Free Republic

State Department officials on Monday confirmed Feisal Abdul Rauf, the Imam of the so-called Ground Zero Mosque, will soon be going on a trip of the Middle East and the U.S. government will be picking up the tab. The planned construction of a mosque near Ground Zero in New York City has set off a contentious national debate over religious freedom in the U.S., drawing impassioned opposition from some families of 9/11 victims. Rauf has emerged as a controversial figure because of his refusal to acknowledge Hamas as a terrorist organization, which is how the U.S. government classifies the group....

WASHINGTON– State Department officials on Monday confirmed Feisal Abdul Rauf, the Imam of the so-called Ground Zero Mosque, will soon be going on a trip of the Middle East and the U.S. government will be picking up the tab. The planned construction of a mosque near Ground Zero in New York City has set off a contentious national debate over religious freedom in the U.S., drawing impassioned opposition from some families of 9/11 victims.

The State Department has lifted a ban on exports of night-vision equipment that was imposed in 2007 on a U.S. company caught selling sensitive defense articles to China and other countries without a license. Meanwhile, two key U.S. senators on Tuesday wrote to Gen. James L. Jones, the White House national security adviser, warning that the Obama administration's plan to loosen controls on exports of sensitive goods and technology could undermine national security. ...Three years ago, the State Department said ITT had sold sensitive information to China, Singapore and Britain for night-vision systems without proper export licenses, violating the Arms...

Proving conclusively they're as politically tone deaf as they are inept, the Obama administration today paved the way for an Islamist 'scholar' with deep ties to terrorism and a thirst for the extinction of Israel to re-enter the United States. The breathtaking arrogance of these people beyond is beyond belief. I guess they weren't paying attention last night when Scott Brown stressed the importance of the war on terror. The State Department has cleared the way for two prominent but controversial scholars to return to the United States. State Department spokesman Darby Holladay said Wednesday that Secretary of State Hillary...