http://www.freerepublic.com/tag/wot-news/ en-us Sat, 26 Jul 2008 21:57:24 GMT Focus Forum 15 http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2051840/posts MADRID (AFP) - Spanish police said Saturday they had arrested a 57-year-old Spanish woman they claim is the leader of the Spanish cell of Colombian Marxist rebel group FARC. Maria Remedios Garcia Albert was arrested at her home in the town of San Lorenzo de El Escorial, northeast of Madrid, they said. The interior ministry said Garcia Albert had provided logistical support for FARC and had direct contacts with Raul Reyes, the FARC number two who was killed by Colombian troops inside Ecuador earlier this year. Analysis of Reyes' computer passed on to Spanish investigators by Colombian authorities had led... AFP on Yahoo http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2051840/posts#comment Sat, 26 Jul 2008 21:57:24 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2051830/posts I so, so wanted to believe it. Really I did. He is so handsome, so fresh and, well, truth be told, I want everybody to know that I embrace diversity. I’m hip, if you can dig it. I’m not afraid of change. That is, as long as by “change” Barack Obama and his followers are referring to a change in vision, a change in paradigm and perhaps a change of tone in Washington. Politics can be so grubby and nasty. Everybody wants to see the Jimmy Stewart, “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington” movie come true. Unfortunately, what I think Obama... The Federal Way Mirror http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2051830/posts#comment Sat, 26 Jul 2008 21:25:58 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2051808/posts The fallen span of the southbound lane on the Grand Canal Bridge in Taji, northwest of Baghdad, floats in the water underneath the bridge. The damage was caused by a vehicle-born improvised explosive device which was detonated on August 14, 2007. Photo by Pfc. Lyndsey Dransfield, 2nd Stryker Brigade 25th Infantry Division. CAMP TAJI — Engineers with 2nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team “Warrior,” 25th Infantry Division, Multi-National Division – Baghdad, journeyed to the Grand Canal Bridge in Taji Qada, northwest of Baghdad, July 22, to monitor repair progress. The bridge, which spans a portion of the Grand Canal and is... Multi-National Force - Iraq http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2051808/posts#comment Sat, 26 Jul 2008 19:48:59 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2051807/posts BASRAH — “I feel blessed to be working on this important project,” said Ryan Hartwig, construction representative with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Basrah Children’s Hospital Office “Each time we go, we see more progress. I can look at the place now and actually visualize patients using this facility,” he continued. “It’s just very satisfying being part of this effort that will no doubt save or change the lives of so many Iraqi children.” Several key partners are involved in the project including Project Hope (a non-government organization), the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), and the Iraqi Ministry of... Multi-National Force - Iraq http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2051807/posts#comment Sat, 26 Jul 2008 19:45:29 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2051806/posts Engineers from Multi-National Division – Baghdad, as well as Civil Affairs Soldiers with 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, visited a water pump station in Adhamiyah July 23, to determine its viability to meet the peoplesÂ’ needs. Photo by Sgt. Zachary Mott, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division Public Affairs. BAGHDAD — More than two-thirds of the Earth is made up of water. But for the residents of northern Baghdad, water is one of the most precious resources – and an often scarce resource. While the ancient Tigris River flows a few miles away, many farmers in the... Multi-National Force - Iraq http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2051806/posts#comment Sat, 26 Jul 2008 19:42:55 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2051805/posts Dr. Dhea Mijwal Shami Maadahidi, 38, a surgeon and manager of the Rutbah General Hospital in Rubah, Iraq, checks the mouth of a child during a cooperative medical engagement in Akashat, Iraq, July 23, 2008. The Baghdad native was one of three medical specialists working with Coalition forces to provide the town with health care. During the event, surgeons and corpsmen were assisted by Iraqi doctors to treat sicknesses ranging from measles to the flu. Photo by Cpl. Ryan Tomlinson, Regimental Combat Team-5, 1st Marine Division Public Affairs. AKASHAT — Navy surgeons and corpsmen with 2nd Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion,... Multi-National Force - Iraq http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2051805/posts#comment Sat, 26 Jul 2008 19:39:38 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2051778/posts Most recent news of suicide bombings’ tragic harvest that shows Iraq as number 1, Pakistan number 2 and Afghanistan number 3 (In the number of attacks, Afghans are a little ahead but in number deaths Pakistan is second to Iraq): A region that once stifled renaissance is now on the verge of silencing its second chance of enlightenment. Will these lands ever come out of ignominy? Pakistan, after Iraq and Afghanistan, has become both a target and a staging ground for terrorism. Pakistan has become as blood-soaked and as dangerous as Iraq. The bombing of Jirga, funeral procession and prayer... Global Politician http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2051778/posts#comment Sat, 26 Jul 2008 18:28:32 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2051723/posts Uighur group claims China bus attacks, threatens Olympics Sat Jul 26, 3:14 AM ET A Uighur separatist group has taken credit for a deadly bus