Free Republic

Sgt. Aaron Taylor had been in the country for about a month A bomb technician from Camp Pendleton has become the latest locally based Marine to die from a roadside bomb in Afghanistan. Staff Sgt. Aaron Taylor died Friday when he exited a vehicle and stepped on the homemade explosive, his brother Kyle Taylor said in a telephone interview from the family's home in Minnesota. The Defense Department announced his death Tuesday. "He was an all-around good guy," 21-year-old Kyle Taylor said of his older brother. "He was really ambitious and everything he did he went after 150 percent."

WASHINGTON -- President Barack Obama has no plans to pull U.S. troops out of Afghanistan. After eight years of war there, withdrawal is not among the options the administration is considering as it designs a new strategy. Also not being considered is any exploration of possible peace talks with the Taliban, the indigenous Islamic group that once controlled large swaths of Afghanistan. When asked whether the U.S. could withdraw from Afghanistan -- a country known as the "graveyard of empires" -- White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said: "That’s not something that has ever been entertained." "I don’t think we have...

It’s been over a year since Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas) energized libertarians with his presidential candidacy, but the movement he inspired continues to ripple across the landscape. In at least a handful of House, Senate and gubernatorial contests across the country, former Paul supporters have emerged as credible contenders — or possible spoilers — ensuring that his message, once relegated to the fringes of Republican politics, continues to be heard. Paul began the 2008 presidential campaign as an afterthought but quickly won the attention of a previously dismissive GOP establishment and news media by generating intense grass-roots and online...

Country’s National Assembly passes draft law that kills illegal downloaders’ internet accessThe French National Assembly has passed one of the toughest laws against internet piracy that the world has ever seen.Under the new legislation, backed by President Nicolas Sarkozy, illegal downloaders of games, music and movies will be sent two warnings - first by email and then by recorded delivery. Following these cautions, the offender's details will be passed to a judge – who now has the power to cut off Internet access and issue heavy fines or even prison sentences.The law was narrowly passed by 285 votes to 225....

Alain Ribaut does not speak English, claims to hate American food and has few personal connections with the United States. But he thought Mirande, his sleepy hometown in southwestern France, needed a little something, perhaps even a glimpse of the American dream. So in 1992 he set out to organize the “festival de country music de Mirande,” which has grown into an annual event that now attracts more than 160,000 people, 40 times the population of Mirande.... Harley-Davidson motorcycles fill the parking lots, and speakers blare country music. Some people are transformed, too. Mr. Ribaut described how in this year’s...

The abduction and murder in Paris of a young Jewish man by a gang of Muslim immigrants calling themselves the Barbarians shocked the whole of France in 2006. But now that the accused are on trial - silence. A French judge has ordered the latest issue of the magazine Choc ("shock") removed from the shelves. The cover showed a man with duct tape completely covering his head, except for a small opening around his nostrils. His nose is bloody. His hands are also bound with duct tape. It was a photo of Ilan Halimi, the 23-year-old Parisian Jew who was...

In the March 9, 2009 issue of Newsweek (on newsstands Monday, March 2), "Radical Islam is A Fact of Life. How To Live With it" Fareed Zakaria makes the case for why the West needs to adopt a more sophisticated strategy toward Radical Islam. Plus: Israel's Benjamin Netanyahu and Avigdor Lieberman discuss the country's future in their first foreign media interview since winning in the recent election. Lastly: A review of the latest comic book inspired movie, "Watchmen."

France on Wednesday asked its European allies to relax restrictions on troop deployment and operations in Afghanistan just a month after losing 10 soldiers in a Taliban ambush. Limits on troop operations and years of military underspending in Europe outside the United Kingdom and France were damaging the coalition war effort, French Defense Minister Herve Morin said on a visit to Australia. "Most of Europe has made NATO responsible for their security. Therefore, the weakness of Europe is typified by what you see in Afghanistan," Morin told journalists. NATO has struggled to get major nations to contribute more to its...

