Free Republic

Nearly seven years after the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, the war on terror in this city has evolved into a quiet struggle against a phantom foe.

Specialist Matthew Philips was killed in the attack on the base in Afghanistan on Sunday, July 13. He will be laid to rest on Saturday, July 26 at 1:00 at Coal Mountain Baptist Church in Cumming, Georgia. His body will be taken from Ingram's Funeral Home, in downtown Cumming, north on Highway 9. The church is on Highway 9, the burial will be at Coal Mountain Cemetery just down the road from the church following the service. Please join me if you can to show our support for his family and our brave military by lining the road with supporters....

President Obama already? No vote first? July 22, 2008 STEVE HUNTLEY shuntley.cst@gmail.com The way Barack Obama is acting, and the way the news media are reacting, it seems like the candidate and his adoring press corps have concluded the election of the Illinois senator as the 44th president of the United States is a foregone conclusion. Take his trip to Iraq. It was billed as a congressional visit (a couple of other senators tagged along) but, as the Washington Post observed, "in many ways, from the red carpet rolled out for the group at [President Nouri al-Maliki's] residence, to his...

Israel will “almost surely” strike Iran’s nuclear sites in the coming months — and if the conventional attacks fail to destroy or at least delay Iran’s nuclear program, the Middle East will face a nuclear war. That’s the view of Benny Morris, a professor of Middle Eastern history at Israel’s Ben-Gurion University, who predicts either a subsequent pre-emptive Israeli nuclear strike or a nuclear exchange after Iran gets the bomb. “Should Israel’s conventional assault fail to significantly harm or stall the Iranian program, a ratcheting up of the Iranian-Israeli conflict to a nuclear level will most likely follow,” Morris, author...

Israel will “almost surely” strike Iran’s nuclear sites in the coming months — and if the conventional attacks fail to destroy or at least delay Iran’s nuclear program, the Middle East will face a nuclear war. That’s the view of Benny Morris, a professor of Middle Eastern history at Israel’s Ben-Gurion University, who predicts either a subsequent pre-emptive Israeli nuclear strike or a nuclear exchange after Iran gets the bomb. “Should Israel’s conventional assault fail to significantly harm or stall the Iranian program, a ratcheting up of the Iranian-Israeli conflict to a nuclear level will most likely follow,” Morris, author...

Anglian Water has dismissed speculation that the rabbit which was found to be the source of the cryptosporidium scare was planted in a water tank on purpose. Fifteen people fell ill with cryptosporidiosis linked to the type found in Northampton's tap water after a parasite was found at the Pitsford Water Treatment Works in June. The source of the parasite was linked to a rabbit found in a tank at the treatment works.

Canadian singer-songwriter Neil Young was interviewed on PBS's Charlie Rose show. The show, almost a complete hour, can be watched at this link. (Thanks to Jay for the tip.) If you can get past some of the political baggage, and you like Neil Young, it's an entertaining interview, where Young comes across funny, sincere and kind of sweetly naïve. With regard to the politics and his Let's Impeach the President phase, Young certainly is giving the distinct impression of having second thoughts. Some of what he says when Charlie prods him on the war: I look at it Charlie as...

President McCain in 2000 I must be one of the few conservative writers in cyberspace who never feared a McCain presidency. When Senator McCain looked like he might win the Republican nomination in 2000, I asked what, exactly, my friends were so worried about. McCain was honest, like Bush, while Clinton and Gore were steeped in moral slipperiness. McCain was pro-life, like Bush, while Clinton and Gore were pro-abortion. McCain, like Bush, supported a strong military, while Clinton famously “loathed” the military and Gore followed him like a trained poodle. McCain’s ACU (American Conservative Union) voting record is conservative and...

ISRAEL will almost surely attack Iran’s nuclear sites in the next four to seven months — and the leaders in Washington and even Tehran should hope that the attack will be successful enough to cause at least a significant delay in the Iranian production schedule, if not complete destruction, of that country’s nuclear program. Because if the attack fails, the Middle East will almost certainly face a nuclear war — either through a subsequent pre-emptive Israeli nuclear strike or a nuclear exchange shortly after Iran gets the bomb. It is in the interest of neither Iran nor the United States...