bombing in Shanghai in May and warned of new attacks in China during the Olympics, a group monitoring threats by extremists on the Internet said. In a video statement, Commander Seyfullah of the Turkestan Islamic Party claimed credit for several attacks, including the May 5 Shanghai bus bombing which killed three; another Shanghai attack; an attack on police in Wenzhou on July 17 using an explosive-laden tractor; a bombing of a Guangzhou plastic factory on... AFP http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2051723/posts#comment Sat, 26 Jul 2008 16:06:06 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2051720/posts Seven bombs hit Ahmedabad, two killed Enlarge Photo By Rupam Jain Nair AHMEDABAD, India (Reuters) - At least seven small bombs exploded in Ahmedabad on Saturday, killing at least two people and wounding 55, just a day after another set of blasts in the country's southern IT hub, officials said. On Friday, eight bombs exploded in quick succession in Bangalore, killing at least one person and wounding six others. Saturday's blasts were in the Ahmedabad's crowded old city dominated by its Muslim community. One was left in a metal tiffin box, used to carry food, another apparently left on a... Reuters http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2051720/posts#comment Sat, 26 Jul 2008 15:45:44 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2051718/posts On March 27, 2008, the U.S. Department of State's International Information Programs in Washington D.C., the Public Affairs Office at the U.S. Embassy in Israel, and the Global Research in International Affairs (GLORIA) Center jointly held an international videoconference seminar focusing on Iraq. Brief biographies of the participants can be found at the end of the article. This seminar is part of the GLORIA Center's Experts Forum series. Barry Rubin: For good reasons, people are often focused on the military side of the war and the issues in Iraq, but the political side determines what will happen in terms of... Global Politician http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2051718/posts#comment Sat, 26 Jul 2008 15:40:23 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2051716/posts KABUL (Reuters) - NATO countries have agreed to send more troops to the volatile south of Afghanistan, Canada's foreign minister said on Saturday, and another 200 Canadian troops could also be deployed. Canada has some 2,500 soldiers in Afghanistan, most of them stationed in the southern province of Kandahar where they have suffered one of the worst casualty rates fighting a resilient Taliban insurgency. "We've been talking with our NATO allies and in fact we do now have commitments to increase the number of troops particularly in the Kandahar region," Canadian Foreign Minister David Emerson told a news conference in... Reuters via National Post http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2051716/posts#comment Sat, 26 Jul 2008 15:37:54 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2051713/posts GUANTANAMO BAY NAVY BASE, Cuba — In his seventh of month of U.S. captivity, Osama bin Laden's driver told a pair of FBI agents that it was America's fault that the al Qaida leader was alive. The message was, ''You had these opportunities, America. You didn't do anything,'' FBI agent George Crouch Jr. testified Friday at Salim Hamdan's war crimes trial. The United States could have killed bin Laden in Khartoum, Sudan, before he moved to Afghanistan in 1996, Hamdan told his interrogators. They could have killed him after al Qaida's 1998 twin bombings at the U.S. Embassy bombings in... McClatchy Newspapers http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2051713/posts#comment Sat, 26 Jul 2008 15:26:24 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2051694/posts President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Saturday that Iran has boosted the number of uranium-enriching centrifuges to up to 6,000, in an expansion of its nuclear drive that defies international calls for a freeze. "Today they (the West) have agreed that the existing 5,000 to 6,000 centrifuges do not increase and that there is no problem if this number of centrifuges work," Ahmadinejad was quoted as saying by state radio. Ahmadinejad said in April that Iran was working to install 6,000 more centrifuges at an underground hall in a plant at its nuclear facility in Natanz, where it already had 3,000... AFP http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2051694/posts#comment Sat, 26 Jul 2008 14:19:07 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2051654/posts This edition features mentoring Iraqi Policeman and an Iraqi Army exercise. American Forces Network http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2051654/posts#comment Sat, 26 Jul 2008 12:04:03 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2051647/posts This video is subtitled with English Subtitles . viedo at post 2 you tube http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2051647/posts#comment Sat, 26 Jul 2008 11:45:01 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2051644/posts ”I feel blessed to be working on this important project,” said Ryan Hartwig, construction representative with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Basrah Children’s Hospital Office “Each time we go, we see more progress. I can look at the place now and actually visualize patients using this facility,” he continued. “It’s just very satisfying being part of this effort that will no doubt save or change the lives of so many Iraqi children.” Several key partners are involved in the project including Project Hope (a nongovernment organization), the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), and the Iraqi Ministry of Health, explained... American Forces Network http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2051644/posts#comment Sat, 26 Jul 2008 11:28:03 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2051640/posts This edition features the visit from senators Obama, Hagel and Reed, and a five-star hotel in Baghdad's International Zone. http://www.mnf-iraq.