Guess elephants have some serious short-term memory issues! Everyone knows singer Jackson Browne is a serious liberal, everyone except, apparently, John McCain. Now Browne is fighting mad and has filed suit against McCain and his party, alleging they falsely suggested he was on their side. Browne claims the GOP used his epic hit "Running on Empty" in an ad for McCain without his permission, adding that the ad mocks Barack Obama, which Browne ain't none too happy about. The suit wants the ad to stop running -- STAT -- and is seeking damages. Browne's lawyer Lawrence Iser says this ain't...

Hundreds of riot police chased a group of roving youths early Monday after a night of rioting and vandalism in a North Montreal neighbourhood set off by the fatal police shooting of an 18-year-old man over the weekend. The park is in a predominantly Haitian neighbourhood where tensions between police and young people run high, according to residents. "The police are always creeping around here, hassling people," one unidentified youth told CBC News as he stood in front of a looted butcher shop. The violence began after a Sunday afternoon protest at Henri Bourassa Park, the site of Saturday's police...

...the company has decided not to publish Sherry Jones’ historical novel “The Jewel of Medina” about Mohammed’s child bride Aisha. The book was part of a $100,000 two-book contract with the author. Shame on Random House! This act of abject cowardice and de facto censorship is one of the most disgraceful incidents I can think of in the history of American publishing. As Asra Q. Nomani writes in the WSJ: Random House feared the book would become a new “Satanic Verses,” the Salman Rushdie novel of 1988 that led to death threats, riots and the murder of the book’s Japanese...

Academy award winning actor George Clooney is set to host a fundraiser for Barack Obama in Switzerland next month. The event, taking place on the evening of September 2 in Geneva, Switzerland will be split into two parts: a reception and a dinner. According to Obama’s National Finance Committee, tickets for the reception where Clooney will speak are going for $1,000, followed by a dinner at the home of NFC member Charles Adams for $10,000 a plate. Space for the dinner is limited to 75 guests.

Today I was interviewed by a French newspaper reporter.

<p>The Democratic National Committee has sparked outrage among veterans and others across the internet by running an anti-John McCain ad that shows U.S. soldiers being blown up.</p> <p>After the new ad’s voice-over castigated McCain for suggesting that the United States may stay in Iraq for “maybe 100” years, the footage becomes shocking.</p>

PARIS (Reuters) - French former film star Brigitte Bardot went on trial on Tuesday for insulting Muslims, the fifth time she has faced the charge of "inciting racial hatred" over her controversial remarks about Islam and its followers. Prosecutors asked that the Paris court hand the 73-year-old former sex symbol a two-month suspended prison sentence and fine her 15,000 euros ($23,760) for saying the Muslim community was "destroying our country and imposing its acts." Since retiring from the film industry in the 1970s, Bardot has become a prominent animal rights activist but she has also courted controversy by denouncing Muslim...

Washington, D.C. – Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, and leaders of veterans groups held a stakeout this morning following President Bush’s speech on Iraq. Below are the Speaker’s opening remarks: “I want to join Leader Reid in welcoming our special guests today, our friends from the veterans’ community, Bobby Muller, whom we've all worked with over the years, whether it's eliminating land mines and speaking out for veterans. “Thank you, Bobby, for your leadership. Jon Soltz, who has been very courageous in his statements of shining the light on troops on what is happening in Iraq. We're...

Many in America want the Iraq war to end now and believe if we "leave Iraq to the Iraqis," the Islamic extremists will leave us alone. That position recklessly ignores how America's decade-long refusal to deal more decisively with Islamic terrorism led to 9/11 and all that followed, and how every time America flinches in the face of Islamic aggression, the terrorists see it as a weakness to be exploited. In this environment, Gen. David Petraeus must have expected he would be criticized for recommending the suspension of further U.S. troop withdrawals in the face of the recent flare-up of...

