Free Republic

The announcement that Britain is largely to close down its military role in Iraq by May 31, 2009, is welcome news to both this country and Iraq. It represents a most significant achievement after what will have been a very difficult and challenging six years. We should remember that this saga does not start in 2003, but rather in 1990 with Saddam Hussein’s invasion of Kuwait – an act of outright international aggression. After the forcible removal of his forces from Kuwait, there followed a decade and more of brutality towards his own people and defiance of at least 16...

Put up the bunting, dust off the drums and polish the trumpets. While few today would say of the war in Iraq "Twas a famous victory", the continuing controversy over one of the most contentious conflicts of modern times should not detract from the heroic efforts made by the tens of thousands of British soldiers, sailors, airmen and marines who have done their country proud these past five years. From the minute they were deployed in the spring of 2003, to the moment when the Union Flag is lowered next year at their air base on the outskirts of Basra,...

THE HAGUE, 19/12/08 - The UK's House of Lords will show Party for Freedom (PVV) leader Geert Willders' controversial Islam film Fitna. So says Wilders following the European Parliament's refusal to show the short film. The EP on Wednesday rejected a request by the UK MEP Gerard Batten of the anti-European Independent Party to allow Fitna to be shown in Strasbourg to MEPs and journalists. Wilders called the ban "censorship" and compared the EP to Saudi Arabia. Wilders has recently shown Fitna at meetings in Jerusalem and New York. He said the film will also be on view in the...

In Scotland, exceeding the speed limit by more than 30 mph is generally an infraction penalized by the loss of one’s license. Except, it would seem, if you are a polygamous Muslim husband dashing between homes in an effort to service more than one wife. That exact scenario occurred earlier this year when a Scottish judge allowed a Muslim husband to retain his license after he was booked for driving 64 mph in a 30 mph zone. “He has one wife in Motherwell and another in Glasgow and sleeps with one one night and stays with the other the next...

FOURTEEN suspected al-Qaeda terrorists were detained in Brussels today before Gordon Brown was due to meet EU leaders. The sweep came just hours before a summit brought together the heads of the 27 EU countries in Brussels. One of the suspects is believed to be a suicide bomber mounting an operation "from which he was not expected to come back". It is thought a terror attack was being planned – but the target has not been revealed. Nearly 250 police officers raided 16 locations in the capital and one in the eastern city of Liege overnight. Computers, data storage equipment...

A Muslim lawyer has launched an extraordinary rant against Christmas, branding the celebration 'evil'. Hate preacher Anjem Choudary claimed the festival was the 'pathway to hell' and urged his followers to boycott it. 'In the world today many Muslims, especially those residing in Western countries, are exposed to the evil celebration Christmas,' he raged in a sermon broadcast on the internet. 'Many take part in the festival celebrations by having Christmas turkey dinners. 'Decorating the house, purchasing Christmas trees or having Christmas turkey meals are completely prohibited by Allah. 'Many still practise this corrupt celebration as a remembrance of the...

A policeman who accused his force of promoting gay rights over religious beliefs was last night sacked for misconduct.PC Graham Cogman, 49, had been disciplined after sending emails to colleagues quoting biblical texts and making remarks considered offensive to homosexuals.In one message he suggested homosexual sex was sinful and in another, addressed to a gay liaison officer, included the phrase ''love the sinner hate the deed.'PC Cogman also circulated the details of an American organisation which offered 'to cure' homosexuality.The devoted family man and church-goer has now been fired by Norfolk Police after a misconduct hearing yesterday. The committed...

For a nation who forged the largest and most powerful empire ever to rule the face of the earth, the current generations of Brits are an emasculated pathetic shadow of their ancestors. Britain and the rest of Europe are an example of how great civilizations are destroyed from the liberal cancer within. Obamamination and the democRATS are about to launch the final offensive against the last bastion of the Judeo-Christian western civilization….the USA. Today I tip my hat in honor on the last of the real Brits standing up to liberal PC tyranny. Come January it will be our turn....

