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I’d like to think the ranks of constitutional conservatism were immune to the scourge of “trendiness” — but, embracing the biblical concept of man’s fallen nature, I know better. Even “right-wingers” like myself can be susceptible to societal fads. For a few years, for instance, it’s been au courant in some precincts to claim political conservative bona-fides while trashing the incomparable Rush Limbaugh or Fox News. More common is the growing, “edgy” tendency to own “fiscal restraint” and “small government” convictions while junking traditional “social issues”. This past week, marking the tenth anniversary of America’s Iraq invasion, another example of...

Paralyzed veteran Tomas Young, an outspoken critic of the Iraq war, wrote what he said was his final letter to former President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney before he dies in hospice. In an interview with Truthdig columnist Chris Hedges, Young said he had made a decision to go into hospice care, to stop feeding and fade away, "instead of committing the conventional suicide." Normally, to enter hospice care a physician must determine that an individual has less than six months to live. Then 22, Young was wounded in Sadr City in April 2004, only five days...

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Ten years have passed since the United States and its allies invaded Iraq, and it appears the majority of Americans consider this a regrettable anniversary. Fifty-three percent of Americans believe their country "made a mistake sending troops to fight in Iraq" and 42% say it was not a mistake. The March 7-10 results mark the first time Gallup has asked this question since the full withdrawal of American troops in December 2011. Although majorities or near-majorities have viewed the conflict as a mistake continuously since August 2005, the current 53% is down from the high point of...

When it is completed, it will be the tallest building in Manhattan and one of incredible poignancy for New York City. One World Trade Center reached its 90th floor this week - with just 14 more floors to go until the top. The structure can now be seen from all five boroughs of the city. Stunning pictures showed how the area has been reborn since the 9/11 attacks more than a decade ago where almost 3,000 people lost their lives in the worst ever terrorist attack on American soil. Towering symbol: The fog rolls out across downtown Manhattan, captured from the...

American icon Tony Bennett took to the airwaves at Sirius Radio to promote his new album, “Duets II,” but it’s what he said about war, peace, terrorism, and who was to blame for the Sept. 11 terror attacks that could get people talking. Sitting down with Howard Stern on Monday, the 85-year-old singer dodged questions about his sex life and prior drug use. He did so with a laugh, but matters about the U.S. military and 9/11 were fair game, and on these topics the Grammy winner held little back... “I’m anti-war,” he said. “It’s the lowest form of human...

After reading Krugman’s repugnant piece on 9/11, I cancelled my subscription to the New York Times this AM.--Donald Rumsfeld 52 minutes ago

What started out as a patriotic gesture intended to remember the nearly 3,000 lives lost on September 11, 2001, ended up becoming a major verbal scuffle that one North Arizona University student calls “a free speech violation.” The incident, which has likely evolved into something much larger than either side originally anticipated, occurred when students were passing out American flags on their public university campus last Friday. The Arizona Daily Sun shares more about the commemorative activity:

RUSH: George Bush yesterday, the 9/11 memorials. You know, a friend of mine observed this. What did Obama do? Obama went to a soup kitchen, 9/11, a day of service, as though we've got something to apologize for, for what happened on 9/11. A friend of mine observes Obama and Bloomberg both acted like it was a natural disaster. Bush, George W. Bush, who, by the way, stands tall in retrospect. Ten years, not one attack. Great statesmanship. If somebody told me today they wanted to put Bush's face on Mount Rushmore, I'd be in there supporting it. I saw...

Roads are closed in front of the county office building at 2100 Clarendon Boulevard, in Courthouse, while authorities investigate a suspicious envelope. Police were unable to provide any additional information about the investigation, but a photo of the scene shows the county’s Bomb Squad truck and a Bomb Squad member in full blast gear. ART bus routes 41, 62 and 77 are delayed due to the closures.

On the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, Senators John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Diane Feinstein (D-Calif.) appeared separately on “Fox News Sunday” to warn that the United States needs to stay active in the Middle East in order to fight the War on Terror. McCain said that the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq were correct, but also talked about mistakes that were made. “I don't think we should ever forget that those [Sept. 11, 2001] attacks originated in Afghanistan. I think we did the right thing there, but I also think we've learned a lot of lessons,” McCain said. McCain...