Everyone Has an Opinion on the Iraq WarEveryone from presidents to comics has been quoted on Iraq. We've collected 60 of them. - - - - - - - - - - - "Never in the history of the world has any soldier sacrificed more for the freedom and liberty of total strangers than the American soldier." --Zell Miller (D) Georgia 2004 “We know that he has stored secret supplies of biological and chemical weapons throughout his country.” --Al Gore, Sept. 23, 2002"Iraq is a manufactured conflict for the sake of geopolitical dominance in the area." --Actress/radio host Janeane Garofalo"There's...

WEST LAFAYETTE, Indiana (CNN) -- Sen. Barack Obama on Wednesday said he wants to rid the world of nuclear weapons and pledged to fight emerging threats posed by biological and cyber-terrorism. It's time to send a clear message to the world: America seeks a world with no nuclear weapons," the White House hopeful said. "As long as nuclear weapons exist, we'll retain a strong deterrent. But we'll make the goal of eliminating all nuclear weapons a central element in our nuclear policy." The remarks, delivered at Purdue University in Indiana before a roundtable discussion with foreign policy experts, come as...

Though a majority of the American people support ending the war in Iraq and think the invasion was a mistake, Republicans have tried to put Sen. Barack Obama, D-Illinois, into a box as he prepares for his first trip to Iraq since securing his party's presidential nomination. Weeks ago, after Obama said he would be willing to listen to commanders in the ground to "refine" his policy, Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., and Republicans said Obama was flip-flopping. Then after Obama clarified that he is sticking by his plans to withdraw U.S. troops from Iraq within 16 months, McCain and Republicans...

Last week my wife and I traveled to Fort Hood, Texas to see our youngest son, 1st Lt. Christopher B. Lee, leave with his unit for a 15-month combat tour to Afghanistan. We visited him and his wife, Katie, and our eight-month-old granddaughter Avary, at their military-provided duplex housing on the fort located in Central Texas. Chris’s unit, 1st Battalion of the 26 Infantry Brigade of the 1st Infantry Division (The Big Red One), just missed the Pentagon’s policy change of combat tours from 15 to 12 months, by two weeks. If he had been deployed on or after August...

Just some of the unreported progress in Iraq that the media is not telling you about courtesy of Sgt. Freedom: 1. 47 countries have re-established embassies in Iraq. 2. Over 1 million new cell phone subscribers in Iraq. 3. Jan. 2005 - 25 Iraqi students came here to re-establish the Fulbright Scholarship program for Iraq. 4. There are 1.2 million Iraqis now employed by the Iraqi government. 5. There are 3,100 schools that have been renovated. 6. There are 364 schools under rehabilitation. 7. There are 4 research centers that have been built. 8. There are 263 new schools under...

There are moments that throw the nature of America's enemies into the sharpest possible relief. One such moment came this week, as the Army revealed that it had identified the remains of two US soldiers taken captive in Iraq. Pfc. Byron Fouty, 19, and Queens-born Sgt. Alex Jimenez, 25, were captured last May after heavy fighting in Iraq's then-explosive Sunni Triangle. The body of a third captured GI, Pfc. Joseph Anzack Jr., was found not long afterward - but Jimenez and Fouty's families held out hope for their return. Until now. It's the smallest of comforts that the country may...

The Sunday Times of London reported this weekend that "President George W. Bush has told the Israeli government that he may be prepared to approve a future military strike on Iranian nuclear facilities if negotiations with Tehran break down." The Times report quoted a senior Pentagon official as its source. With increased resistance from the Pentagon and the November elections closing in, the White House may be choosing its next best option in dealing with Tehran: to have Israel launch strikes on Iran's nuclear weapons facilities. The paper said Bush has told Israel it has an "amber light" to proceed....