So Boris Johnson, hot on the heels of Colin Powell, has now endorsed Barack Obama for president in his Telegraph column. Barack Obama: Why can't we judge him on his policies alone? As usual - and notwithstanding the brilliant writer and impressive politician that he is - it's unclear quite how seriously one should take the Mayor of London. After all, it was only last year, in another rather ill-judged article, that the then Conservative Member of Parliament for Henley endorsed one Hillary Clinton.

A significant terror plot is being investigated by the security services. the counter-terrorism minister has warned. Lord West, who advises the Prime Minister on security matters, told the House of Lords: "There is another great plot building up again and we are monitoring this." His comments came the day after the House of Lords forced the Government to abandon plans to extend detention without trial for terror suspects to 42 days.

Two alleged terrorists threw petrol bombs and shouted "Allahu Akbar" - meaning God is great - as they drove a flaming Jeep into Glasgow airport, a court heard. The vehicle, driven by Kafeel Ahmed, a PhD student from India, smashed into the airport at 3.13pm on June 30 last year. Ahmed, 28, who died a month after the attack, had prepared a will addressed to Osama bin Laden and the leaders of jihad [holy war] in Iraq, Woolwich Crown Court was told.

Earlier this year I had to warn people about the various siren voices advocating the recognition of Islamic Sharia in the public law of this country. It seems now that this was no theoretical advocacy, and that Sharia courts are not only operating here but claim to have the sanction of the County and High Courts in the enforcement of their decisions. As no one, to my knowledge, has denied this claim, we must assume it is true.

It is reported that a Surrey hotel refused a potential guest a room because he was a soldier, which, if true, is appalling. But it is the latest manifestation of a worrying trend. Recently a soldier on his way back home from Iraq was turfed off a train because he did not have his Armed Forced ID card which entitled him to a reduced fare. Rifleman Zachary Hoyland was in full uniform at the time. Why are soldiers in uniform not allowed free travel, in the same way that police officers in uniform are?

In January 2007, Channel 4 broadcast Undercover Mosque, an investigation into what was being preached in mainstream mosques in Britain. The results were shocking: imams were shown praising the murder of British soldiers, attacking democracy, and condemning attempts to integrate Muslims into British society. The reaction to that programme proved the widespread reluctance to accept the reality of what takes place under the blanket of religion: Undercover Mosque was condemned for "damaging community relations" by West Midlands Police, who wanted to prosecute the programme makers and Channel 4 under racial hatred laws.

Britain is in the grip of its worst economic crisis for 60 years, Alistair Darling has admitted. The Chancellor of the Exchequer warns that the slump is going to be "more profound and long-lasting than people thought". In an astonishingly frank interview, Mr Darling admits that voters are "p***** off" with Labour and says the party must recover the "zeal" which won it three successive general elections.

All members of Tower Hamlets Council in east London, where 36 per cent of the population follows Islam, were sent an email asking them to abide by the restrictions observed by strict Muslims during the holy month. They have also been told that the town hall's business agenda will be reduced throughout Ramadan to accommodate Muslims, with only seven committee meetings scheduled and special prayer breaks included in the evening events. Tower Hamlets Council has previously insisted that staff call their Christmas meal the "festive lunch" and replaced Bonfire Night celebrations with a show based on a Bengali folk tale.

What to do with all these enemy combatants down in Guantanamo who are inevitably going to seek release, courtesy of the U.S. Supreme Court? Here's an idea. Ship them to the island of Jamaica. Let them bask on the beach and eat fruit. Take that. Or better yet, put them and their families on the public dole and support them forever, with the understanding that they must wear electronic ankle bracelets sometimes and promise they will not meet with Osama Bin Laden. Chuckle not. That's the model in Britain, whose turn-'em-loose courts are goofier than America's. And that may well...

