Free Republic

China’s dramatic change in its COVID policies could have deleterious consequences for the world’s population: We may face the prospect of a new wave of the virus that will have an enormous impact on public health, three years after the start of the pandemic. The Chinese government seems to have “the Midas touch” in reverse when it comes to COVID-19 — everything it touches turns into a disaster. To this day, China has not revealed the origin of the pandemic, after denying epidemiologists critical information that might have weakened the outbreak in late 2019 and early 2020. China still censors...

With the chances of the Senate actually convicting former President Trump in the upcoming impeachment trial, Sens. Tim Kaine (D-VA) and Susan Collins (R-INO) are quietly pitching their colleagues on a bipartisan resolution to censure Trump, according to Axios.The Senators are 'looking for a way to condemn Trump on the record' as it's become abundantly clear that Democrats don't have the 17 GOP crossover votes required to gain a conviction for Trump's second impeachment. That said, Axios says that some Democrats are only interested in censure if at least 10 GOP Senators will publicly commit to it - which would...

Thanks to the New York Times, we now know the dreaded torture methods the sadistic CIA used on captured Al Qaeda big shots shortly after the 9/11 attack. I warn you: Reading this column any further will subject you to unvarnished brutality. According to a front-page article in the Times on Sunday, Sept. 10, Pakistani authorities captured Abu Zubaydah, Al Qaeda's personnel director, a few months after the terror attack five years ago. Zubaydah, wounded in the confrontation, was turned over to American authorities and whisked away to Bangkok, Thailand, where FBI interrogators began questioning him. According to unnamed sources...

....With the help of the American trauma surgeon, Abu Zubaydah's captors nursed him back to health. He was moved at least twice, first, reportedly, to Thailand; then, he believes, to Afghanistan, probably Bagram. In a safe house in Thailand the interrogation began: "I woke up, naked, strapped to a bed, in a very white room. The room measured approximately [13 feet by 13 feet]. The room had three solid walls, with the fourth wall consisting of metal bars separating it from a larger room. I am not sure how long I remained in the bed. After some time, I think...

A federal judge has lifted a temporary restraining order that had stopped the U.S. military from force feeding a hunger-striking prisoner at Guantanamo Bay naval base, saying the man’s life hangs in the balance. Late Thursday night, U.S. District Judge Gladys Kessler said the military must be allowed to carry out force feeding in the case of Abu Wa’el Dhiab because of the “very real probability that Mr. Dhiab will die.” …

Meal replacement drinks are nothing new. Jevity, Nutren are used primarily by hospitals and store shelves are full of supplemental drinks such as Ensure and MuscleMilk, but Soylent is something different in the sense that its creator, 24-year-old engineer Rob Rhinehart, wants it to test our perceptions of the sustainability of food. What are we truly putting into our bodies? To put it simply, bad stuff, that much is true. Soylent is full of good stuff. A vegan source of protein, and an assortment of carbohydrates, amino acids, proteins and dozens of other vitamins, Soylent is not exactly lacking in...

"KSM figured out waterboarding. He figured out the limits," Marc Theissen, a speechwriter for President George W. Bush, said during a panel discussion at the American Enterprise Institute in Washington. KSM "actually mocked his interrogators by holding out his arm and counting off the seconds with his hand. He knew exactly how far we could go and when the terrorists know how far you can go it's very very hard to break them." Justice Department memos released by President Barack Obama indicate that the maximum duration for a single application of water to a terror suspect in the program authorized...

Here's what Wisconsin Republicans accomplished tonight: In a situation where they had repeated opportunities to resolve this standoff and plausibly declare victory for themselves, they have now ensured that this battle is only going to escalate. This evening, Wisconsin Repubicans took the drastic step of breaking up the budget repair bill and passing only a measure rolling back the collective bargaining rights of public employees. A committee removed some parts of the bill, allowing Republicans to pass it by a simple majority, without missing Dems, and it's expected to pass the Assembly tomorrow.

WASHINGTON, Feb. 22, 2007 – Vice President Dick Cheney thanked U.S. troops serving in Guam today for representing America in a strategically important part of the world during a critical time. Air Force Brig. Gen. Doug Owens, commander of the 36th Wing, greets Vice President Dick Cheney on his arrival Feb. 22 at Andersen Air Force Base, Guam. White House photo by David Bohrer  '(Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. Speaking to servicemembers in a hangar at Andersen Air Force Base, the vice president praised them for showing “the confident spirit of the United States military, our devotion to...

BAQUBAH - “The continuation of this mission and the success of the U.S. Military and U.S. Government in Iraq will really be solved with meetings like I just went through,” said Maj. Gen. Benjamin Mixon, commander, 25th Infantry Division and Task Force Lightning. Mixon was referring to his meeting with Diyala Provincial Governor Ra’ad Rashid Mulla Juwad Al-Timimi at the Governor’s Center in Baqubah, Iraq. The main issue was the continued funding to the Iraqi Government for reconstruction and support for the Iraqi Army and Police. “There is not an ultimate military solution in this; it has to be a...