Sixty years ago this month, the top story in campaign year 1948 was not the big poll lead of Republican nominee Thomas Dewey or the plight of President Harry Truman. It was the Berlin airlift. On June 23, the Soviets cut off land access to West Berlin. Gen. Lucius Clay, the military governor in Germany, called for sending convoys up the autobahns, but Allied troops were vastly outnumbered by the Red Army, and everyone feared they would overrun Western Europe unless the United States retaliated with the atomic bomb. Air Force generals said that there was no way planes could...

Islamists have it all over everyone else in the art of intimidation using freedom in western civilization as a weapon in the battle to rule the world. One reason this practice has been successful is that civilized societies cannot comprehend a doctrine so pervasive in its goal to take over the world that so many non Muslims are unwilling to accept that we are in a war of different worlds. The threat is not extra terrestrial; it is a real threat by real people. To followers of Islam there is but one goal; replace all other religions and governments with...

"Why Iraq Was Inevitable" by Arthur Herman According to an April 2008 poll in U.S. News & World Report, fully 61 percent of American historians agree that George W. Bush is the worst President in our history. Some of these scholars cite the President’s position on the environment, or on taxes, or on the economy. For most, though, the chief qualification for obloquy lies in Bush’s decision to go to war in Iraq. In this, of course, the historians are hardly alone: five years after the launching of Operation Iraqi Freedom, both the mainstream media and America’s political elites treat...

Vets for Freedom 'Four Months to Victory' Campaign On July 9, 2008, Vets for Freedom (VFF) kicked off a nationwide campaign entitled “Four Months For Victory.� This grassroots effort, combined with a $1.5 million media buy, will remind Virginians of the importance of success in Iraq, Afghanistan, and the War on Terror as a whole. VFF was founded two years ago by combat veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts. Today, our organization carries membership of 25,000 in all fifty states. The Virginia organization has 350 registered members, as well as countless supporters. We represent the courage, conviction and commitment...

Is war with Iran imminent? Local peace groups certainly hope not and are holding a town hall meeting Tuesday night to see what steps can be taken to diffuse the latest volatile situation in the Mideast."People don't understand just how serious the situation is," said peace activist Joy First. "Don't let the same thing happen in Iran that happened in Iraq."A panel will prime the pump for discussion, including Joe Elder on the history of U.S. policy in Iran, Allen Ruff on U.S. covert operations, Tsela Barr on the context of the Iran crisis within the bigger Middle East picture,...

Anyone familiar with the threat posed by the advancing American Fifth Column understands all too clearly that our Constitution is under attack. Whether it is the insistence that the Constitution is a living document meant to conform to the will of the times or the institution of political correctness – a shadow set of laws effectively usurping the laws of our Constitutional Republic – the American Fifth Column is slowly, incrementally, systematically, chipping away at the wisdom as set forth by our Founders and Framers. With news that a non-governmentally charged commission is introducing a measure that would impose “group...

Interesting times we're living in!

Nervous Arab states fear a war in the Gulf but a nuclear-armed Iran is an even greater concern Arab governments are deeply worried about the prospect of war between Iran and Israel and/or the US for the very good reason that several of them would be directly in the firing line if hostilities erupted. Any fallout could have devastating consequences. Iranian retaliation against oilfields, refineries and desalination plants in the Gulf, especially in eastern Saudi Arabia, is an obvious worry. Tehran has gone on the record as threatening to close the Straits of Hormuz, the choke point for 40% of...

Iraqi Defense Ministry officials told local media on Friday that Israeli warplanes operating out of a US airbase are conducting exercises in their country for a possible strike on neighboring Iran. According to the sources, the Israeli planes enter Iraq via Jordanian airspace during the night, and then land at a US military base near the Iraqi city of Hadita. If Israel ultimately decides to launch a aerial strike against Iran’s main uranium enrichment facility, taking off from Hadita would cut the flight time to the target down to about five minutes.

Once again, MoveOn.org brings us a YouTube video showcasing the very worst of America: A woman who wants all of America's benefits with none of the sacrifice. The video shows a nice looking new mother telling John McCain that he can't have the cute newborn baby she is holding to fight his hundred-year war. It is a well-crafted piece of leftist propaganda that is sure to resonate with the soft-headed in this country. No parent relishes the thought of a child of any age dying in a war, but we must also consider this sad but true quote by Thomas...

