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Al-Qaeda Draws New Recruits Via Internet Al-Qaeda is using the Internet to recruit vulnerable young people to its terrorist network, according to a programme aired on Saudi Arabian TV late on Tuesday. Umm Osama, the founder of al-Qaeda's first women-only website, al-Khansa, joined several others on the programme to discuss how they renounced jihadist ideology. Among those who sought a response to this question was an imam from the Medina mosque, Saleh Ibn Awad al-Mudamsi, and the father of a young al-Qaeda suspect held in an Iraqi prison. Read More Qaeda Targets U.S. Oil Interests in North Africa U.S....

A bomb-laden van found on a Brooklyn street by a car thief was wired to detonate by remote control, and had likely been sitting there for more than five months... Investigators believe the homemade explosives found Thursday night in the Ford Econoline belonged to Yung Tang, 39, a Chinese national. He has been behind bars since he was caught Jan. 29 in Wallingford, Conn., with nearly identical bombs in his Mazda MPV minivan. Also found in the MPV were two silencers, four hollow-point bullets and two radio-controlled detonators. Days after that arrest, the NYPD searched his Brooklyn house and found...

First on TVNewser: Dan Rather's lawyers have served CBS with an amended complaint related to Rather's fraud case against his former employer. The complaint will be filed with the court tomorrow morning. TVNewser has learned the amended complaint contains details about Rather's last days at CBS including, we hear, particulars about that flawed National Guard Story. -snip-

A British terror gang plotted to use liquid explosives to blow up transatlantic passenger jets in mid-flight, a court heard today. Eight men planned to smuggle bombs disguised as soft drinks on to flights from Heathrow to the United States and Canada and detonate them on board, Woolwich crown court was told. It would have caused a civilian death toll on an "almost unprecedented scale" and a "global impact". The gang allegedly targeted seven flights operated by Air Canada, United Airlines and American Airlines. They were arrested in August 2006 after a surveillance operation — as they were "almost ready"...

It looks like the judge in Dan Rather’s lawsuit against CBS may let the case go to trial. But the fascinating thing about this Associated Press article on the case is how they describe the Rathergate scandal—without even mentioning that it was based on fake documents. Rather was removed from his “CBS Evening News” post in March 2005, six months after he narrated a report that said Bush disobeyed orders and shirked some of his duties during his National Guard service. The report also said a commander felt pressured to sugarcoat Bush’s record.

I love Rathergate. It is soooo satisfying on soooo many different levels. First of all there is the main player himself, Dan Rather, who is a flat out loon. Over the years it was FUn to watch Dan because you knew that underneath that thin veneer of sanity lurked a raving lunatic who was struggling to break out and frequently did. Then there is the fact that Rather was ultimately brought down by his own bias by using FAKE documents in an attempt to throw the 2004 election away from President Bush. Added to this is the fact that...

The present US president George Bush was trained to intercept Soviet bomber carrier TU-95 Bear aircraft while he was in the Texas Air National Guard. The US archives and retired colonel William Kampenii, Mr. President’s fellow soldier since 1970 till 1971 have proved this fact. ‘Pilots from Air National Guard used to intercept TU-95 regularly. The Bears used to make patrol flights, the aircrafts were usually intercepted along the eastern US coast, sometimes just near Cuba,’ says colonel Kampenii. George Bush J. reminisces in his autobiography A Charge To Keep how they were taught to direct to the target with...

Dan Rather's lawsuit at CBS achieved its first purpose; it's put Dan Rather back in the spotlight. After having disappeared into the black hole of HDNet, Rather once again has become noteworthy enough to get an invitation on Larry King Live and the rest of the talkshows. However, if he had hoped to resurrect his reputation with the lawsuit, his colleagues have not been impressed (via QandO): Rather’s former colleagues at CBS have something to say. Take, for example, Don Hewitt, the legendary producer of “60 Minutes.” “Any news organization, print or broadcast, has the right to protect its reputation...

Dan Rather, whose career at CBS News ground to an inglorious end 15 months ago over his role in an unsubstantiated report questioning President Bush’s Vietnam-era National Guard service, filed a $70 million lawsuit this afternoon against the network, its corporate parent and three of his former superiors. Mr. Rather, 75, asserts that the network violated his contract by giving him insufficient airtime on “60 Minutes” after forcing him to step down as anchor of the “CBS Evening News” in March 2005. He also contends that the network committed fraud by commissioning a “biased” and incomplete investigation of the flawed...