Sen. John McCain, a critic of President George W. Bush's use of “enhanced interrogation techniques” in the war on terror, reflected on the “issue of torture” a decade after the attacks on Sept. 11, 2001. “Abu Ghraib and the torture of prisoners hurt us a great deal and did provide a propaganda tool for our enemies including Al Qaeda,” the Arizona Republican said on "Fox News Sunday." Noting that on the 10th anniversary of those attacks he did not want to dwell on his differences with the current and previous administration, McCain applauded both Bush and President Barack Obama for...

This is the 10th anniversary of what some have said is a seminal event in our national history. I would argue it was less a seminal event, and more an awakening as to the danger posed to the West since the 17th century when the armies of Kara Mustafa – capitalizing on the previous century’s work of warlord Suleiman the Magnificent – attacked Christian armies across eastern Europe. Suleiman’s and Mustafa’s wars were Jihads against the West. And though stopped at the Gates of Vienna in 1683, that Jihad has never ceased. But the enemy has been unable to effectively...

A commercial passenger plane has crashed into one of the World Trade Center buildings in Manhattan, N.Y.

Congressman Allen West said Wednesday the nation hasn't learned the lessons from the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks largely because political correctness is hobbling political leaders from confronting the threat he sees from Islamic extremists. West, a Republican who represents Broward and Palm Beach counties, made his comments at a Washington, D.C., event at which he hosted the screening of a conservative Christian group's film "Sacrificed Survivors: The Untold Story of the Ground Zero Mega Mosque." "My fear is that maybe we could end up forgetting what happened on 9/11 because of certain things like political correctness or this desire...

Why did radical Islamic terrorists kill almost 3,000 Americans a decade ago? Few still believe the old myth that prior U.S. foreign policy or support for Israel logically earned us Osama bin Laden's wrath. After all, the U.S. throughout the 1990s had saved Islamic peoples from Bosnia and Kosovo to Somalia and Kuwait. Russia and China, in contrast, had oppressed or killed tens of thousands of their own Muslims without much fear of provoking al Qaeda. Moreover, thousands of Arabs have been killed recently, but by their own Libyan and Syrian governments, not Israeli Defense Forces. Al Qaeda still issues...

People should stop calling the site of the September 11 attacks "Ground Zero," New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg said on Tuesday, urging Americans to move past a term long linked with the World Trade Center's twin towers destruction. "We will never forget the devastation of the area that came to be known as ground zero. Never. But the time has come to call those 16 acres what they are: The World Trade Center and the National September 11 Memorial and Museum," Bloomberg said in a speech on the rebuilding of lower Manhattan. Ground Zero originated as a term to describe...

The cousin of a British-born hero of 9/11, who died in the Twin Towers, has spoken of his continuing sadness and pride at what his relative did that day. Rick Rescorla, who was head of security for banking firm Morgan Stanley Dean Witter, is credited with saving 2,700 people ten years ago by making sure they left the World Trade Centre's South Tower before it collapsed. The 62-year-old Cornishman, who became a US citizen in the 1960s and was decorated during service in the Vietnam War, foresaw the terrorist attacks, with his warnings featuring in a Channel 4 documentary in...

Upon request, I have collected links to many of the earliest threads from September 11, 2001 below. I reviewed threads from the very first FR report (http://www.freeRepublic.com/focus/fr/520255/posts)through thread number 520326. Feel free to add other significant threads, including photo archives. Bumping this thread periodically instead of the original threads will also avoid scaring people with the headlines. Bookmark this thread, and bump it from time to time when the nation and the press seems to forget why we need resolve in the face of evil. Forgive some of the early misinformation and broken photo links, and recall the horror and ...

On a summer day in Shoreham, New York, the Kevin Williams Memorial Field is a peaceful place. An American flag ripples as its steel chain clanks against the 40-foot pole. At the base of the pole, worn baseballs seem to grow from the earth, resting among the flowers. On one baseball, there's a handwritten message: "We Will Never Forget." Kevin Williams was 24 years old when he was killed on Sept. 11, 2001. He worked on the 104th floor of the World Trade Center's south tower as a bond salesman for investment firm Sandler O'Neill. He loved his job and...

Ron DiFrancesco's voice softens and trails off. He barely finishes his sentences as he recalls his experience on Sept. 11, 2001. He speaks as if it happened yesterday. "It was a living hell," he says. "I was mere seconds from death. ... I didn't know I was going to get out." DiFrancesco is believed to be the last person out of the South Tower of the World Trade Center before it collapsed. According to some reports, he was one of only four people to escape from above the 81st floor.