War-game tests by Iran of long- and medium-range missiles sent shock waves across the globe today, with tensions centering on a potential attack on Israel and, ultimately, the country's nuclear ambitions. Among the nine ballistic missiles fired was an upgraded Shahab-3 with GPS guidance, 450 pounds of carrying capacity and an estimated 1250-mile range—already a potent threat to Israeli cities and bases, even before nuclear warheads enter the equation. What's more, Gen. Hossein Salami, the air force commander of Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards, offered a blunt warning after the exercise, saying it demonstrated the country's "resolve and might against enemies...

In "The Guns of August," her much-quoted history of the start of World War I, Barbara Tuchman wrote that European leaders were "appalled upon the brink" by their own martial posturing and "attempted to back away" from the devastating conflict that was about to start. But at the eleventh hour "the pull of military schedules dragged them forward." A tipping point had been reached in which war had gained its own grim momentum. Cooler heads could no longer prevail. John F. Kennedy, drawing on his own searing experience during the Cuban missile crisis, several times referred to the influence of...

UPDATED: War clouds continue to build in the epicenter. Last month in Rome, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad vowed that the United States and Israel would soon be "annihilated," language he had not used so explicitly since October 2005 when he promised to wipe Israel "off the map" and urged Muslims to "envision a world without the United States." This week, his regime authorized a new series of Iranian war games. He ordered the digging of 320,000 graves to bury the enemies of Islam. He is calling for the unification of the Islamic world politically and economically, including the creation of...

Why has Republicanism failed? Republicanism has failed and will fail because of single of idea which America under President Bush has become fixated upon. The new idea and hegemony of Bush and America is the realization of freedom. It has been American’s claim to an absolute idea predicated on the absolute strength of such an idea in the world for other regimes to become and emulate. Is not” You are either with us or against us” a favorite slogan of this moment in history?

Iran President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad believes in the Second Coming of the Iranian Messiah. The Messiah will appear when the globe is in utter chaos. Spell “chaos” as meaning “nuclear blow up.” Add to that the egocentric eccentric personality of Ahmadinejad. Add to that his delight in demanding center stage daily worldwide. That is why it is imperative for the free nations’ politic to translate their politic parlance into theological language. I don’t think they know how to do that. They are consumed with political vernacular and not versed in theology of a killing cult. In that is their weakness. In...

As members of the Allied Expeditionary Force entered the landing crafts that would transport them to their rendezvous with history in the early morning hours of June 6, 1944, they received individual copies of the Order of the Day drafted by their Supreme Commander, Dwight D. Eisenhower. He had given the go ahead for the massive invasion, code named Overlord, in spite of weather that was less than inviting. He wanted the men to understand what they were fighting for – and against. He told them: “You are about to embark upon the Great Crusade, toward which we have striven...

BEIRUT (Reuters) - At "Buns and Guns" you can order a "Kalashnikov" sandwich from a bullet-shaped menu, prepared by chefs in military fatigues with the roar of explosions as background music. This new fast food restaurant in Beirut's southern suburbs, where the Hezbollah movement holds sway, was the brainchild of co-owner Ali Hammoud. He said the war theme was a novel concept that had nothing to do with Lebanon's bloody recent history. BEIRUT (Reuters) - At "Buns and Guns" you can order a "Kalashnikov" sandwich from a bullet-shaped menu, prepared by chefs in military fatigues with the roar of explosions...

WorldNetDaily's Jerusalem bureau chief Aaron Klein will be a guest tomorrow on Fox News Channel's weekend program "America's Election Headquarters" to discuss the likelihood of an Israeli military strike against Iran and its relationship to the U.S. presidential elections. Klein will appear in a segment beginning at 1:15 p.m. EST. Earlier this week, Klein conducted an interview with Meir Amit, former director of Israel's Mossad intelligence agency, who stated Israel should use force to stop Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons. The comments from Amit, one of the most esteemed figures in the Israeli intelligence establishment, are significant since, until now,...