Pirates seized control of a French cruise ship Friday off the coast of Somalia, France's Foreign Ministry said. A ministry official said details about the attack were scarce, and it was not clear how many crew members were on board the ship or if there were any passengers. The ship is in the high seas in the Gulf of Aden, off the coast of Somalia in the Indian Ocean. The official declined to identify the vessel or its owner. The ministry has set up a crisis center to deal with the situation, said the official, who asked not to be...

A salute is due Adm. William Fallon, who tried to prevent a wider war with Iran. After serving one year as commander of U.S. Central Command, Fallon has resigned, saying he was quitting because his differences with official U.S. policy had become a “distraction.” But there is a widespread perception that he was pushed out by the neo-conservatives among President George W. Bush’s aides, especially Vice President Dick Cheney, because of Fallon’s reluctance to go along with the administration’s hawkish moves toward Iran. Cheney, who took five consecutive draft deferments to stay out of the Vietnam war, does not mind...

<p>Quietly, while Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama have been inspiring Democrats everywhere with their rolling bitchfest, congressional superduo Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi have completed one of the most awesome political collapses since Neville Chamberlain. At long last, the Democratic leaders of Congress have publicly surrendered on the Iraq War, just one year after being swept into power with a firm mandate to end it.</p>

Vimy's new enemy: no uniform, no clothes, no respect Exhibitionism Veterans minister deterring public sex at memorial Rob Linke TELEGRAPH-JOURNAL Published Wednesday January 30th, 2008 Appeared on page A1 OTTAWA - More than 90 years after Canadian soldiers seized Vimy Ridge, Veterans Affairs Minister Greg Thompson is still part of a battle - this one to protect Canada's iconic memorial from kinky French couples. Vimy's new enemy are exhibitionists who pose nude or have sex at the First World War memorial, then post pictures of their activities online. Some images have the names of thousands of Canadian war dead, carved...

British border guards in Calais have been banned from using X-rays to search for illegal immigrants in lorries - unless they ask for the stowaways' written permission. French authorities have blocked the use of the scanners, claiming they could breach European health and safety laws. They have told British immigration officials that if they want to use the machines they will first have to clear it with those they are looking for. Given that the illegal immigrants do not want to be found, the chances of reaching such an agreement are zero, leaving the British no choice but to stop...

Ron Paul may not win his party’s primary, but he is on track to capture another big title: Top Republican fundraiser for the final quarter of the money-obsessed 2008 presidential primary. In the first two months of the quarter that began Oct. 1, Paul already has raised more than $9.75 million, putting him easily within range to best the amount rival Mitt Romney received from donors during the entire third quarter. The Texas congressman has set a goal of raising $12 million before the fourth quarter’s Dec. 31st deadline, a sum New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani couldn’t achieve in the...

Associated Press Rank-and-file Democrats expressed dismay on Friday over their party's latest anti-war strategy, with some members reluctant to vote to bring troops home around Veterans Day. The House was on track to consider legislation next week that would give President Bush $50 billion for operations Iraq and Afghanistan but insist that he begin withdrawing troops. The measure identifies a goal of ending combat by December 2008, leaving only enough soldiers and Marines behind to fight terrorists, train Iraqi security forces and protect U.S. assets. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi pushed off plans for a Friday vote after caucus members told...

An unprecedented political impasse has all but ended Japan’s active part in the War on Terror and may have triggered the countdown to an early general election next spring. Tokyo will be forced tomorrow to suspend indefinitely its controversial military presence in the Indian Ocean after months of bitter feuding and the surprise resignation of a prime minister. After pumping nearly half a million kilolitres of oil to a variety of allied vessels over the past six years, the supply ship Tokiwa has performed what was probably its last task of the mission: filling the fuel tanks of a Pakistani...

Gethin Chamberlain in Basra is given a simple and stark message from a senior British officer in Iraq: 'We have got it wrong' It was as astonishing an admission as any that has emerged from the lips of a British officer in the four and a half years since the tanks rolled over the Iraqi border. The British Army, said the man sitting in a prefab hut in Britain's last base in the country, were tired of fighting. Not only that: their very presence in Basra was now the problem. "We would go down there [Basra], dressed as Robocop, shooting...