CAMP MABRY, Texas – The Texas Army National Guard has recruited 3,478 new Soldiers so far this fiscal year, needing only nine months to surpass the year-end goal of 3,300 set by the National Guard Bureau. “It’s terrific that we have already achieved our year-end recruiting goals,” Lt.  Gen. Rodriguez Adjutant General of the Texas Military Forces said. “Most importantly, we have met this quantitative goal while ensuring a very high quality of Soldier accessions.  The Texas National Guard maintains very high standards and strictly enforced enlistment criteria.” Lt. Col. Ron McLaurin, Commander for Recruiting and Retention for the Texas...

Title Can the internet ever produce a purity of consent? A case study of Rathergate. Introduction On September 8th 2004, memos by the late Lieutenant Colonel Jerry B. Killian purporting to show that a subordinate of his, one George W. Bush, had a less than perfect war record during the Vietnam conflict, were aired by CBS show 60 Minutes II. I believe no academic study on this topic exists. A search of the Proquest dissertations database reveals no existing work. There are several books extant which subjectively cover the episode from various points of view. I will utilise these as...

Declaring he “absolutely” believes “the truth” of his discredited story based on forged memos, about President Bush's National Guard record, on Wednesday's Larry King Live on CNN Dan Rather contended that “we had a lot, a lot of corroboration, of what we broadcast about President Bush's military record. It wasn't just the documents.” Rather then attacked those who dared to expose his misdeeds: “It's a very old technique used, that when those who don't like what you're reporting believe it can be hurtful, then they look for the weakest spot and attack it, which is fair enough. It's a diversionary...

But let's have a show of hands: How many knew he was still there? It is a classic case of karma. For years he held a power that Presidents couldn't match. He could go home after the interview and edit remarks, leak themes, and shape expectations so thoroughly that viewers would see what they were told they would see -- and only that. He could raise questions, balance or imbalance carefully weighted views, cast doubts, editorialize while claiming merely to report, meet politicians personally, get to know them, carry grudges, foist off partisan schemes as if they were news, critique...

It's over. After 44 years, Dan Rather will leave CBS by the end of the month, at the latest, industry sources said Friday. His departure could come as early as next week. Rather, 74, whose contract runs until late November, is working out the final details of his exit agreement, the sources say. Money is not an issue, they say. Among the sticking points: Whether Rather will have access to his archival CBS material. CBS issues its standard non-denial denial: "Dan is a 60 Minutes correspondent, and we don't comment on contractual matters." Rather declined to comment. Anchor of CBS...

Kudos again to FR, Buckhead, Howlin, Texasforever, NYCVirago, and of course Jim for having this site to begin with. "Chapter 9 "We're Toast" pg 143 - 145 directly credits Freepers above with uncovering the "missing Documents" out of President Bush's National Guard Service that were distinctly unflattering to the President, and also flat forgeries. I am reading the book at the moment, and I wanted to pause and give credit where credit is due. I thank all those who helped bring to light these roaches that considered themselves so important as to try to influence a Presidential Election. I thank...

Presidents are often memorialized in their most famous moments -- George Washington crossing the Delaware, Theodore Roosevelt at San Juan Hill. Now President Bush's time in the Texas Air National Guard has been immortalized in bronze. The National Guard Association of the United States yesterday unveiled a bust of a young Lt. George W. Bush. The association expressed its pride in Bush, who is perhaps its most famous alumnus around today. Bush's service may still be a bit of a sore subject for him, though. He seemed no more eager to talk about it yesterday than he did in his...

CBS Evening News contained a brief segment tonight called "State of the Media" which (among other things) discussed the impact of bloggers on traditional media. The most interesting sentence (for me) occurred in a discussion of the infamous 60 Minutes II show in 2004 concerning George Bush's alleged special treatment in the National Guard. According to the CBS announcer, when questionable documents were used in the show, "bloggers quickly EXPOSED them" (emphasis added).

