Free Republic

ROME -- Italian agents likely withheld information from U.S. counterparts about a cash-for-freedom deal with gunmen holding an Italian hostage for fear that Americans might block the trade, Italian news reports said yesterday. The decision by operatives of Italy's SISMI military intelligence service to keep the CIA in the dark about the deal for the release of reporter Giuliana Sgrena, might have "short-circuited" communications with U.S. forces controlling the road from Baghdad to the city's airport, the newspaper La Stampa said.

It ended on a stony ridge in fading light. Spec. Pat Tillman lay dying behind a boulder. A young fellow U.S. Army Ranger stretched prone beside him, praying quietly as tracer bullets poured in. "Cease fire! Friendlies!" Tillman cried out. Smoke drifted from a signal grenade Tillman had detonated minutes before in a desperate bid to show his platoon members they were shooting the wrong men. The firing had stopped. Tillman had stood up, chattering in relief. Then the machine gun bursts erupted again. "I could hear the pain in his voice," recalled the young Ranger days later to Army...

The Officers-in-Charge of Swift boats PCF-51, PCF-23, PCF-43, and PCF-3 state that they were not receiving enemy fire after the mine explosion.I do not doubt the sincerity of Mr. James A. Rassmann regarding his version of events on March 13, 1969. My own experience and review of such part of the record as is available convinces me that then First Lieutenant James A. Rassmann is right about then Lieutenant Junior Grade John F. Kerry helping him out of the water. However, Rassmann is wrong about Kerry heroically saving his life.I was an Operations Officer for 2d Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment...

RAF Tornado downed by US missile It is thought a Patriot missile hit the plane An RAF Tornado and its crew are missing after being downed by a US Patriot missile close to the Kuwaiti border.A search for survivors is under way, as is an investigation into how the accident happened. Air Marshal Brian Burridge, commander of British troops in the Gulf, said the Tornado had been hit "obviously by mistake" as it returned from a mission over Iraq. William Farish, the US ambassador to Britain, told the BBC the loss of the plane was "absolutely terrible". It comes...

I know some of us would love to the first to post the "Saddam is Dead" thread or the "MOAB Dropped on Palace" thread, but can we please refrain from posting rumors until you have a LINK. Thanks.

Rumors of high-level Iraqi defections and reports of skirmishes swirled Wednesday, much as wind-blown sand twirled around the columns of American and British troops moving toward Kuwait's border with Iraq. The day began with a rumor that Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz had fled to the Kurdish autonomous area in northern Iraq. Another rumor said Aziz had been shot and wounded while trying to escape Iraq. After a few hours, Aziz deflated both by appearing at a news conference in Iraq's capital to deny he had abandoned Saddam Hussein's regime. The secrecy that descends on front lines when war...