Free Republic

I could have sworn we were going to war against the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS). But the president, a well-known theologian, has informed us that despite what the Muslims of ISIS say, the Islamic State “is not Islamic.” So I guess we’re in a war against SIS — the State of Iraq and Syria. But it still is a war, isn’t it, Mr. Secretary Kerry? “I think that’s the wrong terminology,” he sniffed yesterday. “What we are engaging in is a very significant counterterrorism operation.” Does that make it … a police action? Will we have to...

In "Insatiable" the Economist says "The cost of stopping the Russian bear now is high—but it will only get higher if the West does nothing". Economist: Mr Putin has used the Ukrainian crisis to establish some dangerous precedents. He has claimed a duty to intervene to protect Russian-speakers wherever they are. He has staged a referendum and annexation, in defiance of Ukrainian law. And he has abrogated a commitment to respect Ukraine’s borders, which Russia signed in 1994 when Ukraine gave up nuclear weapons. Throughout, Mr Putin has shown that truth and the law are whatever happens to suit him...

Fred Phelps -- the founding pastor of a Kansas church known for its virulently anti-gay protests at public events, including military funerals -- has died, the church said Thursday. The 84-year-old died of natural causes at 11:15 p.m. Wednesday, according to church spokesman Steve Drain.

Seems quiet out there. Russia invades a country one door down from the EU and crickets from the left. No cries of killing Putin and his family, no signs, No human shields....nothing.

Many have wondered what happened to the anti-war movement since President Bush left office. We think we found it, at the Modern Language Association (MLA). Ten people attended the MLA session on “War, Scar: Representations of US Torture and Imperial Violence since Vietnam.” Philip Metres III of John Carroll College called U.S. government officials “armchair conquerors” because of their War on Terror in places such as Pakistan. As a professor, he recalled how one “sensitive student” wrote a poem on his tender childhood memory of his teddy bear as well as a reflective look at his bloodlust after playing violent,...

Lawmakers appear to be tentatively dividing into four camps over military action in Syria. Each square represents a lawmaker who has indicated how he or she might vote, and the sentiment of the quote is mapped across the four categories. Among the lawmakers mapped below are members of leadership and several "people to watch," a category comprising influential or opinionated individuals, committee chairmen and 2016 presidential hopefuls. Read related article. See something that needs updating? Contact Aaron Blake. Senate Against: 29, leaning NO 11 (total 40) Undecided: 37 For: 23 House Against: 150, leaning NO 103 (total 253). Undecided: 154...

The President didn't make a compelling case for war, IMO. In some ways he contradicted himself: FOLKS IT'S TIME FOR US TO RE-DOUBLE our efforts AGAINST WAR ON SYRIA! Let's go.

As the full Congress returns to Washington Monday, progressive groups are again challenging the White House’s case for a strike against Syria. MoveOn.org released an ad urging lawmakers to avoid authorizing the use of military force against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s regime. A narrator says, “Don’t lead us down this road again,” while images and statistics from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are displayed in the background of the 30-second commercial, titled “Not Again.” The group created the ad after discovering that more than 70% of its 8 million members “firmly opposed” the strike, said Anna Galland, executive director...

Right now, the number of House Republicans planning to back the Syria resolution is stuck at about two dozen, according to the unofficial count several aides are keeping. “We’re not counting for the conference, but some of us are keeping tallies, and it’s looking horrible,” says a source within the leadership’s circle. “I’d say 30 to 40 Republicans, at most, are privately supportive.” In the coming days, insiders say, the number could tick up or down. Any fluctuation, however, will be based almost entirely on how the top players influence their colleagues. Since the leadership isn’t formally whipping, member-to-member consultation...

Judge Jeanine: Another false narrative from the White House? Why should American public believe President Obama about Syria? http://www.foxnews.com/on-air/justice-jeanine/index.html

As we wait for Godot — I mean President Obama’s address to the American people on Tuesday night — it looks at present as if both the House and Senate will not grant him the “yes” vote that he is seeking on a Syria strike. I have read virtually every op-ed and argument on all sides of the question that have appeared, from people on both sides whose views I respect, and one of the problems is that there are good arguments to make on both sides. Today I watched Fox News Sunday, the impressive panel on Fareed Zakaria’s GPS,...

Sen. Rand Paul said Sunday he would not filibuster the president's request to launch strikes against Syria but that he would insist Barack Obama abide by Congress's demands if it votes to prohibit military intervention in the civil war. The Kentucky Republican told "Fox News Sunday" a filibuster would only delay a vote authorizing use of force. "I will insist there is full debate on this and I will insist that I get an amendment and my amendment will say that the vote is binding -- that the president cannot, if we vote him down, decide to go to war...