Britain facing terrorist threat until 2038, former top cop warns By Christopher Hope, Home Affairs Editor Last Updated: 12:38AM BST 01/07/2008 Britain will be vulnerable to terrorist attack for another three decades, a major report will warn today. Tory leader David Cameron will today unveil the study from Lord Stevens of Kirkwelpington which will criticise the Government for a "lack of a clear border security strategy". Lord Stevens, who as Sir John Stevens was the Metropolitan Police Commissioner between 2000 and 2005, is also international Security Advisor to the Prime Minister, Gordon Brown.Lord Stevens: 'lack of a clear border security...

Why official figures don't tell half the story. By Emma Wall Rising food and fuel prices, as well as increased taxes and other household bills, mean the average family must cope with inflation that is twice as high as official estimates, according to new research by The Daily Telegraph and moneysupermarket.com, the price comparison website. Taking all these factors into account, the Real Cost of Living Index (RCLI) is rising at 9.5 per cent. No wonder hard-working families wonder how the Retail Price Index (RPI) can be only 4.2 per cent and the Government's preferred measure of inflation – the...

The white Muslim convert arrested after a bomb was detonated in a restaurant in Exeter has been named as 22-year-old Nicky Reilly. Mr Reilly had a history of mental illness and had been "preyed upon" by "radical" Muslims in the area, police officers said. They have established that he travelled between Plymouth and Exeter by bus before the explosion at the Giraffe restaurant at the Princesshay shopping centre at 12.50pm. Two bombs were found and Reilly was the only person injured. He suffered "serious facial injuries" although they were not said to be life-threatening. He was later arrested before armed...

Plans to overhaul tax paid by airline passengers could add £170 to the cost of a long-haul holiday for a family of four, airlines have warned. They said that Treasury proposals to raise charges on environmental grounds could make overseas travel an increasingly costly luxury. Passengers who have to change planes to complete their journey would be worst hit, because the Government wants to impose a tax on every flight to discourage planes from flying half-empty. Under the present system of Air Passenger Duty, somebody changing planes at a hub airport such as Heathrow pays a single tax on the...

Known as the "Shameless" family among horrified neighbours, the McFaddens "boast" three generations of adults who are not working. All ten members of the clan share a council house and live off benefits amounting to around £32,000 a year. And very happy they are, too.

The missed opportunities in relation to the July 21 bombers can be disclosed today following the conviction of one of the most senior terrorist recruiters in Britain - a man who called himself "Osama bin London". Street preacher Mohammed Hamid - who once told young Muslims the 52 deaths in the July 7 attacks on London were "not even breakfast to me" - groomed the would-be suicide bombers under the noses of watching police, security services and even the BBC. Hamid, 50, who is believed to have met senior al-Qa'eda figures in Afghanistan, organised a series of training camps in...

Five young men, including four students, jailed on terror charges after being "intoxicated" by extremist propaganda have been freed by the Court of Appeal. Lord Chief Justice Lord Phillips and two other judges ordered their release after quashing their convictions. The men were convicted last year after an Old Bailey trial heard that they were obsessed with extremist websites and literature promoting violent jihad. Lord Phillips described the conviction as "unsafe". The trial, for downloading and sharing extremist terror-related material, was one of the first of its kind. The men said that their conviction was unique in British law, having...

LONDON — A passenger jet landed short of the runway at Heathrow airport on Thursday, forcing Prime Minister Gordon Brown to delay his trip to China as his plane was on the runway waiting to take off. Three people were reported injured. Brown's plane was not involved but those on board could see the incident in the distance.

It sounds like the lead-in to some tasteless gag. What do the Libyan, the Jordanian and the Algerian have in common? There's nothing funny about the answer. They have all spent the past four-and-a-half years in Guantánamo Bay as terrorist suspects and they were all outside this country when they were arrested - yet they all have status as British residents, so it is to this country they come on their release. In truth, the stay may be brief for two of them. The Spanish authorities are interested in talking to Jamil el-Banna and Omar Deghayes about terrorist-related matters and...