On January 27, Fred Barnes, on the Diane Rehm radio show, told Diane that he would get back to her by January 30 with his source(s) for the story about Bush volunteering for Vietnam. Did anyone listen to the January 27 show? Did Fred get back to Diane? What was the outcome?

Have you noticed how quickly CBS ex-producer, Mary Mapes, has faded from public view? Her book bombed bigtime because NO ONE except for a few diehard loonies bought her completely unbelievable story. Mapes still contends that the obviously forged Texas Air National Guard documents that purported to prove that Bush was AWOL were authentic and that even if they were fake, the story is still somehow valid. Even many Liberals were embarrassed by Mary Mapes and hoped she would just go away. About the only TRUE BELIEVERS I have been able to find were, of course, in DUmmieland as...

A former Texas Lottery official said he wants to talk to senators about the Supreme Court nominee's role in covering up his Bush's record WASHINGTON -- A former Texas lottery official, who claimed that then-Gov. George W. Bush's desire to cover up his National Guard record helped steer decisions about a key lottery contract, said he wants to talk to senators about Supreme Court nominee Harriet Miers' possible role in that effort. "If I were to be subpoenaed to come to the thing, I would come," said Lawrence Littwin, who filed a lawsuit after he was fired as the lottery's...

WASHINGTON -- A former Texas lottery official, who claimed that then-Gov. George W. Bush's desire to cover up his National Guard record helped steer decisions about a key lottery contract, said he wants to talk to senators about Supreme Court nominee Harriet Miers' possible role in that effort. "If I were to be subpoenaed to come to the thing, I would come," said Lawrence Littwin, who filed a lawsuit after he was fired as the lottery's executive director in 1997. "I would say the committee, I think, would be interested." Littwin claimed in a federal lawsuit that lottery operator GTECH...

Although a few of Mary Mapes divorced-from-reality quotes appeared in yesterday's EDITION of the DUmmie FUnnies, there was MUCH MORE of her MANY lies over at her book EXCERPT at Amazon.Com. Even though Mapes' book won't be appearing in public until next month, there are more than enough excerpts available on Amazon for her to completely humiliate herself before the public. Therefore this edition of the DUmmie FUnnies is dedicated to DUFUing Mary Mapes who although technically might not be a DUmmie (although I suspect that she might well be a DUmmie with an appropriate screen name like "HateBush")...

As many of you might remember, the DUmmie FUnnies blog began with coverage of the DUmmie reaction to the forged Texas Air National Guard Memos presented on a the CBS 60 Minutes II show hosted by Dan Rather. At the time of the exposure, Dan Rather insisted the memos were really authentic. Rather kept INSISTING on the authenticity of those obviously forged memos even when it was proven beyond a shadow of doubt that they were fake. After Dan Rather retired was fired from CBS News, he changed his tune a bit by saying that even though the memos...

LACKLAND AIR FORCE BASE, Texas (Sept. 22, 2005) -- Texas Air National Guard personnel returning home from Hurricane Katrina duty had just enough time to catch up on sleep before receiving the order to repack their bags. Now they are preparing to deal with the aftermath of another hurricane – Rita – this time on the Texas coast. Members of the 149th Fighter Wing, based on Lackland, will be part of a package of 400 personnel and equipment, named Task Force Seguin, which is part of the 1,750-member Joint Task Force Texas, formed after Gov. Rick Perry directed Texas Military...

LACKLAND AIR FORCE BASE, Texas (Sept. 6, 2005) -- Just days after Hurricane Katrina’s devastation of Louisiana, members of the 149th Fighter Wing started heading for the Bayou State to assist victims of the disaster. A medical task force was first to leave Aug. 31, deploying a mobile medical support kit. At the New Orleans Convention Center, the Texas National Guard was the primary medical resource Friday and Saturday, running a triage system to evacuate those needing serious medical attention, and providing treatment on the spot to others. The fighter wing’s “medics” have even delivered babies. That same day, 48...

SINGAPORE said overnight it had deployed three of its air force helicopters from its Texas detachment to assist in relief operations in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. The Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF) CH-47 Chinook helicopters would be based at Fort Polk, Louisiana, during the mission, said a Singapore Defense Ministry statement issued by the city state's embassy in Washington. "Singapore's Chinook helicopters will be working closely with the Texas Army National Guard in their disaster relief operations," it said, adding that the aircraft would undertake resupply and airlift missions. Thirty-eight RSAF personnel, comprising pilots, aircrew and technicians, are...