Iraq - Saddam Hussein in hunger strike since five days BAGHDAD - Saddam Hussein and three of its co-defendants have been in hunger strike for five days, announced Wednesday the army American, thus confirming a declaration of lawyer of the former president. The ex president would go however well thanks to an enriched drink. The four strikers have refused to feed for Friday evening, protesting against the procedures of their lawsuit for crime against humanity and claiming more safety for their lawyers. A third of them was killed last month.

WASHINGTON, June 27, 2006 – The highest priority in funding the global war on terror is to ensure that the military members fighting it have all they need to win, a senior defense official told Pentagon reporters today. "This country is committed to making sure the men and women that are out there fighting this war are going to have the resources they need to be successful," said Bryan Whitman, deputy assistant secretary of defense for public affairs. The Defense Department has obligated $295 billion for the war on terror from Sept. 11, 2001, through March 2006, Whitman said. Those...

WASHINGTON, Feb. 2, 2006 – The Army and Marine Corps are pulling out all the stops to ensure deployed troops have the best body armor possible, including ceramic side plates to protect their torsos, leaders from both services told members of the House Armed Services Committee yesterday. The leaders gave solid endorsement to the protective vests already worn by all deployed forces, but said they continue to seek out improvements that provide even more protection without adding weight and bulkiness. "Force protection is the Army's No. 1 priority," Maj. Gen. Stephen Speakes, the Army's force development director, told the Tactical...

WASHINGTON, Feb. 2, 2006 – As current recruiting successes continue, the Army will ensure the reserve-component force gets the full funding it requires, Army leaders told Pentagon reporters today. "To be clear, we have no intention of cutting the number of Guard or Reserve brigades, reducing the number of Guard or Reserve soldiers or cutting the level of Guard or Reserve funding," Gen. Peter J. Schoomaker, Army chief of staff, said. Rather, Schoomaker said, the Army is intent on building reserve-component units that, like their active-duty counterparts, are fully manned, trained, equipped and led for the missions they'll face in...

BAGHDAD, Iraq, Nov. 30, 2005 — Today marks the end of Central Command’s annual Coalition conference. The Coalition conference is important for many reasons, not the least of which is to lay out future requirements and maintain the momentum we have achieved in 2005. As of Nov. 1, there were 63 Coalition partners involved with Iraq, 28 of those have contributed troops. Coalition partners provide many important items to the fight: intelligence exchange, basing, troops, and financial or equipment donations. Everyone plays a vital role and none is more important than the other. All contribute to making Iraq a state...

WASHINGTON, Nov. 30, 2005 – A clear, comprehensive U.S. strategy is showing solid progress in Iraq and will ultimately defeat terrorists there and ensure a free Iraq that inspires democratic reformers throughout the Middle East, President Bush said today in Annapolis, Md. Bush shared details of the "U.S. National Strategy for Victory in Iraq" today, emphasizing that the United States won't surrender Iraq to terrorists and won't abandon its mission there until it's finished. Speaking to the brigade of midshipmen at the U.S. Naval Academy, Bush assured the group he wants the same thing all Americans want: to see U.S....

AR RAMADI, Iraq (Nov. 2, 2005) -- Over 200,000 Iraqi people in Al Anbar Province recently made their way to polling sites for Iraq’s Constitutional Referendum. The voters safely made their voices heard without even seeing the forces that were instrumental in making it possible. In response to a request from the Independent Electoral Commission of Iraq and the Ministry of Interior, the 2nd Marine Division deployed several election support elements comprised of Marines, Sailors and Soldiers throughout the province. These teams provided behind-the-scenes logistics support and ensured poll workers and material moved unimpeded between polling sites. According to the...

WASHINGTON, Oct. 14, 2005 – American and Iraqi troops in Taji, Iraq, are working together to ensure a safe environment for Iraqis to vote in the Oct. 15 constitutional referendum. About 3,500 American soldiers with 3rd Brigade, 1st Armored Division, and 2,100 Iraqi soldiers with 1st Mechanized Brigade, 9th Iraqi Army Division, are working to keep insurgents from interfering with the scheduled nationwide election, the two units' commanders said in Taji today. Security measures being put into place include stopping all vehicle traffic during polling hours to prevent car bombings, increasing military missions in the area, and freeing Iraqi army...

AL ASAD, Iraq (Sept. 30, 2005) -- The Marine Tactical Electronic Warfare Squadron 1 Banshees, based at Al Asad, Iraq, are playing host to two Navy squadrons supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom from late September to early October. As Navy Tactical Electronic Warfare Squadron 135 transferred operations to VAQ-141, the two squadrons needed a land base because of a carrier gap, a situation caused by aircraft carriers rotating in and out of the area of responsibility. When the USS Chester W. Nimitz, the home of VAQ-135, left the Persian Gulf, the squadron left behind two jets to help VMAQ-1 successfully execute...

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Reviving a long-dormant U.S. peacemaking role, Secretary of State Colin Powell (news - web sites) won an Israeli pledge on Monday to allow Palestinians enough freedom of movement to hold an election for Yasser Arafat (news - web sites)'s successor. Powell, on his first visit to the region in 18 months, told Israeli and Palestinian leaders that Washington was determined to seize opportunities created by Arafat's death and help Palestinians hold a Jan. 9 vote to choose a new leader. But Powell, who announced his resignation last week and is now seen by both sides as...