A Simple Way to End the War on Terror by Yacka Jah Yacka Tue Oct 23, 2007 at 09:03:20 PM PDT While it appears from more than one point of view that the War in Iraq and the War on Terror are situations from which we may never be able to extricate ourselves, from the mountains of Pakistan comes a very simple solution: convert to Islam. Before we reject this out of hand, lets seriously consider it for a moment: Osama Bin Laden promised the wars would be over if Americans convert to Islam. This may sound like a lot...

The occupation in Iraq will begin to end on the day that Democrats -- and responsible Republicans -- in Congress decide to stop meeting the demands of the Bush-Cheney administration for more money to fund their imperial endeavor along with the massive war-profiteering by administration-linked firms such as Halliburton and Blackwater. This is a simple reality. But it remains one that most members of Congress, including many Democrats who should know better, fail to recognize. The essential document in the current Iraq debate is a letter of commitment, now endorsed by 89 members of the House, that says the signers...

LA City Council Adopts Resolution To End Iraq War Resolution Calls For Withdrawal Of All U.S. Troops From Iraq POSTED: 1:59 pm PDT October 16, 2007 UPDATED: 6:28 pm PDT October 16, 2007 LOS ANGELES -- The Los Angeles City Council adopted a resolution Tuesday calling for an end to the war in Iraq, making it the largest city in the nation to make such a call. "Today the city of Los Angeles is sending a message loud and clear -end the war in Iraq," Councilman Bill Rosendahl said, drawing cheers from an anti-war audience packing the council chamber. "We...

 Friday, October 05, 2007 What Ron Paul is (and what he isn't) http://westernstandard.blogs.com/shotgun/2007/10/what-ron-paul-i.html I think Yoshi is overreacting to the Ron Paul boomlet. I can understand why: Paul is the lone antiwar Republican in the race, and thus it's assumed he's pulling all of his support from antiwar lefties looking to mess up the GOP.  That just isn't so. Ron Paul has a reputation of being the most virulent anti-government politician in recent memory.  He's known as "Dr. No," for his supposed insistence on voting against any government action (including innocuous, non-binding resolutions) that is not specifically enumerated in...

The other day I was driving past a very busy Intersection in my neck of the woods and I noticed a Ron Paul Revolution sign had gone up. There were a couple more on the toll way that some farmer had put up. These were put there on private property by people that most likely were not paid to do so. That’s the way Ron Paul supporters are. They don’t have to be asked to do something for their candidate. They don’t have to be told to go out and campaign. They simply do what they can, or what they...

WASHINGTON, (AP) -- After weeks of suggesting Democrats would temper their approach to Iraq legislation in a bid to attract more Republicans, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid declared abruptly Tuesday that he had no plans to do so. The Democratic leader said he will call for a vote this month on several anti-war proposals, including one by Sen. Carl Levin that would insist President Bush end U.S. combat next summer. The proposals would be mandatory and not leave Bush wiggle room, said Reid, D-Nev. "There (are) no goals. It's all definite timelines," he told reporters of the planned legislation. Levin,...

With its full-page “General Betray Us?” ad in the New York Times, MoveOn.org has once again put itself at the forefront of the antiwar movement. And if past patterns are any guide, a number of Democrats are embarrassed, and even angered, by MoveOn’s actions but are afraid to reveal the true extent of their feelings. MoveOn simply has too much fundraising clout — and a fear-inducing inclination to attack Democrats who stray from the MoveOn line — for many in the party to take it on...

WASHINGTON - An independent assessment concluding that Iraq has made little political progress in recent months despite an influx of U.S. troops drew fierce pushback from the White House on Thursday and provided fresh ammunition for Democrats who want to bring troops home. The political wrangling came days before the report was to be officially released...