Complaint Against Kerry, CBS Dismissed By SHARON THEIMER, Associated Press Writer 7 minutes ago Election officials have thrown out a complaint against John Kerry's presidential campaign and CBS over a now-discredited story that questioned President Bush's National Guard service. The Federal Election Commission, in a 6-0 ruling, said there was no reason to believe the allegations raised by the Center for Individual Freedom over the story that aired on CBS' "60 Minutes Wednesday" in September. The politically conservative group contended the report amounted to an illegal election-time advertisement against Bush that was financed with corporate money; that CBS improperly coordinated...

Ken Paulson took over as editor at USA Today in the wake of the Jack Kelley scandal. Kelley had embarrassed the paper by writing a series of stories filled with lies. Paulson said that would never happen again. Then, he presided over USA Today's own version of the CBS Memogate scandal. Like CBS, USA Today used those bogus documents to discredit President Bush's National Guard service. But Paulson managed to exercise a form of damage control because CBS used the documents first and put them on TV. Paulson acted as if the scandal was confined to CBS. Many in the...

Interesting irony on Larry King last night. First King interviewed Woodward & Bernstein, the two men responsible for breaking one of the biggest stories of the century with the help of an anonymous source we now know was the number two man at the FBI. In the next hour King interviewed Dan Rather, the man responsible (at least in part) for one of the bigger journalistic bungles in the modern era, rushing to air a story based on forged documents from very dubious sources to try and influence the outcome of a presidential election. It's clear that Rather is still...

NEW YORK - CBS said Wednesday it is cancelling the Wednesday edition of "60 Minutes," insisting the decision was made because of poor ratings and not last fall's ill-fated story about President Bush's military service Dan Rather, the newsmagazine's lead correspondent, will contribute stories to the Sunday edition of "60 Minutes," said CBS Chairman Leslie Moonves. "This was a ratings call, not a content call," Moonves said Wednesday. The newsmagazine spinoff was where Rather reported last September that Bush skirted some duty while in the Texas Air National Guard and a commander felt pressure to sugarcoat an evaluation of him....

Cliff Kincaid, editor of Accuracy in Media (AIM), commented that, "Rather's reference to Abu Ghraib, in the context of preparing the bogus attack on Bush, demonstrates that the agenda of Rather and CBS was not only to sabotage Bush's re-election campaign but to undermine the war in Iraq. They were looking for 'big' stories to hurt the U.S. at home and abroad. The Abu Ghraib story on CBS inflamed the Arab/Muslim world against the U.S., inevitably costing the lives of more American soldiers in Iraq at the hands of fanatical Muslim terrorists." AIM and Romerstein drew attention to another bombshell...

Now that the brouhaha over Dan Rather's "Memogate" scandal is no longer front-and-center in the national media, one has to wonder why there's been no closure to the issue of the documents themselves. Bill Burkett, the supplier of the documents to CBS, changed his story on the source of the documents, ultimately claiming that one "Lucy Ramirez" gave them to him. No one even knows who Lucy Ramirez is, if she exists of if she's another figment of Burkett's imagination. Surely, a scoop on where the documents came from would be huge. Reporters, even those at CBS could be working...

Can nothing spare us from the arrogance of liberal media figures, still parading around as Guardians of the Facts and Solely Anointed Professional Disseminators of the Truth? Washington Post reporter Dana Milbank, in what reads like an early April Fools’ prank, has written an article for the Post’s Sunday "Outlook" section presenting himself as an objective reporter. The headline was "My Bias for Mainstream News." In it, he complains that the "cottage industry" of watchdog groups on the right and left "are devoted almost entirely to attacking the press." The most priceless sentence is this: "Regardless of the merits, the...

Dan Rather's CBS' 60 Minutes Hit Piece on President Bush's Air National Guard Service Tied Left-Wing Media Myths in with Fraudulent Memos Response to "Dan Rather: A Reporter Remembers"-- 8 p.m. EST on March 9, 2005 Dan Rather and Mary Mapes are still embracing the veracity of content of their 60 Minutes fraudulent memos aired on September 8, 2004 . They need to re-read the Report of the Independent Review Panel "Concerning President Bush's Air National Guard Service" by Dick Thornburgh and Louis D. Boccardi. For a fair perspective of President Bush's Air National Guard (ANG) Service, suggest reading "Bush...