One in five babies born in Britain last year was born to a woman from overseas, according to the first official analysis of the impact of migration on fertility. Immigrant mothers are having far more children than their British counterparts - fuelling the biggest rise in population since the 1960s baby boom. The highest birth rates were among Pakistani, Indian or Bangladeshi-born mothers, who gave birth to five per cent of all UK babies last year. A further four per cent were born to mothers from EU countries outside Britain and Ireland, with a growing number from eastern Europe. The...

The Government has openly accused China of carrying out state-sponsored espionage against vital parts of Britain’s economy, including the computer systems of big banks and financial services firms. In an unprecedented alert, the Director-General of MI5 sent a confidential letter to 300 chief executives and security chiefs at banks, accountants and legal firms this week warning them that they were under attack from “Chinese state organisations”. It is believed to be the first time that the Government has directly accused China of involvement in web-based espionage. Such a blunt and explicit warning from Jonathan Evans could have serious diplomatic consequences...

In Egypt, security is highly visible. Hotel entrances have metal detectors and soldiers perch behind armour-plated screens outside. At Cairo's Egyptian Museum and the Giza pyramids, there are scores of antiquities police as well as tough men in dark suits, from which pistol grips protrude. Such a heavy presence was made necessary by the 1997 massacre at the temple of Pharaoh Hatshepsut in Luxor. A group of Islamists shot 58 foreign tourists, including large numbers of Swiss, and Japanese honeymooning couples. The Egyptian authorities evidently "get" the scale of the terrorist problem in ways that were still not evident from...

Muslim groups will receive £70 million in Government funds to help tackle extremism in "ungoverned spaces" such as internet chat rooms and snooker halls. Hazel Blears, Communities Secretary, said that the money will be targeted at Muslim communities and rejected suggestions that the funding discriminated against other faith groups. Speaking on the Today programme on BBC Radio this morning, Ms Blears defended the Government’s decision to give the cash to Muslim rather than Christian or Jewish groups. “There is support for faiths across Government, but let’s be honest about this - what we are about is saying that we have...

Schoolgirls in Lancashire and Yorkshire are falling prey to sinister gangs of pimps. Two men have been sent to jail, but the girls’ mothers, not the police, are at the forefront of the crackdown. Why are the authorities so reluctant to get involved? Investigation by Julie Bindel A t the crown court in Preston on August 10, a trial involving two Asian men caused unusual interest across a number of cities in the north of England. The defendants, Zulfqar Hussain and Qaiser Naveed, were each sentenced to five years and eight months for abduction, sexual activity with a child, and...

How bad must life be to eagerly emigrate to South Africa? What makes Zimbabweans miserable? Nearly everything. With Zimbabwe dollars being worth barely more than plugged nickles, there are rampant shortages of … well …. everything except Zimbabwe dollars. A fleeing expat might well be better fed eating the currency than trying to buy food with it. And some people bought the story, including the British who engineered the hostile Zimbabwe takeover. So far the Brits have botched up the middle east, the far east, and now Africa. I’m not sure we want Parliament as an ally. Zimbabwe went from...

Muslims were as much outraged by last weekend's failed car bomb attacks as the rest of the country. Does that mean they will now help the authorities to root out Islamist terrorists? Alasdair Palmer investigates The statement from Muhammed Abdul Bari, the general secretary of the Muslim Council of Britain (MCB) was as surprising as it was unequivocal: "The police and the security services deserve the fullest support and co-operation from each and every sector of our society, including all Muslims." It was a surprise because, in the past, the MCB has seemed to be somewhat lukewarm about encouraging British...

CAN an entire nation go on an emotional rollercoaster? Britain's public has been on such an emotional adventure since its 15 sailors and marines were seized in the Persian Gulf. It may not yet be over. ...................................................... More significantly, the Brits have been drifting into a quasi-pacifist "European" identity, which prefers international bodies over military force to repel attacks. A Daily Telegraph poll showed that about two-thirds of Brits no longer wanted their country to play a world role. They were becoming weary isolationists. But it was plain after a day or two that neither the United Nations nor the...