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=21382&Itemid=163 American Forces Network http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2051640/posts#comment Sat, 26 Jul 2008 11:13:23 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2051614/posts The Palestinian Authority's official news agency Wafa says Israel is using rats to drive Arab families out of their homes in the Old City of Jerusalem. Has the Palestinian Authority smelled a rat in east Jerusalem? Photo: Courtesy/Joanna Servaes Slideshow: Pictures of the week In the past the news agency, which is controlled and funded by PA President Mahmoud Abbas's office, has accused Israel of using wild pigs to drive Palestinians out of their homes and fields in the West Bank. In the reports, Palestinians were quoted by the agency as saying that they had seen Israelis release herds of... Jerusalem Post http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2051614/posts#comment Sat, 26 Jul 2008 08:31:54 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2051608/posts US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice Friday shrugged off a reward for her arrest as a war criminal announced by university students ahead of a visit to New Zealand. “Protest is a part of democratic society and student protests are particularly a long honoured tradition in democratic society,” Rice told a news conference in the West Australian capital Perth. “And I can only say that the United States has done everything that it can to, in this war on terror, live up to our international and our national laws and obligations.” New Zealand university students had earlier offered a reward... Daily Times (Pakistan) http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2051608/posts#comment Sat, 26 Jul 2008 08:00:37 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2051594/posts Bombs rock ‘India’s Silicon Valley’ By Amy Kazmin in New Delhi Published: July 25 2008 15:49 | Last updated: July 25 2008 15:49 India’s information technology capital, the southern city of Bangalore, was rocked on Friday afternoon by a series of eight small bomb blasts that killed at least one person and injured nearly a dozen others. The blasts happened in quick succession at about 1.30pm local time and caused temporary traffic chaos in the city, which is the hub of India’s global software outsourcing business. Known as India’s Silicon Valley, Bangalore is home to 1,500 companies such as India’s... FT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2051594/posts#comment Sat, 26 Jul 2008 06:35:15 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2051582/posts The success of the surge offensive resulted in an intelligence windfall. Documents and prisoner interrogations (as well as identifying the dead) provided a lot more information on hostile Sunni and Shia groups, as well as interesting observations about the factions currently controlling the government. All this clarified and confirmed the very factious nature of Iraqi society. Seems anybody with a quick mouth and a lot of guns can form their own little army. This factionalism is accompanied by a self-righteousness that seems to justify a wide range of bad behavior. This includes corruption, but also murder, torture, rape, theft and... Strategy Page http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2051582/posts#comment Sat, 26 Jul 2008 05:31:04 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2051581/posts As the U.S. armed forces have done so many times before, they entered the uncertainty of a new war in 2001, and are now trying to figure out what they gained from it. Most of what went on during this war was unreported or misreported. This is nothing new. The important details, and lessons, of all past American wars were poorly reported, and what the military is trying to avoid is taking away the wrong lessons. Throughout the current conflict, the military made no secret of what they were doing, and just kept focused on winning. They knew they would... Strategy Page http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2051581/posts#comment Sat, 26 Jul 2008 05:28:57 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2051578/posts BEGIN TRANSCRIPT RUSH: Here is Brian in Battle Creek, Michigan. Brian, thank you for waiting and welcome to the EIB Network. CALLER: Yeah, thank you. RUSH: Go right ahead, sir. CALLER: Megadittos. RUSH: Thank you very much. CALLER: I've got two here. First, I had to go to your website to find a phone number and now I finally understand when you say the Messi-uh, what you actually are getting at with the uhs that he says. RUSH: Right. The Messi-uh. CALLER: Very clever. The other thing is I was wondering if you had a chance to see the new... RushLimbaugh http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2051578/posts#comment Sat, 26 Jul 2008 05:00:37 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2051551/posts (07-25) 17:42 PDT SAN FRANCISCO -- A federal judge today dismissed a lawsuit by conservative radio talk show host Michael Savage against a Muslim-rights group that reprinted his attacks against Islam and called for an advertising boycott. Savage, who has about 8 million listeners a week on 400 stations for his syndicated "Savage Nation" program, sued the Council on American-Islamic Relations in December for copyright infringement. The organization had posted four minutes of excerpts from an Oct. 29 broadcast in which he called the Quran a "hateful little book" and a "document of slavery." He said Muslims were "screaming for... SFGate http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2051551/posts#comment Sat, 26 Jul 2008 03:02:16 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2051540/posts Video at link mudvillegazette.com http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2051540/posts#comment Sat, 26 Jul 2008 02:28:28 GMT