culmination of their connections with the movement. This was frequently accompanies by other highly symbolic gestures, like getting married in a Red Dress, or having the wedding ceremony itself in the...

When Daniel Ellsberg, the defense analyst, leaked the Pentagon Papers to the press in 1971, it created one of the most significant newspaper stories -- and battles -- of the century. One thing it did not do was prevent the Vietnam War, although it may have shortened it. Now he is calling on officials within the government to leak "the Pentagon Paper of the Middle East" to modern reporters, to short-circuit another possible war. Ellsberg's challenge is found in the October issue of Harper's magazine, to appear next week. E&P has obtained an advance copy. The article is titled, "The...

How a Soviet mole in FDR's inner circle triggered Pearl Harbor – and its dire relevancy to our conflict today. ... On December 7, 1941, 353 Japanese aircraft delivered a shocking blow .. Nearly seven years later, Harry Dexter White, a senior official in the Roosevelt Administration, appeared to testify before the House Committee on Un-American Activities . Numerous witnesses, including Whittaker Chambers and Elizabeth Bentley, had implicated White in involvement with the Communist Party and the Soviet Union. ... Harry Dexter White, a Harvard PhD and Assistant Treasury Secretary, had played a major role in creating the World Bank...

The United States should find a way to collaborate with Russia in establishment of missile defenses, U.S. President Barack Obama said yesterday (see GSN, Sept. 29). "It is important for us to reach out to Russia and explore ways in which the missile defense configurations that we envision could potentially lead to further collaboration," Obama said after meeting with NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen. "We want to improve generally not only U.S.-Russian relations, but also NATO-Russian relations, while making absolutely clear that our commitments to all of our allies in NATO is sacrosanct," the president added, according to Agence...

Perhaps the most discussed passage in Barack Obama's Inaugural Address was his peace offering to dictators and leaders of rogue states. "To those who cling to power through corruption and deceit and the silencing of dissent," he said, "know that you are on the wrong side of history; but that we will extend a hand if you are willing to unclench your fist." The man who had campaigned on direct meetings with rogue leaders "without preconditions" appeared to be toughening his approach just a little. The words were conciliatory and intended to signal a shift from the Bush administration, but...

President Obama was accused of caving in to pressure from Russia tonight after announcing he was abandoning plans for a US missile shield in Eastern Europe. The president’s decision to scrap George Bush’s controversial (pounds) 2.5 billion shield system in Poland and the Czech Republic was immediately welcomed in Moscow. But it left countries in the former Soviet sphere concerned that Mr Obama was less willing to stand up to Russia than his predecessors in the White House. Coming on the 70th anniversary of the Soviet invasion of Poland at the beginning of World War Two, the timing of the...