Jay and I have been bantering the 'Joe Horn' case, discussing various aspects of it and what it means to the greater society. Along the way, Jay mentioned the concept of 'duty to retreat'. The concept is based on the idea that when faced with an aggressor, a person has a moral duty to avoid confrontation, to give up ground and back away. That when a criminal gets it in his head that he wants to take something, we should just let him do so. That if he hurts someone, we should not try to prevent it. That the most...

USFK commander takes war cue from Iraq By Franklin Fisher, Stars and Stripes Pacific edition, Sunday, June 29, 2007 CAMP HUMPHREYS, South Korea — The top U.S. military commander in South Korea plans steps to ensure U.S. forces are ready to counter any Iraq-style insurgency tactics that North Korea might try to use in a conflict on the peninsula. In a brief interview with Stars and Stripes on Friday, U.S. Forces Korea commander Gen. Walter Sharp said he thinks it’s likely North Korea has been keeping close watch on the tactics used by insurgents in Iraq and would no doubt...

<p>The telling moment last week was Robert Hirsch's appearance on the CNBC morning "Squawkbox" financial show in which he proposed the probability of $500-a-barrel oil within "a three-to-five-year time-frame." Squawkhead Becky Quick was clearly nonplussed by the stolid Mr. Hirsch, author of a (then)-startling 2005 US Dept of Energy report (since referred to as the Hirsch Report and buried by the Secretary of Energy) that warned of dire effects on the American way of life as the Peak Oil predicament gained traction.</p>

WASHINGTON, June 30, 2008 – President Bush today signed a $162 billion supplemental bill that principally will fund U.S. military operations abroad. Bush thanked congressional leaders of both parties for agreeing to provide what he described as “vital funds” to men and women in uniform serving in harm’s way. “I appreciate that Republicans and Democrats in Congress agreed to provide these vital funds without tying the hands of our commanders and without an artificial timetable of withdrawal from Iraq,” he said. The bill takes shape as Iraq experiences the lowest levels of violence since March 2004. The legislation also...

WASHINGTON -- Army brigades from Texas, New York and Pennsylvania, and two Marine units from North Carolina have been ordered to deploy to Iraq early next year, the Pentagon announced Monday. The units _ which include about 33,000 troops _ would replace forces already in Iraq, and allow the U.S. to maintain 15 combat brigades in the country through 2009 if needed. The units are: _ 1st Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division, Fort Hood, Texas _ 2nd Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division, Fort Hood, Texas _ 3rd Brigade, 10th Mountain Division, Fort Drum, N.Y. _ 56th Stryker Brigade, 28th Infantry Division, Pennsylvania...

As the November presidential election draws near, the issue of Iran’s nuclear program will undoubtedly be thrust to the forefront of the candidates’ debate. Senator Obama has advocated direct presidential diplomacy with Iran without any preconditions whatsoever. Senator McCain has rejected that idea, instead choosing to focus on continued diplomatic efforts and economic sanctions backed by the threat of military force as a last resort. No matter which candidate is elected this fall, the new president will be faced with the same two basic options currently on the table for dealing with Iran: continued diplomatic efforts coupled with economic sanctions,...

Israeli fighter jets flew 1,500 kms across the Mediterranean this month, in a dry run for an attack on Iran's nuclear facilities. Tehran has threatened to treat such a raid as a declaration of war. As the Middle East braces itself for a stand-off of epic proportions, how close is the region to that nightmare scenario? The meeting at the home of Israel's Prime Minister Ehud Olmert was not supposed to be public. The man invited into Olmert's official residence in Jerusalem was Aviam Sela, architect of Operation Opera in 1981, when Israel launched a long-range strike against Iraq's Osirak...

DURAGI, Afghanistan -- Early morning, and 14 U.S. soldiers stand in a semi-circle for a mission briefing. Four Humvees, engines running, rumble beside them. "We're going to Warshallah today," Army Capt. Sam Karr, 28, of Manhattan, Kan., tells his platoon. "I guess it has, like, 200 bad guys in it. That's nothing, dudes -- we've got 14, so we're good."