HAS Britain's standing in the world ever been lower? The country that was once a byword for freedom is now seen as a bully and a weakling. Bully enough to follow America's lead and cause mayhem in Iraq, but weak enough to stand meekly by while 14 British men and one woman are exhibited like trophies and gloated over by the mad thugs of Iran. Our 15 British hostages are forced to act like performing seals for one of the vilest regimes on the planet, and the bitter truth is that our chums in the civilised world do not give...

What are the Persians planning? Was the capture of 15 British marines intended to trigger an international (and Muslim) crisis? Iran yearns for British withdrawal from the region, so that the USA becomes isolated.

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Britain intends to allow diplomatic contacts with non-Hamas members of a Palestinian unity government, in contrast with an Israeli decision to shun the entire cabinet, European diplomats said on Friday. "Britain is not going to have contact with Hamas but there are members of the government who are not Hamas and British diplomats will be able to have contact with them," a senior diplomat briefed on the new position told Reuters. A formal British announcement is expected after the unity government between Hamas Islamists and President Mahmoud Abbas's secular Fatah faction wins parliamentary approval on Saturday. Britain's...

Working at the BBC can be a strange experience. On occasions during my 25 years as a journalist with the corporation it was jaw-dropping. In 1984 I returned to BBC Scotland after covering the Tory conference in Brighton. The IRA had come close to assassinating Margaret Thatcher with a bomb and the country was in shock. Apart, that is, from some of my BBC colleagues. "Pity they missed the bitch," one confided to me.

A 12-year-old schoolgirl has failed in an attempted legal challenge to her school's ban on a full-face veil. Mr Justice Silber had been told that the girl's three older sisters had attended the same school and had worn the niqab with no problems. But the school, in Buckinghamshire, had told the girl it was not acceptable because teachers believed it would make communication and learning difficult. The judge has now rejected her lawyers' arguments for a judicial review. They said after the judgment that the family were "bitterly disappointed". They are considering making an appeal, but would have to make...

EVIL Muslim terrorists were to kidnap a British soldier on UK streets and force him to plead with Tony Blair for his life in return for a pull-out of troops from Iraq, The Sun can reveal. The soldier would have been filmed begging the PM to withdraw from Iraq and Afghanistan in a sick propaganda stunt. Army sources said the target was a British Muslim soldier in his 20s. He would eventually be beheaded on film in a sick mirror of the torture and savage killing of British hostage Ken Bigley if Mr Blair refused. Senior security sources say the...

‘Pakistanis among terrorists killed, caught in Somalia fighting’ PARIS: Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Meles Zenawi said in an interview published on Tuesday that suspected terrorists from Canada, Britain, Pakistan and elsewhere have been among those taken prisoner or killed in the military operations in Somalia. Zenawi was quoted by French newspaper LeMonde as saying that he didn’t know the exact number of prisoners in Somalia because it changed constantly. “But many international terrorists are dead in Somalia,” Meles was quoted as saying. “Photographs have been taken and passports from different countries have been collected. The Kenyans are holding Eritrean and Canadian...

...it was noted in England that the Queen, in order to accommodate a Muslim employee, had an Islamic prayer-room opened at Windsor Castle... Windsor Castle and the Town of Windsor are among the most historic and essentially "English" parts of England. ... I can't find any news of Christian chapels being opened in Saudi Arabian palaces Muslim rioters wrecked a house in Windsor which had been rented by four British soldiers returning from service in Afghanistan... More rioting followed... a Muslim was allowed to enter a hospital and harass a wounded paratrooper... "You have been killing my Muslim brothers!" Jack...

