Free Republic

Islamists' Catch-22 Frank J. Gaffney, Jr. Try a little thought experiment. What would have happened in this country during the Cold War if the Soviet Union successfully neutralized anti-communists opposed to the Kremlin’s plans for world domination? Of course, Moscow strove to discredit those in America and elsewhere who opposed its totalitarian agenda – especially after Sen. Joseph McCarthy’s excesses made it fashionable to vilify patriots by accusing them of believing communists were “under every bed.” But what if the USSR and its ideological soul-mates in places like China, North Korea, Cuba, Eastern Europe and parts of Africa had been...

There is no more important front in the global conflict best described as the "War for the Free World" than the struggle to determine the nature and future course of Islam. If Islamists seeking to impose their intolerant, repressive strain of the faith — more a totalitarian political ideology (Islamofascism) than a religion — on the rest of us (Muslim and non-Muslim alike) are able to prevail, we are condemned to the clash of civilizations forecast by Osama bin Laden. If, on the other hand, Muslims who reject that ideology — the anti-Islamists — succeed in offering their co-religionists an...

I began this column last week with a quote attributed to Abraham Lincoln in which harsh treatment was deemed warranted for congressmen who willfully take actions during wartime that damage morale and undermine the military. It turns out to have been a paraphrase of our 16th president's attitude toward those who engage in such behavior, rather than a direct quote. I regret the error and should, instead, have used the following, verbatim excerpt from a letter President Lincoln wrote in June 1863, as Robert E. Lee's army was on the march north to the fateful battle of Gettysburg. Mr. Lincoln...

Now we know. The Sunday morning CNN program hosted by Wolf Blitzer provided an explanation for at least some of the bizarre behavior in evidence lately in Washington. In response to a video clip of Senator Jon Kyl (Republican of Arizona) making the sensible point that it is "nuts" in a time of war to be disclosing our intelligence sources and methods, former Carter National Security Advisor Zbigniew Brzezinski declared that "we are not at war." While he acknowledged that there are serious threats, he suggested that it was fear-mongering to talk about being in a war, a practice used...

President Bush is a man on a mission this week. He is seeking to reinvigorate his leadership and rehabilitate his public standing by addressing an issue of enormous import to the country and of no less concern to its citizens: the insecurity of our borders and the dysfunction of our immigration policies. It remains to be seen whether Mr. Bush will benefit politically from his visits to border states and meetings with those charged with protecting them and the rest of us from illegal aliens - many of whom are looking for economic opportunity, but some of whom may well...

Since it seems the only news that is fit to print (or air) these days has to do with Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath, finding a related angle to call needed public and leadership attention to something else happening in the world requires a little ingenuity. Since the stakes associated with another, largely unremarked story – involving a drama that will reach its denouement at UN headquarters this week – may be nothing less than the future sovereignty and character of the United States, however, a way must be found. As it happens, the answer lies in the toxic liquid...

The U.S. Senate is scheduled today to decide whether to clear the way for the most odious, anti-American piece of legislation in memory: S.147, the "Native Hawaiian Government Reorganization Act." Incredibly, as things stand now, more than 61 Senators are expected to vote to begin a process that would ineluctably unravel the United States as a nation.

She would be well advised to seek the counsel of authentically peaceable, pro-American and anti-Islamist Muslim leaders Karen Hughes, confidant to George W. Bush and master political strategist, has recently returned from Texas to take on one of the most important and heretofore thankless tasks in Washington: Waging the "War of Ideas" component of the present global conflict against the "evil ideology" best described as Islamofascism. The starting point for Mrs. Hughes' vital work has to be an understanding that not all Muslims are adherents to this virulently intolerant ideology. Strategies for defeating the latter must, of necessity, involve reaching...

Like John Wayne in a classic Hollywood Western, John Bolton has ridden to the rescue at the United Nations with scarcely a moment to spare. As a result, he may just be able to spare America and George Bush the mugging — let's call it the UN AmBush — that the denizens of the East River had in mind for us next month.

Cindy Sheehan is the mother of a fallen soldier, Casey Sheehan, a man who volunteered to serve his country and gave his life so that people in Iraq might have a government that did not threaten them, and us. As such, she is entitled to our sympathy and gratitude. Unfortunately, she has lately become something else: the poster child for surrender....

Memorandum for President George W. Bush: The speech you will give tonight about the status of and prospects for the war will likely prove to be among the most important of your presidency. In the final analysis, the American people and history will both judge the latter principally by your conduct of the former. Indeed, you were rehired by the voters largely because they had more confidence in your leadership as a war president than in your opponent's judgment and abilities. To continue enjoying this confidence, however, the speech must not be seen as a box-checking exercise in which today's...

