Free Republic

NASHUA, New Hampshire (Reuters) - Democrat Hillary Clinton, her back against the wall in New Hampshire, battled to keep the state from swinging to rival Barack Obama on Sunday by accusing him of talking about change but failing to get results. In the hotly contested Republican race, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney lashed out at Arizona Sen. John McCain two days before New Hampshire votes. At stake is crucial momentum in New Hampshire and on both sides the race was taking a negative turn. The state is vital to efforts by Clinton and Romney to revitalize their campaigns after disappointing...

Civil War history enthusiasts can enjoy a variety of programs this weekend and next commemorating the 144th anniversary of the Battles for Chattanooga. The events hosted by the Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park kick off today. Park Superintendent Shawn Benge said highlights will include several living history programs, the firing of cannons and walking tours. "It's really an opportunity to come out and learn ... some Civil War history about the campaign for Chattanooga and to immerse yourself more than (through) the traditional level of programs that we offer," he said. The Battles for Chattanooga marked the end of...

KABUL, Afghanistan - Days after Taliban fighters overran Musa Qala a U.S. commander pledged that Western troops would take it back. Nine months later, the town is still Taliban territory, a symbol of the West's struggles to control the poppy-growing south. But a string of recent battles around Musa Qala, won overwhelmingly by American Special Forces, signal a renewed U.S. focus on the symbolic Taliban stronghold. An Afghan army commander said Sunday that U.S. and Afghan forces have taken over the area around the town and that Afghan commanders are holding talks with Musa Qala's tribal leaders to persuade them...

KABUL, Afghanistan - Suspected Taliban militants fought fierce battles with U.S. forces in eastern Afghanistan, killing 20 insurgents and one civilian, officials said Sunday. The Defense Ministry said the joint Afghan-NATO operation was launched Saturday in the Korengal Valley in Kunar province — next to the border with Pakistan — with artillery fire and airstrikes. The ministry said 20 "enemy" fighters were killed in the battles, while Kunar Gov. Didar Shalizai said one civilian died. Maj. Charles Anthony, spokesman for NATO's International Security Assistance Force, said 11 civilians were wounded. Anthony said elders in the area indicated that the suspected...

TOURS, 732

KABUL (AFP) - Fresh battles in insurgency-plagued Afghanistan Tuesday left 35 Taliban fighters and six policemen dead, officials said. US-led coalition forces killed more than 20 militants when they repelled a rare frontal attack on a US military base, the coalition said in a statement. Afghan army and coalition forces beat back the morning attack on US Firebase Anaconda, in Uruzgan province, in which the rebels used small arms, rocket-propelled grenades and 107mm rockets, the statement said. It said that as 75 fighters attacked the base, air support was called in. "Almost two dozen insurgents were confirmed killed in the...

NAHR AL-BARED, Lebanon (Reuters) - Al Qaeda-inspired militants killed six Lebanese soldiers on Thursday in fierce battles at a Palestinian refugee camp in north Lebanon, security sources said. They said 22 soldiers were wounded, three seriously, in fighting at the Nahr al-Bared camp which began in the early morning after Fatah al-Islam snipers shot dead two soldiers, prompting Lebanese troops to unleash artillery barrages. The army and Fatah al-Islam militants have been fighting at the coastal camp for nearly eight weeks. At least 212 people have been killed, making it Lebanon's worst internal violence since the 1975-1990 civil war. Security...

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip - Fierce battles over strategic positions spread Wednesday to central Gaza, with Hamas fighters wresting control of the coastal strip's main north-south road and positioning to cut off reinforcements to beleaguered forces of the rival Fatah faction. In the southern town of Khan Younis, a one-ton bomb in an underground tunnel tore through the headquarters of a security force loyal to President Mahmoud Abbas of Fatah, said Ali Qaisi, a presidential guard spokesman. At least one person was killed and eight were wounded, medics said. Before the blast, Hamas militants demanded officers inside the building come...

CAMP LIBERTY, Iraq, April 24, 2007 – Efforts by Iraqi security forces and the coalition to reduce the violence in Baghdad continue as Operation Law and Order enters its ninth week. "Progress is measured neighborhood by neighborhood in an attempt to rid the capital city of extremists who are intent on terrorizing the population and undermining the elected government here," said Army Brig. Gen. John F. Campbell, the deputy commanding general for maneuver with Multinational Division Baghdad and the 1st Cavalry Division. He said joint security stations manned by coalition and Iraqi forces continue to stand up throughout the...

WASHINGTON, March 5, 2007 – Army leaders are committed to improving the service’s health care systems for wounded servicemembers and their families, top officers told the national security subcommittee of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform today. The committee held a meeting at Walter Reed Army Medical Center here to gather facts behind problems reported there that have tarnished the once-stellar reputation of the Army’s top medical facility. Part of the problem, Vice Chief of Staff of the Army Gen. Richard A. Cody said, is that policies and rules governing many of the health care systems have...