JACK Straw, the former foreign secretary, waded into a race and sexism row last night after admitting he asks female Muslim constituents who visit him to remove their veils. Mr Straw, who is now the Leader of the House of Commons, said it led to better community relations and added that no woman had ever refused. But Muslim groups accused him of insensitivity and "selective" discrimination. But Mr Straw said he stood by the remarks expressed in an article with his local paper, where he said concealing a face was a "visible statement of separation and difference". He had felt...

BRITAIN is ready to surrender its veto over European Union decisions on police and judicial matters in a dramatic policy change. Ministers will set out conditions tomorrow for the transfer of control to the EU over the creation of new crimes that will apply in Britain as well as standardised court procedures, The Times understands. The move, to be proposed at a meeting of EU justice ministers in Tampere, Finland, will be subject to a series of conditions but has already provoked an outcry from the Conservatives, not least because the ending of the national veto revives a proposal in...

On September 23, 2003, filmmaker Michael Tucker followed the U.S. Army on a house raid in Baghdad. This raid is depicted in Gunner Palace, the documentary Tucker directed with his wife, Petra Epperlein (shown at the Festival in 2004). Memorably, one handcuffed detainee looks at the camera and says, “I am a journalist,” before an American soldier takes him away. That was the last Tucker saw of the man until nearly two years later, when they were reintroduced in Amman, Jordan. In The Prisoner or: How I Planned to Kill Tony Blair, this anonymous suspect finally gets a chance to...

Former Beatle Sir Paul McCartney won the Man of the Year title at the GQ magazine awards held in London. Sir Paul was honoured for his latest album and his successful US tour. "Paul McCartney is not only one of our greatest living legends, he's also probably the most dignified," said GQ editor Dylan Jones. Other winners included Extras creator Ricky Gervais, presenter Jonathan Ross and singer Rod Stewart - who was given the outstanding achievement award. Embraced By PublicTop Gear presenter Jeremy Clarkson won TV personality of the year, and received his award from Stewart's fiancee Penny Lancaster. GQ...

(Excerpted) LIQUID explosives ... are not difficult to obtain or make from raw ingredients could have been involved in the terror plot. One candidate, nitromethane, is used to fuel model aeroplane engines as well as being an explosive and an industrial solvent. Dr Sidney Alford, an explosives technician, said it was quite easy to get hold of in fairly small quantities, but it would have to be combined with a "sensitising" substance to make a bomb. An alternative, nitroethane, was less well known but just as effective, and there were fewer restrictions on obtaining and transporting it, he said. Another...

Terror plot 24 people were arrested by police at houses in East London, High Wycombe and Birmingham A BIOCHEMIST, a Heathrow airport security worker and the son of a former Tory party worker were being held by police last night. All were among the 24 people arrested as properties in East London, Birmingham and High Wycombe, Bucking- hamshire, were targeted in co-ordinated raids. The Tory party worker’s son was one of four held in High Wycombe. Neighbours said that he had had a difficult adolescence but had recently married and settled down. “About six months ago he said he was...

MOSCOW (AFP) - A retired Russian secret service colonel was jailed for 13 years for betraying Russian intelligence agents to Britain's MI6 secret service in a story that harks back to the era of Cold War espionage. "According to the court, Sergei Skripal is guilty of state treason through the transfer of state secrets ... to the British secret service," Yevgeny Komissarov, a spokesman for the Moscow military court where Skripal was tried, told AFP. "It is impossible to measure in rubles or anything else the amount of harm" that Skripal, 55, caused to the Russian state, Sergei Fridinsky, Russia's...

Three assailants who cut the throat of an aspiring politician from Britain killed him and tried to rape his female companion early yesterday in the driveway of a Georgetown mansion, police reported, after the couple had returned from a night at the movies. The victim, Alan Senitt, 27, a Jewish activist and volunteer for former Virginia governor Mark R. Warner, died at the scene, police said. The woman, whom police declined to identify, was not injured. Within hours, D.C. police arrested four people in connection with one of the most brutal crimes in years on the affluent streets of Georgetown...