We Swedes wish to honor: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Cole_bombing http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darrell_S._Cole True Swedes - like I - love America. Yes, we are Europeans and you are Americans. Often, we insult each other, by employing various methods. Yet, you are our sisters'N'brothers and nothing will ever change tHAT. I would give my life up for America. The US is a nation which believes in true freedom. This idea will conquer the world.

POOR BRITS: MALAISE OR CASUALTY? June 28th, 2008 Apparently, the effects of decades of living in a socialist, diverse paradise are catching up with our cousins across the Pond. http://www.cnsnews.com/ViewCulture.asp?Page=/Culture/archive/200806/CUL20080626c.html “Why is everyone so bloody miserable?” asks Tom Harris, Labor Member of Parliament, who’s “tired of the ‘crippling levels of cynicism and pessimism’ in British society.” Let’s just examine the possible causes of that malaise and negativism. A long history of despoiling the planet, of conquering much of the known world and a bloody subjugation of its closest neighbor, Ireland? The subsequent collapse of that same British Empire? A descent...

PLA's rapid reaction capability in Tibet By Andrei Chang Published: June 27, 2008 Hong Kong, China — The eruption of riots in Tibet in March reflected an increasingly complicated political situation there, involving both internal and external factors. Internally, the peaceful and nonviolent approach of the Dalai Lama toward China has encountered greater resistance from the young generation of Tibetans, and the Dalai Lama’s political relevance has been gradually marginalized as a result. Externally, India’s China policy is now at a critical point, and India-China relations are likely to slip backward if they fail to quickly progress. India is adjusting...

GITMO: WAR AND REMEMBRANCE June 26th, 2008 (http://www.cnsnews.com/ViewNation.asp?Page=/Nation/archive/200806/NAT20080626b.html) As far as I can recall, no one ever said that war is fun. As far as I can recall, no one ever said that prisons should be fun places, either. Still, the Muslim prisoners being kept in Guantanamo have it pretty damned good especially considering why they are there–as terrorist suspects who not only despise America but who may have killed Americans and who, given the chance, would kill as many of our troops in Iraq as they could and perpetrate even more heinous atrocities on our soil. We could house...

"Because only Spartan women give birth to real men." The people who fight for civilization, and those who seek its destruction.By Christopher Cook For those of you have yet to see 300, do yourselves a favor and see it. (Warning: Spoiler Alert) This movie is not just about the past. It's about today. Right now. It's about each one of you who stands in the breach against the enemy. And it's about each one of you who stands against the enemy within, who would happily widen that breach. Today's enemy is Islamofascism, but it is little different from the hordes...

A conversation with Mia Farrow and Bernard-Henri Lévy, moderated by Dinaw Mengestu | June 2008 Part 1: French philosopher Bernard-Henri Lévy on how 3 great ideas of the political left have backfired on the people of Darfur The following Guernica program took place at PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature, on April 29, 2008, at Flourence Gould Hall in New York City. This is the first of three parts. To listen to the program in its entirety, please go here. Runs about 90 minutes. Dinaw Mengestu: The title of this conversation is Crisis Darfur, and I can’t quite give...

SEOUL : Fifty-eight years ago, a war broke out on the Korean peninsula, and today, the two sides - South and North Korea - remain technically at war and divided. Although it has been more than five decades, there are still South Koreans - who were soldiers at the time - being kept against their will in North Korea. One of the prisoners of war (POW), Kim Jin Soo, recently escaped the North. The 74-year-old POW fought in the Korean War at the age of 17 and was captured by the North Koreans in 1953. All these years, he had...

The Democrats have been saying for some time that Barack Obama will restore our reputation in the eyes of the world, and I have been wracking my brain trying to figure out what went wrong in the first place. The world hates us. We know this, because our own media inform us of it regularly through polls, editorials, and documentaries. Because of our actions, our policies, over the years, we have built up a reservoir of resentment worldwide that only Obama can sooth. You know, I think they are right. Let's look at the sins we've committed with an eye...