WASHINGTON, March 2, 2007 – The anticipated spring offensive may mark the beginning of the end for the Taliban in Afghanistan, a military official told bloggers and online journalists in a conference call yesterday. “If the Taliban do not make it through this offensive, we feel that by next year they’ll have limited access to Afghanistan,” Army Col. David B. Enyeart, deputy commander of Task Force Phoenix V, said. Enyeart, whose soldiers oversee training of the Afghan forces, said coalition officials fully expect a surge in Taliban and insurgent attacks in time with the country’s spring thaw. “We know...

Givati Infantry Brigade forces, accompanied by tanks, armored vehicles and aerial support, have engaged terrorists in heavy battle in northern Gaza; ten terrorists and one soldier have been killed. IDF censors have released the name of the soldier killed during the clash with terrorists in Beit Hanoun, the PA-controlled Gaza town from which rockets are fired on Sderot. He is Staff Sergeant Kiril Golenshein, 21, from the agricultural community of Shekef. Golenshein was shot and fatally wounded by Palestinian Authority terrorists at 2:30AM Wednesday. He was evacuated from the scene, but died a short time later. IDF forces shot and...

Indian state battles fever fears By John Mary Trivandrum, Kerala Mosquitoes are blamed for spreading the disease Authorities in India's southern state of Kerala say they are battling a fever outbreak that has claimed many lives. Since July, at least 70 people have died - most, it is suspected, from the mosquito-borne chikungunya virus. A team of experts from the World Health Organisation have arrived in Kerala to examine the outbreak of the disease. Separately, Indian authorities are fighting an outbreak of dengue fever in the country's north - 28 people have died of the disease in recent weeks. Cases...

'100 Tigers killed' in sea battle with Sri Lankan navy By Michael Hirst (Filed: 03/09/2006) Sri lanka's navy claimed to have sunk 12 Tamil Tiger boats during a six-hour sea battle yesterday that killed up to 100 rebels. The fighting started late on Friday when about 20 Tiger vessels, including five suicide boats packed with explosives, attempted to attack a naval base at Kankasanthurai, a key port on the northern Jaffna peninsula. A patrol, including fast-attack gun boats, drove the Tigers into open water where the battle continued until dawn yesterday. TamilNet, a pro-rebel website, claimed that two navy vessels...

BLOOMINGTON -- U.S. Army Col. Dirk Spanton lived with the possibility of dying every day during the 32 months he served with Special Forces in Iraq. The Bloomington man was shot at by insurgents, sent to minefields to disarm explosives and once had a rocket-propelled grenade come within feet of ending his life. After three tours of duty in the desert, the 50-year-old former ROTC instructor finally returned home to his wife and five children on Memorial Day. Within days, the family’s joy turned to sorrow as Spanton was hospitalized with a mysterious illness. Doctors later diagnosed him with cancer...

This is an excellent book that is both a detailed military history and a historical apologetics book. The authors' foundational point is that the military campaigns of the OT are so detailed that they couldn't have been fabricated and are not fables like some skeptics and liberal scholars would like us to believe. The authors do an incredible job at drawing out details from the English and Hebrew texts. This coupled with their own knowledge and experience in warfare, they paint a detailed picture of the Israeli campaigns. They also make many comparisons to later battles, leaders and campaigns in...

Ya gotta LOVE the Marines !!! My Marine Corps Association calendar has the following historical notation for Sunday, January 8,2006:1815 - Marines,with Andrew Jackson's help,repulsed the British at New Orleans. Ho.......kay ! Semper Fi, anyway !! :) :) :) :) :) :)

. . . James McIvor has found an instance in the Civil War when the animosity between the Union and Confederate soldiers also lifted, if only for the length of a single song . . . As the opposing forces settled into battle lines near Murfreesboro, Tennessee, on December 30, 1862, the bands on each side played an evening concert for their respective comrades. The two concerts continued, unharmoniously enough, until, “as if by common consent,” recalled the Tennesseean, both took up “Home, Sweet Home.” The men on both sides soon joined together in singing the song. When it was...

State Battles Likely if Roe Overturned By DAVID CRARY, Associated Press Writer Sat Nov 5,11:56 PM ET NEW YORK - Undoubtedly, there would be tumult — likely roiling every statehouse in the nation. Beyond that, little is certain about what would unfold if the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, the divisive 1973 decision establishing a woman's right to have an abortion. Reversal remains only a hypothesis for now, yet both sides in the abortion debate are discussing the demise of Roe as an increasingly serious possibility. President Bush's nomination of conservative Samuel Alito to replace moderate Justice Sandra Day...

We find ourselves, yet again, with an issue on which there can be no middle ground. Are the Democrats right and the war in Iraq is unjust, with great degrees of carnage and America’s defeat at hand? Or are the Republicans right in seeing the cause as noble, victory real and the benefits of a safer region, a more secure America and a more peaceful world already being realized? Anyone who cares about America needs to care first about the truth. If America is in the wrong then only the truth will help us right it and thus remain the...