Free Republic

LONDON – The mother of backpacker slain in an Australian hostel has written an open letter to U.S. President Donald Trump, rejecting the decision to label her daughter's death as "terror attack." The slaying of 20-year-old Mia Ayliffe-Chung and fellow Briton Tom Jackson was on a list of 78 attacks the White House says were "executed or inspired by" the Islamic State terror group — and under-reported by the media. Rosie Ayliffe says the possibility that the two Britons died last year in a terror incident was discounted early in the investigation. She says: "This vilification of whole nation states...

Iraq’s former interim Prime Minister Ayad Allawi said Sunday that President Obama was wrong when he claimed the United States left Iraq as a stable and democratic country. Appearing on CNN's Fareed Zakaria GPS, Allawi said, "It’s neither stable nor democratic, frankly speaking. The terrorists are hitting again very severely. Al Qaeda is fully operational now in Iraq" (video follows with transcribed highlights and commentary):

A court threw out child porn charges against a Muslim cleric targeted as a terrorist by Canadian authorities, ruling purported evidence was gathered illegally. In 2007, Brampton, Ontario, cleric Ayad Mejid, targeted by the Canadian Security Intelligence Service as a suspected supporter of terrorism, sent his laptop to the spy service to prove his innocence, The Globe and Mail reported. Intelligence officials searching the computer without a warrant then forwarded the laptop to Toronto Police detectives who arrested Mejid, alleging they found child pornography images, the newspaper said Wednesday. The night before Thursday's trial, Superior Judge Jane Kelly threw out...

"Tony McDonald, a member of the University of Texas Young Conservatives, sets up a protest anti- American Civil Liberties Union nativity scene, dubbed a 'solstice barn,' on the university's campus in Austin December 4, 2006. The display features a 'Nancy Pelosi' angel, a 'suicide bomber' shepherd, and Marx, Lenin and Stalin as the Three Wise Men." "Josh Perry, a member of the University of Texas Young Conservatives, spreads hay as he sets up a protest anti-American Civil Liberties Union nativity scene, dubbed a 'solstice barn,' on the university's campus in Austin, Texas December 4, 2006. The display features a...