Free Republic

Soon after the Navy SEAL raid on Bin Laden’s house, a Pakistani official told me that the United States had direct evidence that the ISI chief, Lt. Gen. Ahmed Shuja Pasha, knew of Bin Laden’s presence in Abbottabad. Colleagues at The Times began questioning officials in Washington about which high-ranking officials in Pakistan might also have been aware of Bin Laden’s whereabouts, but everyone suddenly clammed up. It was as if a decision had been made to contain the damage to the relationship between the two governments. “There’s no smoking gun,” officials in the Obama administration began to say. America’s...

Tumbleweeds overtake neighborhood and trap families in their homes Recent tornado-like winds have covered a Colorado Springs, Colorado neighborhood in tumbleweeds. The large dried plants have invaded the Cuchares Ranches subdivision to such a degree that some residents said they were trapped in their homes and had to call 911 for help. “I look outside and tumbleweeds are literally blowing up and over our house,” Melissa Walker told KRDO NewsChannel 13. “I didn’t expect to be able to jump from my second story window into a pile of tumbleweeds.” In some places, the tumbleweeds are stacked 10-feet high. As reported...

In January, 2000, Malaysia’s capital was where key members of Al Qaeda held their “Kuala Lumpur summit” to plan the bombing of the USS Cole that October, as well as the later attacks of 9/11/01. In light of this, and other facts pointing to Kuala Lumpur playing host to a hotbed of Islamic terrorists over the years, the baffling mystery of the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 provokes renewed scrutiny of Kuala Lumpur in fostering international terrorism to date. In this context, Malaysia’s Islamic government and prevailing majority Mohammedan culture comes across as either grossly incompetent, or even somewhat...

Rep. Charles Rangel called an apparent building explosion and collapse in his home district in Harlem, New York the most “horrific” thing that has hit his home district in his time in Washington and his community’s Sept. 11. “I’ve never had anything this horrific that’s happened in my community since I’ve been in Washington,” Rangel told NBC’s New York affiliate Wednesday as news reports of the fire response continued to come in. “I hope that soon, and very soon, it will be contained and we can go back to some degree of normal normalcy.”

Mohammed Zammar, the al Qaeda operative responsible for recruiting the suicide-hijack pilots for the 9/11 attacks, has reportedly been freed inside Syria. Zammar's freedom was reported by Zaid Benjamin, the Washington correspondent for Radio Sawa, on his Twitter feed on Mar. 2. Writing for Al-Monitor, John Rosenthal cited multiple sources confirming Zammar's freedom in an account published on Mar. 10. Zammar was captured in Morocco in late 2001. Unlike most of the 9/11 co-conspirators who were captured, however, Zammar was not transferred to US custody. Instead, he was sent to Syria, where he was imprisoned by Bashar al Assad's regime....

"9/11 plotter released in Syria prisoner exchange" SNIPPET: "The al-Qaeda recruiter reputed to have assembled the so-called Hamburg Cell, which planned and largely carried out the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington, has been set free in a prisoner exchange between rebel and regime forces in Syria. Islamist rebel group Ahrar al-Sham has secured the release of 9/11 plotter and alleged al-Qaeda core member Mohammed Haydar Zammar, adding to concerns about the composition of the Islamic Front. A naturalized German citizen of Syrian origin, Mohammed Haydar Zammar left Germany shortly after the attacks and traveled to Morocco, where he was reportedly...

Arguments were heard Thursday in a case brought by an atheist group against placing what’s known as the World Trade Center cross in the National September 11 Museum.

**SPOILER ALERT** Most of the suspense and therefore enjoyment of Liam Neeson's new action thriller "Non Stop" comes from trying to figure out who the villain is and why this person is doing what he or she is doing. If you read the rest of this article, it will spoil the entire movie for you. Period. You have been warned. There is no question that "Non-Stop" is a well-made, involving, not-terribly-dumb action-thriller that delivers plenty of suspense and endears Liam Neeson further into the heart of those of us who love well-made, involving, not-terribly-dumb action-thrillers. "Non-Stop" is a good movie....

An Ellenwood homeowner called 911 three times during a home invasion and said she could not get an operator on the phone. Danielle Bryan was at home alone on Tuesday night around 8 p.m. She said a Jeep drove around her house and a man was looking through her window. Bryan called 911. . . . The logs also show Bryan waited nine seconds, 11 seconds, and one minute and 21 seconds before hanging up. Bryan never got through to a dispatcher. . . . She ran and hid in her bedroom closet. Her alarm company called her and then...