Last week, the President of the United States effusively praised Mahmoud Abbas, Yasser Arafat's right-hand man for some forty years. In the White House Rose Garden, Mr. Bush described Abbas as a "man of courage," explaining that he takes "great faith in not only [Abbas'] personal character, but the fact that he campaigned on a platform of peace — he said, 'Vote for me, I am for peace.' And the Palestinians voted overwhelmingly to support him." In light of what is actually happening in the proto-state Abbas (a.k.a. Abu Mazen) was elected last January to govern, such characterizations seem at...

It has long been understood that the Spanish socialists shamelessly exploited the March 11, 2004, terrorist attacks in Madrid’s train station for political advantage. They did so with palpable disregard for a frightening fact: The far-reaching geostrategic repercussions of that incident — which vaporized the ruling conservative party’s electoral lead just days before the polling — gave those seeking similar results elsewhere every incentive to engage in violence against other democracies’ electoral processes. But what if the perpetrators were neither Islamofacists, as the winning socialists immediately asserted, nor the Basque terrorist organization known as ETA, as the government of José...

The Senate Foreign Relations Committee is ready to vote on President Bush's nominee for U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. Democrats have lined up to oppose Undersecretary of State John Bolton's appointment. Committee Republicans are expected to support it. For two weeks, however, the former have hoped to pick off one or more of the latter by subjecting Mr. Bolton to a series of allegations and charges that call into question his judgment, integrity and conduct. Click to learn more... As the votes on the Bolton nomination are cast, Senators should bear in mind the following: John Bolton is eminently...

The explosion of a BP oil refinery not far from Houston last week left at least 15 dead and over 100 wounded. It also served as the latest, vivid reminder of a truth we have for too long chosen to ignore: This nation is dangerously vulnerable to severe economic dislocation and possibly dire national-security threats as a result of its excessive reliance on imported oil and the infrastructure that transforms most of that oil into fuel for our transportation sector. Of course, the limited number of aging and, in some cases at least, increasingly dangerous refineries is but one aspect...

Democrats in the House of Representatives and beyond have made no secret of their desire to unseat House Majority Leader Tom DeLay — and for good reason. Rarely has Mr. DeLay's position been occupied by a man who more effectively fulfilled the two roles defined by its title: (1) An ability to reflect the views of the majority, not just in "the people's house," but across the country. (2) And a true capacity to lead not only the sometimes fractious members of his own caucus but, with impressive frequency, to build bipartisan support for positions he shares with President Bush....

Commentary "River Kwai Syndrome" Plays in Law of the Sea Frank J. Gaffney Jr. Proceedings, March 2005 Discuss this article in the eForum. In 1957, Hollywood created the unforgettable image of military men throwing themselves into a construction project, having lost sight of the fact that the result could be used by the enemy to the grave detriment of their comrades and country. Unfortunately, nearly 50 years after The Bridge on the River Kwai entered the public consciousness, the Navy seems afflicted with the same syndrome as it encourages U.S. ratification of the controversial U.N. Convention on the Law of...

At the end of 1940, President Franklin D. Roosevelt delivered a powerful "fireside chat," a fitting backdrop to the visit to Europe this week by his successor, George W. Bush. In his radio address, Roosevelt summoned a reluctant America to sacrifice to produce the arms urgently needed by freedom-loving people in Britain and elsewhere at risk of being overrun by Nazism and other forms of tyranny. He called the United States "the great arsenal of democracy." In his travels, Mr. Bush will meet with leaders of a number of countries whose national survival in World War II depended critically upon...

The American people seem likely to decide who will be their next President on the basis of whose policies will best provide for their security. Unfortunately for George W. Bush, four senior congressional Republicans are taking steps that will make it harder for him to differentiate the GOP's defense agenda from that of his challenger. Presumably, none of the four wish to be known as "Kerry Republicans," but unless they change course, the effect of their actions could be not only to weaken U.S. security but to undermine their party's hopes to hold onto the White House for another four...

<p>This holiday season, the U.S. government has been warning that foreign aircraft might be hijacked and used to attack American targets, leading to cancellations of some flights from France and demands that sky marshals be aboard certain other planes coming to this country. Worrisome as the intelligence-intercepted chatter that prompted such actions might be, a much more ominous problem may not be getting the attention it deserves -- the danger arising from radical Muslims (known as Islamists) already in the United States.</p>