Dan Rather and Mary Mapes are still embracing the veracity of content of their 60 Minutes fraudulent memos aired on September 8, 2004. They need to re-read the Report of the Independent Review Panel “Concerning President Bush’s Air National Guard Service” by Dick Thornburgh and Louis D. Boccardi. For a fair perspective of President Bush’s Air National Guard (ANG) Service, I suggest reading “Bush and I were lieutenants““ by Col. William Campenni (retired), and my article: Bush and Uncommon Valor,as well as “Bush’s Air National Guard Years“ by Byron York. For a better understanding of the Dan Rather scandal, I...

Response to "Dan Rather: A Reporter Remembers" to air 8 p.m. EST on March 9, 2005. Dan Rather and Mary Mapes are still embracing the veracity of content of their 60 Minutes fraudulent memos aired on September 8, 2004. They need to re-read the Report of the Independent Review Panel “Concerning President Bush’s Air National Guard Service” by Dick Thornburgh and Louis D. Boccardi. For a fair perspective of President Bush’s Air National Guard (ANG) Service, suggest reading “Bush and I were lieutenants” by Col. William Campenni (retired), my article: Bush and Uncommon Valor and "Bush's Air National Guard Years"...

<p>If CBS CEO Leslie Moonves had hoped the investigation by an independent panel into the network's botched "60 Minutes Wednesday" feature regarding President Bush's National Guard duty would be enough to put the controversy behind the media giant, recent days have brought him unsettling developments. Five weeks after the panel issued its 224-page report; those it singled out for wrongdoing are fighting back -- taking issue with the investigation as well as the Viacom-owned network. The new rumblings suggest that the sour taste of CBS's National Guard story may linger for months to come. And it will almost certainly remain beyond the network's planned farewell next month for longtime anchor Dan Rather, who was the on-camera reporter for the story.</p>

It now appears that Jeff Gannon could be the thread that unravels the real story behind the TANG/CBS forgeries. I have put together a case here that if looked at carefully by the blogosphere would show that the TANG forgeries were made by the White House, probably Dan Bartlett, and then given to Bill Burkett by a former associate of Karl Rove, Roger Stone. Stone's wife, Nydia, who is Cuban, was most likely the Hispanic lady on the phone who convinced Burkett the documents were real and that he should burn them after copying them to protect her honor. ~snip~...

Though he has yet to fulfill his promise to "Meet the Press" host Tim Russert twelve days ago to sign Pentagon Form 180, Sen. John Kerry complained this week that President Bush is withholding fitness reports from his days in the National Guard. "All of my medical records and all of my fitness reports, every fitness report involving each place I served, is public," he insisted to the Boston Globe, in little noticed comments last Sunday.

It's time to drive a stake into this continuing saga less it become the new grassy knoll for the left-wing pundits and blogosphere. I accept the challenge. [snip] how do I prove this memo is a fake? Easy -- for the weekend that 1st Lt. Bush was supposedly ordered to report for his physical, May 13-14, 1972, the Ellington Air Guard Base was closed. It was Mother's Day. Except for emergencies, Air Guard units never drilled on Mother's Day; the divorce lawyers would be waiting at the gate. [snip]

THE CBS REPORT issued last week by Richard Thornburgh and Louis Boccardi left a number of interesting questions unanswered. The Internet in general and the blogosphere in particular are a means of harnessing open-source information. So we'd like to invite the blogosphere to help answer some of the questions Thornburgh and Boccardi left dangling. (1) Who is Michael Smith? The report identifies him only as a "journalist" in Texas. The panel does not appear to have spoken with Smith and tells us nothing of his previous work. Does he or did he work for a mainstream newspaper? A local television...

The editors of the Weekly Standard have issued a call to the blogosphere for help in tying up a few of Rathergate's many dangling threads: "Fishing expedition." Here they are: (1) Who is Michael Smith? The report identifies him only as a "journalist" in Texas. The panel does not appear to have spoken with Smith and tells us nothing of his previous work. Does he or did he work for a mainstream newspaper? A local television station? Does he write for a website or run a blog? Has he been involved in politics? As the man who led Mary Mapes...

