Free Republic

AS WE GATHER today on town squares and parade down Main Street to proclaim our 229th birthday, let us pause to consider the wild horse -- the great American icon, the fleet-footed wind-drinker that our country rode in on. Pressed into service by the thousands, the wild horse blazed our trails, fought our wars, spilled rivers of blood. Often our cavalry horses were known by number only. Sometimes they had names. I speak of Comanche, a mustang that fought with Custer at the Battle of the Little Big Horn. It was 1876, the year of our centennial, on June 25,...

There are reports that Yasser Arafat died from a blood disorder. His death, and in particular these reports, reminds me of a strange photograph that flew across the wires a couple days after Sept. 11. In it, Arafat was giving blood at the Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, arm outstretched and primed with a green tourniquet, needle in vein, blood flowing into a vial that would soon be en route to New York City. His donation would become part of what was quickly becoming a vast stockpile of blood for survivors who were thought and hoped to be clinging to...

I know a place in the Mojave Desert where there are rocks in the shape of Billy Martin. I visit the rocks every year to commemorate the return of spring. It makes perfect sense to me that the rocks are in the desert and not a mountain range or forest because the gone-but-not-forgotten Yankee manager was a kind of dugout djinn, an electrical force who materialized to kick funny dust in the other guy's face and then vanished until he had to do it again. Where did he go since we last saw him? Where all legends go — back...

<p>The Israeli government has vowed to expel Yasser Arafat , calling him an "obstacle" to peace. But the 72-year-old Palestinian leader is much more than that; he is a career terrorist, trained, armed and bankrolled by the Soviet Union and its satellites for decades.</p>

What's the U.S. military doing about radical Muslim soldiers? Not enough. The most disturbing story of the war so far is the fragging at Camp Pennsylvania in Kuwait. According to news reports, on March 23, Sgt. Asan Akbar rolled a grenade into each of three tents of sleeping officers and senior NCOs of the 101st Airborne Division. Then he allegedly shot the soldiers with an automatic weapon as they fled from their tents. Two of them, a major and a captain, died, and 14 others were injured. The episode is unsettling for a number of reasons, most of all because...

Paper to Switch to All-Whopper Format In a move seemingly designed to rock the journalism world, former Iraqi Information Minister Mohammed Saeed al-Sahaf was named executive editor of The New York Times today after the surprisingly brief seven-hour tenure of interim editor Joseph Lelyveld. Mr. al-Sahaf, who had been serving as the spokesman for media giant AOL-Time Warner, said he welcomed the challenges ahead in his new post at the Times. “Much as I loved working at AOL-Time Warner, I was bored,” Mr. al-Sahaf said. “That company is such a well-oiled machine, there just wasn’t much for me to do.”...

Calls Uday, Qusay 'Do-nothings' Abid Hamid Mahmoud al-Tikriti, the just-captured "ace of diamonds" from the former Iraqi regime of Saddam Hussein, last night blasted his number-four status, arguing that he should rank higher than both Uday and Qusay Hussein in the infamous deck of cards. "When the Americans told me I was number four, I practically fell out of my chair," Mr. Mahmoud told CNN's Larry King during an hour-long interview. "What were they smoking when they put together these rankings?" Mr. Mahmoud attempted to portray himself as a victim of nepotism, claiming that the Hussein sons' role in Saddam's...

What's the U.S. military doing about radical Muslim soldiers? Not enough. The most disturbing story of the war so far is the fragging at Camp Pennsylvania in Kuwait. According to news reports, on March 23, Sgt. Asan Akbar rolled a grenade into each of three tents of sleeping officers and senior NCOs of the 101st Airborne Division. Then he allegedly shot the soldiers with an automatic weapon as they fled from their tents. Two of them, a major and a captain, died, and 14 others were injured. The episode is unsettling for a number of reasons, most of all because...

The U.S. Air Force tested its most powerful non-nuclear bomb by dropping it on Hollywood, California as target practice. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld hopes that the total devastation of the entertainment capital will serve as psychological warfare to frighten Iraq. “Saddam ought to start seriously worrying about the morale of his soldiers. When they learn of the firepower of this baby, they’ll wave their underwear on a stick and surrender faster than you can say ‘France’,” Rumsfeld warned. Rumsfeld noted there was little debate about selection of the target. “Frankly it’s an area that was hostile to America so...

In a televised address, a somber President Bush stated that, having exhausted all efforts of diplomacy, the country signing group Dixie Chicks had 48 hours to flee the country. “I can either wait for them to aggresively attack me again or take preemptive action. I am entitled to the latter since I am after all the president of the United States,” Bush said from the east room of the White House. Bush explained that despite a public apology from lead singer Natalie Maines, it was too little too late. “She only made a half ass apology after several days of...

Sharon accused of turning territories into huge prison Ariel Sharon has told his cabinet that he plans to extend the "security fence" Israeli is building along the length of the West Bank so that it entirely encircles any Palestinian state. The revelation, which follows the Israeli government's decision to oppose full independence for Palestine in favour of a state with "certain attributes of sovereignty", immediately drew fire from the Palestinians who accused the Israeli prime minister of trying to turn the occupied territories into a huge prison. Meanwhile, the Israeli army killed 10 Palestinians, including a four-year-old girl, in a...