WASHINGTON -- Anti-war protesters gathered outside the White House on Saturday to voice their opposition to a U.S. military strike in Syria, calling their picket line one that Congress shouldn't cross as it prepares to vote on the issue. At least 150 protesters picketed the sidewalk in front of the White House and marched to Capitol Hill, chanting slogans like "They say more war; we say no war" and carrying signs that said a war on Syria would be "Built on a Lie." "There is a grass-roots uprising against the Democrats and the Republicans," said Medea Benjamin, a founder of...

Dateline Hollywood - In a carefully worded press release today in Hollywood, California, space aliens admitted that they abducted several Hollywood celebrities on January 21st of this year. Among the missing are the following, whose only appearances in public since January 21 have apparently been holograms: Sheryl Crow, Bruce Springsteen, Martin Sheen, Ed Asner, Sean Penn, Tim Robbins, George Clooney, Jackson Browne, Janeane Garofalo, Neil Young, Jessica Lange, Barbra Streisand, Danny Glover, and Susan Sarandon. While many have wondered during the last several days why there has been no outcry of anti-war sentiment from these previously very vocal crusaders for...

A mere 72 hours after President Obama delivered an encomium honoring the life of Dr. Martin Luther King, he announced his intention to pound yet another country with bombs. The oxymoron last week was noteworthy for how little attention it received. Yes—a president memorialized an anti-war activist who derided the U.S. government as “the greatest purveyor of violence in the world.” Then then that same president quickly proposed yet more violence—this time in Syria. Among a political press corps that rarely challenges the Washington principle of “kill foreigners first, ask questions later,” almost nobody mentioned the contradiction. Even worse, as...

Opponents of President Barack Obama's plan to launch air strikes against the government of Syrian President Bashar Assad believe they have momentum on their side. Seasoned anti-war protesters hope this momentum will manifest itself Saturday, when they march from the White House to Capitol Hill. "The fact that [constituent advocacy] is making a political impact in Congress may give people a sense of power and that could make people more likely to participate," Eugene Puryear, a national organizer for the ANSWER Coalition - whose acronym stands for Act Now to Stop War and End Racism - told U.S. News. [GRAYSON:...

Guys, does it seem strange that the left is taking the lead with the protests this time? Shouldn't we tea party/conservative folk also be "on the streets?" or have we lost our passion? Where are the organized Tea Parties against War (and then Obamacare/Amnesty)? I know that Tea Party Patriots, is organizing one on the 10th: http://www.exemptamerica.com/ but shouldn't we be protesting against a war that would support Al Qaeda, and needlessly spend American money, lives, and even Syrian lives for "the President's honor"? Be darned that we are allying on this one issue with the lefties, we'll fight them...

As Harry Reid pushes for a Syria vote next week in the Senate, he and President Barack Obama face a major challenge convincing liberal Democrats to support them. Sens. Tom Udall (D-N.M.) and Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) opposed the resolution authorizing military action in Syria during the Senate Foreign Relations Committee vote on Wednesday afternoon. Another liberal Democrat, Ed Markey of Massachusetts, voted present. The Democratic resistance demonstrates the uphill battle that the Senate majority leader and Obama face on the Senate floor. Reid needs 60 votes to cut off an expected filibuster, and so far, it’s unclear whether he can...

It’s 9:15 on Tuesday night and Capitol Hill is quiet as Senator Rand Paul emerges from Fox News’s studio near Union Station. His face is slightly smeared with powder from his appearance minutes earlier on Hannity, and Sergio Gor, a political aide, is trailing him. Paul walks quickly to the street, heading toward his nearby apartment. It’s been a long day for him, starting with a flight from Kentucky and followed by a packed afternoon at the Foreign Relations Committee. He’s eager to get to his place, rest up, and get ready for a busy week of debate. But then...

Barack Obama ran for president as the last of the red-hot pacifists, so it might have sounded preposterous to predict that after a few security briefings at the White House, President Obama would follow in the same policy footsteps of horrid warmonger George Bush, with his anti-terrorist wars and strategies. So where is the anti-war movement now? "What anti-war movement?" former Congressman Dennis Kucinich asked when called for comment last week. Medea Benjamin of the radical group Code Pink agreed: "The antiwar movement is a shadow of its former self under the Bush years." Cindy Sheehan quipped, "The 'anti-war left'...