The Peace Racket Bruce Bawer An anti-Western movement touts dictators, advocates appeasement—and gains momentum. If you want peace, prepare for war.” Thus counseled Roman general Flavius Vegetius Renatus over 1,600 years ago. Nine centuries before that, Sun Tzu offered essentially the same advice, and it’s to him that Vegetius’s line is attributed at the beginning of a film that I saw recently at Oslo’s Nobel Peace Center. Yet the film cites this ancient wisdom only to reject it. After serving up a perverse potted history of the cold war, the thrust of which is that the peace movement brought down...

Two Muslim groups have indicated their willingness to exhibit controversial sketches by artist Lars Vilks after galleries in western Sweden declined to show the artworks for fear of Islamist reprisals. Inspired by Sweden's recent 'roundabout dogs' craze, Vilks composed a series of sketches portraying the Muslim prophet Muhammad as just such a creature. The well-known artist took his pictures to galleries in Värmland and Bohuslän. Both however refused to show the drawings on the grounds that the security risk was too great. But now two groups - the Secular Muslims in Sweden (Semus) network and the magazine Minaret - have...

WASHINGTON — It would take nine to 12 months or longer to withdraw all U.S. troops, contractors and equipment safely from Iraq and phase out U.S. bases there, says a respected analyst after extensive talks with U.S. commanders and diplomats and Iraqi leaders in Baghdad. The U.S. military in Iraq would prefer a somewhat slower-paced scenario to complete a full pullout over two years, while other experts "indicate it would be feasible" to pull out 10,000 troops and 10,000 contractors a month through Kuwait, says Anthony H. Cordesman of the Center for Strategic and International Studies. These estimates do not...

Italy: Court discriminates against Muslim girls Apparently, if you're a Moroccan in Italy you don't have the same rights as ethnic Italians. Friday, August 10, 2007 The Italian supreme court recently rejected an appeal by the prosecution in the case of a Moroccan girl who had been beaten by her family, her parents and her brother. The appeal was rejected on the grounds that it was for her own good and for her non-conformity with their culture, she had gone out with a friend and her life style was not accepted by her parents. This story starts in 2003 when...

Would Jesus Eat at McDonald's? Saturday 11th Aug 2007 by David Paulin The intellectual elite of the Presbyterian Church (USA) have in recent years joined ranks with the radical left. Its members vilify Israel, apologize for Islamic terrorists, and cheer on the Palestinian cause. Now, these Presbyterians have another villain: the Big Mac. America’s most famous hamburger is emblematic of the dark underbelly of globalization, according to David Hadley Jensen, an associate professor of something called “constructive theology” at Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary in Austin, Texas. On top of that, McDonald’s and its iconic burger are even at odds with...

Fearing Iraq Pullout, State Boosting Private Chopper Force August 01, 2007 4:59 PM Kirit Radia Reports: Fearing an imminent drawdown of U.S. troops and equipment from Iraq amid escalating violence, the State Department is hiring its own private helicopter squad to ferry its personnel around the country. Government military contractors Blackwater, DynCorp and Triple Canopy are the only three companies competing for the contract, possibly valued at more than $100 million a year for up to the next five years, sources tell ABC News. The requirements call for approximately 20 helicopters with maintenance, storage and crew to ensure 24-hour availability....

New York Sen. Charles E. Schumer, a powerful member of the Democratic leadership, said Friday the Senate should not confirm another U.S. Supreme Court nominee under President Bush “except in extraordinary circumstances.” “We should reverse the presumption of confirmation,” Schumer told the American Constitution Society convention in Washington. “The Supreme Court is dangerously out of balance. We cannot afford to see Justice Stevens replaced by another Roberts, or Justice Ginsburg by another Alito.” Schumer said there were four lessons to be learned from Alito and Roberts: Confirmation hearings are meaningless, a nominee’s record should be weighed more heavily than rhetoric,...