THE THORNBURGH-BOCCARDI PANEL makes a great show of its agnosticism about the question at the heart of the CBS scandal: Are the memos CBS presented authentic? On this score, the CBS Report is certain in its uncertainty: "The Panel was not able to reach a definitive conclusion as to the authenticity of the Killian documents." This statement was surely news-worthy. Before Monday, the forgery of the documents had been settled. Settled, that is, by a large cohort of experts, a bevy of testimony from the blogosphere, and, most definitively, by Dr. Joseph Newcomer. On September 12, 2004, Newcomer, one of...

On Monday, CBS News fired four senior officials in the wake of an independent report related to the airing of a “60 Minutes” piece in September about President George W. Bush’s Vietnam-era National Guard service. This is a good, necessary and appropriate step in ensuring that the news the public receives from unbiased news sources is just that — fair and unbiased. The sad part is that this administration cannot seem to take similar steps to root out the causes of misinformation and immorality. In September, CBS got a tip that Bush had gotten into the National Guard only because...

The election has been over for weeks, but experts and observers are still pondering the results. Dr. Arthur B. Robinson, the president of the Oregon Institute of Science and Medicine, comments that "Big media tried some very big lies late in the campaign in blatant attempts to defeat the President before these lies could be countered. For the most part, these efforts did not work. They were countered by the truth¯on the Internet¯in remarkably timely fashion."

Rangel: Bush Had 'Good Reason' to Avoid Nat'l Guard Drug Test If the White House was hoping that the bitter personal attacks against President Bush would subside after the election, Rep. Charlie Rangel, D-NY, disabused them of the notion on Saturday, when he suggested during a radio interview that Bush used illegal drugs while serving in the National Guard. After alleging that Bush "deliberately avoided service in Vietnam" by joining the Texas Air National Guard, Rangel told WABC's Mark Simone that Bush missed a 1972 physical, which was required for Guard pilots. "He must have had a good reason why...

WASHINGTON The Air Force today announced it's placing a squadron of Predator unmanned aerial vehicles with the Texas Air National Guard. Putting the drones in Texas is an effort by the Air Force to modernize active duty forces, while winnowing the size of the military. Where the squadron can be located has not been announced, but the Texas Air National Guard has units in San Antonio, Fort Worth and Houston. The Air Force is testing whether to move some activities now performed by active duty personnel to the Guard and Reserve. The Air Force says locating a squadron in Texas...

I just heard on NBC TV affiliate in Albany , NY refer to the TANG documents from the 60 Minutes report as the "allegedly" falsified documents. What a hoot. They were undeniably forged documents. This is the perfect example of disinformation. Bringing the already proven facts into question in order to salvage Dan Rather's reputation. CBS attempted to influence a presidential election by endorsing blatantly false documents. This is a fact. These leftists are living in a Orwellian nightmare. Next they'll be talking about Clinton's alledged sexual liason with Monica Lewinski.

Bush will prevail Americans are smart enough not to buy Democrats' rants By Paul Jackson -- Calgary Sun HOUSTON --This state really is the heartbeat of America, just as Alberta is the heartbeat of Canada. Trouble is, the Democrats here recognize Texas' economic vitality and moral values no more than the Liberals recognize Alberta's economic vitality and moral values. That's why both Democrats and Liberals respectively demean Texas and Alberta at every opportunity. We threaten their amoral way of life. The Democrats try to paint a caricature of President George W. Bush in much the same way the Liberals did...

October 26, 2004 AP: New Bush Guard Papers Leave Questions By MATT KELLEY ASSOCIATED PRESS WASHINGTON (AP) - Unearthed under legal pressure, three-decade-old documents portray President Bush as a capable and well-liked Air National Guard pilot who stopped flying and attending regular drills two-thirds of the way through his six-year commitment - without consequence. The files, many of them forced to light by Freedom of Information lawsuits by The Associated Press, conflict with some of the harshest attacks Democrats have levied on Bush's Vietnam-era service, such as suggestions that Bush was a deserter or absent without leave. But gaps in...