BRUSSELS -- Afghanistan called on international donors on Monday to maintain their commitment to rebuilding the war-shattered country or risk seeing it turn into a mafia drug state. Afghan officials fear that a possible U.S.-led war against Iraq could make donors shift their focus from Afghanistan, with future aid for the country going instead toward helping rebuild Iraq. "We will focus on reforms but we need your assistance in providing predictable finance," Afghan Finance Minister Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai told a meeting in Brussels of donors from 40 countries. "The narco-mafia state will have the lowest indirect price tag ... but...

TEHRAN -- Twenty-four hours after the Azores Summit, the U.S., Britain, and Spain withdrew their proposed resolution to the United Nations Security Council and virtually declared war against the international community. This decision was not unexpected because U.S. President George W. Bush told reporters in the Azores that they would give the Security Council only 24 hours to decide about Iraq and threatened that if the Security Council did not make the decision that the U.S. wanted, he would even change the United Nations system. The silence of UN Secretary General Kofi Annan and other UN officials also seems to...

A WOMAN has died and another is seriously ill in Salmaniya Medical Complex (SMC), after being struck by a flu-like virus. Doctors are concerned it may be the same mystery virus sweeping through Asia, which sparked a global health warning from the World Health Organisation (WHO). A 20-year-old Bahraini woman died last week in the hospital's Intensive Care Unit (ICU), after being admitted with a lung infection. Two days ago, a 28-year-old Bahraini woman was admitted suffering from similar symptoms and was yesterday described as being in a "bad condition" by one doctor. A three-week-old boy is now recovering in...

Tehran, March 17, IRNA -- Iran's Industrial Development and Renovation Organization (IDRO) and French car maker Renault here on Sunday evening signed an agreement to launch the first phase of a platform to produce a new automobile in Iran. IDRO's Director General Reza Veisseh, talking to reporters on the sidelines of a ceremony to conclude the agreement, said the platform was a joint venture project to produce cars named "L-90", stressing that the agreement would be finalized in four months. Veisseh said the IDRO had entered the venture with Renault on a participation ratio of 51 to 49. He said...

MANAMA: Chemicals were found with an arms cache seized by anti-terrorist forces in Bahrain, it was revealed last night. The powdered chemicals were found with four AK-47 assault rifles, two handguns and ammunition, discovered in the home of one of five Bahrain men accused of plotting terrorist activities. Chemical experts ruled out almost immediately any of the "real nasties", said one source, who would not elaborate. He said the powder had since been sent to a specialist forensic laboratory, but it could take up to two weeks to complete tests. Lawyer and Bahrain Human Rights Society member Mohammed Almotawa said...

DAMMAM, 18 February 2003 — At first sight Ahmad Rezkallah is a pleasant man with a nice, broad smile. He expresses himself with the confidence of the professional man he is — Saudi Arabia’s most senior executioner. Rezkallah told Al-Majalla, a sister publication of Arab News, that he drifted into the profession by chance. “About 23 years ago the government asked for volunteers,” he explained. “I was 20 years old at the time, and the youngest in my group.” Because of his youth, people doubted he would be successful. “But I rose to it as a challenge,” he recalls. He...

Boroujerd, Lorestan Prov, Feb 18, IRNA -- The Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei here on Tuesday termed martyrdom as a decisive element of national strength and devotion. In a message to a congress held to commemorate the memory of martyrd students of this western province, the Leader stressed that enemies of Islam today are trying to undermine jihad (holy war) and the virtue of martyrdom. Elsewhere in his message, Ayatollah Khamenei called on all Iranian students to value martyrdom. The Supreme Leader, in his message to the congress, also referred to martyrdom as the most beautiful...

JEDDAH, 17 February 2003 — Saudi Arabia will not allow any foreign powers to meddle in its executive or lawmaking authorities, Prince Abdul Rahman, deputy minister of defense and aviation, stated yesterday. “It would be totally unacceptable,” he said. He also disclosed plans to further strengthen the Saudi armed forces to defend the country and its vital resources. “The Kingdom will remain united and strong and will not submit to any foreign influence,” he added, saying that where there were joint interests co-operation could take place. Addressing officers at the King Faisal Airbase in the Northwestern Province, Prince Abdul Rahman...

Arafat Desert, Saudi Arabia, Feb 10, IRNA -- Iranian pilgrims, performing the ritual of "disavowal of pagans," chanted slogans against the US and the Zionist regime. They called on Muslims all over the world to observe solidarity and "cut off" the presence of pagans from Islamic territories. "Labayk," "There is no deity but Allah," "Death to Israel" and "Death to America" were among slogans the masses chanted in unison as they gathered in the desert of Arafat, 20 kilometers (12miles) from Mecca, for a day of prayer and meditation. The faithful--men clad in two-piece seamless white shrouds and women, all...