From the time we're in grammar school, all the way through our adult lives we've been taught to take responsibility for our actions and not place blame on others for something we did. It's one of the essential elements of integrity. There was a time in our history when we could at least hope to look up to our elected officials and view them as statesmen, because they represented character traits we admired. Those traits and the courage to take a stand against evil would make us proud to follow them into battle. But today, we see many of them...

Seventy House members, nearly all liberal Democrats, vowed today that they would not support any more funding for Iraq military operations unless tied to a complete withdrawal of combat troops. This is a big development. Earlier this year, liberals grudgingly voted for Iraq funding bills because they didn't want to give Nancy Pelosi a defeat. Now it seems that their patience has run out. The next Iraq funding bill won't come up until the fall, so this showdown won't happen for a few months, but it appears to be shaping up as an epic battle between liberals in Congress and...

Follow the Yellow Streak Road by Jed Babbin Posted 07/13/2007 ET Betty Williams, who received the Nobel Peace Prize for helping start peace talks in Northern Ireland, said the other day, “"Right now, I could kill George Bush." Though the New York Times isn’t suffering that bad a case of Bush Derangement Syndrome, its July 8 editorial said: “President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney have used demagoguery and fear to quell Americans’ demands for an end to this war. They say withdrawing will create bloodshed and chaos and encourage terrorists. Actually, all of that has already happened -- the...

Even as our troops make serious progress against al-Qaeda-in-Iraq and other extremists, Congress - including Republican members - is sending the terrorists a message: "Don't lose heart, we'll save you!" Iraq's a mess. Got it. The Bush administration has made so many mistakes I stopped counting a year ago. But we've finally got a general in Baghdad - Dave Petraeus - who's doing things right. Iraqi politicians are still disgracing themselves, but our troops are killing America's enemies - with the help of our former enemies. Al-Qaeda-in-Iraq is suffering a humiliating defeat, as fellow Sunni Muslims turn against the fanatics...

WASHINGTON - Nervous Senate Republicans beseeched the White House without apparent success Wednesday for a quick change in course on Iraq as congressional Democrats insisted on high-profile votes calling for the withdrawal of U.S. troops by spring. Prospects for a less-sweeping, bipartisan challenge to President Bush suffered a setback when Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said the leading proposal has "less teeth than a toothless tiger." Taken together, the events pointed toward a 10-day period of politically charged maneuvering in the Senate in which Democrats push for a withdrawal, the White House's allies resist and a small but growing...

PARIS - Barbra Streisand performed her first-ever concert in France this week — and was rewarded with a medal of the Legion of Honor. French President Nicolas Sarkozy awarded the medal to Streisand in a ceremony Thursday, the first time he has bestowed the honor since taking over from Jacques Chirac last month. "You are the America that we love," said Sarkozy, who is seen as more U.S.-friendly than Chirac. "Women like you ... do a lot to bring our two peoples together." Onlookers included French crooner Charles Aznavour and actor Alain Delon. Sarkozy's wife, Cecilia, went to Streisand's sole...

Daly backs move to ground Blue Angels show Joshua Sabatini, The Examiner 2007-06-07 10:00:00.0 Current rank: # 165 of 6,519 SAN FRANCISCO - The annual aerial show by the U.S. Navy’s Blue Angels — a San Francisco tradition dating back to 1981 that pumps millions into the local economy — is running into opposition from three local peace advocacy groups that are calling for a permanent halt to the popular Fleet Week flyover. CodePink, Global Exchange and Veterans for Peace, Chapter 69, are working with Supervisor Chris Daly on a Board of Supervisors resolution to address concerns over the Blue...

PARIS (Reuters) - Voting began in the first round of France's legislative election on Sunday with President Nicolas Sarkozy's conservative UMP party expected to strengthen its hold on power. Sarkozy was elected last month on a platform of various labour, education and law-and-order reforms and he needs to retain comfortable control of parliament after the second round of voting on June 17 to push the changes through. Opinion polls show Sarkozy is likely to make gains. "Many people seem less interested in the parliamentary elections because they think Sarkozy will win a large majority anyway," said Mikhael Perez, 48, one...