Free Republic

There is an ancient saying best summarized as: "Those who are kind to the cruel in the end will be cruel to the kind." We saw this warning vividly and sorrowfully cast aside at the Summit of All Americas as President Obama smiled and warmly embraced the thug, Hugo Chavez, who sits astride Venezuela while its frail democracy dies by a "thousand cuts" under his growing dictatorship. Obama greeted Hugo Chavez 24 hours after the Venezuelan ruler said, "The United States Empire is on its way down and will be finished in the near future, inshallah!" The Arabic word Chavez...

I held off on assessing the transcript, I wanted to see how Fred Thompson came across to a viewing audience. The Upsides: Thompson is a likeable figure. He comes across as a decent man; there's none of the I-don't-trust-this-guy-slickness of John Edwards or the brittleness of Hillary. When he hits a line, like "our people have shed more blood for the liberty and freedom of other peoples in this country than all the other countries put together," it really works; that one spurred some "whoo!"s from the audience, and not every politician can do that. And I think some of...

WASHINGTON: Pakistan's role in nuclear proliferation is getting fresh attention in Washington amid a fervid debate in the United States about how close Iran is to building a nuclear weapons arsenal. Having credulously accepted the Bush administration's explanation, based on "assurances" from Islamabad, that Pakistan was not officially involved in the proliferation and it was the work of a rogue scientist, US analysts are now re-examining this claim in the light of new relevations about Iran's nuclear programme. Based on Iranian president Ahmedinijad's assertions about advances in the programme, it now transpires that Pakistan's rogue scientist AQ Khan may have...

Joe Lieberman: U.S. Prepared for Iran Strike Sen. Joe Lieberman said Sunday that the U.S. is prepared to deal with the Iranian nuclear crisis militarily - even if the war in Iraq continues to require a substantial American troop commitment. "We have the most powerful military in the history of the world," Lieberman told CBS's "Face the Nation." "We are capable, if necessary, of continuing to pursue our aims militarily in Iraq and Afghanistan and elsewhere and, if necessary, conduct a military attack on Iran." Lieberman said the he hoped an attack on Iran, if it should come, would be...

Israel 'will not sit back' and let Iran build atomic weapons By Tim Butcher in Jerusalem (Filed: 23/01/2006) Israel issued thinly-veiled warnings yesterday that it was preparing to take direct action to stop Iran, its bitter enemy, acquiring nuclear weapons. Remarks by Shaul Mofaz, the defence minister, raised the temperature of the worsening international crisis over the Islamic republic's nuclear ambitions and prompted Iran into a swift and strongly-worded response. The war of words increased the prospect of another pre-emptive strike by Israel similar to that in 1981 when its warplanes destroyed Saddam Hussein's nuclear programme with an attack on...