Grover Norquist, who founded Americans for Tax Reform (ATR)... his connections to Muslim Brotherhood groups and individuals in the U.S. is irrefutable. One such individual is Abdurahman Alamoudi. Another is Suhail Khan, whose father helped found the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA) and the Muslim Students Association (MSA). His mother sat on the board of a Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) chapter... Norquist helped Khan become the White House gatekeeper relative to selecting Muslim leaders who the Bush administration partnered with before and after 9/11. Those Muslim leaders belonged to Muslim Brotherhood front groups. ... Last year it was...

I live in a new gilded age in a golden city. But sometimes the cracks show, even here. The façade crumbles and you find yourself naked, in solitary confinement, in a wretched, feces-stained prison. How? As a result of my efforts to help injured bicyclists by calling 911, I was, in short order: separated from my friend, violently tackled, arrested, taken to county jail, stripped and left in a solitary cell. I am writing this story because, if it could happen to me, it could happen to you, and I feel the need to do something to help prevent this...

This week saw an abundance of foul creatures vying for our Jerk of the Week honors. You had Obama lying through his teeth on national tv during his Bill O'Reilly interview. There was media outlets and Democrats spinning that less jobs under ObamaCare was a good thing. However, the most odious thing that I saw this week (I guess I'm just numb watching Obama lie constantly) was news concerning the 9/11 Memorial and Museum. That is why they are our Jerk of the Week. It was announced this week that the 9/11 Memorial and Museum was going to charge an...

Joe Daniels, President and CEO of the 9/11 Memorial and Museum, has announced a $24 mandatory admission fee for the 9/11 Memorial. It’s a museum, not a movie. It’s a memorial, not a theme park. What do they charge at Gettysburg? Pearl Harbor? Salaries at the “non-profit” 9/11 Memorial and Museum are obscene. This allegedly non-profit organization is supposed to be a tribute to 9/11 victims. “It was built to tell the story of 9/11 to future generations about the worst day in American history. It was never intended to be a revenue-generating tourist attraction with a prohibitive budget and...

<p>EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (CBSNewYork/AP) — Talk about the wrong place at the wrong time.</p> <p>A man jumped onto the podium during Super Bowl MVP Malcolm Smith‘s postgame news conference, grabbed the microphone and said the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks were “perpetrated by people with your own government.”</p>

EAST RUTHERFORD -- The Brooklyn man arrested after he interrupted Super Bowl XVIII MVP Malcolm Smith's postgame news conference didn't start Sunday looking to make it onto national TV and, ultimately, into handcuffs.

I am weighed down by some thoughts I have been having lately. I think that since you are my family out there is Spectator-land, I will share them with you. (Although usually family are the last people who want to hear your thoughts. My sister is an exception, of course.) First, a few days ago, I had a brief talk with a thoughtful high school student in my beloved Greenville. The topic was whether or not Osama bin Laden had realized his objectives in the attack of 9/11. The woman had all kinds of brilliant insights, and herewith I add...

Man suffers smoke inhalation trying to get Xbox out of burning home • Fire possibly started in electrical junction box OLATHE, Kan. —A man suffered minor smoke inhalation early Friday morning when he ran back into his burning home to retrieve an Xbox, according to Olathe firefighters. Fire crews were called to the home in the 800 block of Loula Street about 3:30 a.m. Two men lived in the home. They were awakened by smoke alarms sounding. Authorities said both men got out, but one man went back into the home to get the video game system and was overcome...

Instead of blowing people up, the alleged mastermind of the 9/11 terrorist attack wants to bring converts to Islam by subtler means of persuasion. Khalid Sheik Mohammed is seeking to convince members of the military tribunal trying him at Guantamo Bay he has renounced violence. In a 36-page manifesto published in the Huffington Post, he even argues, “The Holy Koran forbids us to use force as a means of converting” and reaching “truth and reality never comes by muscles and force but by using the mind and wisdom.” “Don’t believe the media that the mujahedeen believe that Islam spread in...

A federal appeals court on Thursday reinstated Saudi Arabia as a defendant in lawsuits claiming it provided support to al-Qaida before the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks. A three-judge panel of the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said restoring Saudi Arabia was necessary to be consistent with a ruling by a different 2nd Circuit panel that allowed another lawsuit to go forward in which a man sued Afghanistan and other defendants for the death of his wife in the Sept. 11 attacks. The 2nd Circuit and a lower court had previously ruled that Saudi Arabia was protected by sovereign...

The enemies within and without seem to have been shrouding an act of war and Americans need to wrest control of our Republic back into the hands of patriots. A scandal that spans three presidencies and more is coming to light. In a non-defined conflict against terrorism, we have lost over 6,750 U.S. service members who have died in Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom. American blood spilled in wars that do not attack those who attacked us on 9-11. To put this in perspective, fewer died in Pearl Harbor and we nuked the Japanese. We were told after...