Free Republic

Reporting from Washington - The Obama White House, stepping in where other Democrats feared to tread, has launched a potentially risky fight with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce -- attempting to bypass the nation's most powerful business organization and develop independent ties to corporate America. In recent weeks, President Obama, his Energy secretary and one of his other most senior advisors have begun criticizing the chamber publicly, casting it as a profligate lobbying organization at odds with its members in opposing the administration on such issues as consumer protection and climate change.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A top Central Intelligence Agency official traveled to Islamabad and confronted senior officials with evidence of ties between Pakistan's spy agency and militants operating in that country's tribal areas, the New York Times reported in Wednesday editions. The CIA envoy presented information linking members of Pakistan's Directorate for Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) with some militant groups responsible for a string of attacks including the suicide bombing of the Indian Embassy in Kabul this month which killed 58 people, the newspaper said. The report, based on accounts by U.S. military and intelligence officials, described the decision to confront Pakistan...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Barack Obama's former pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, blasted news media he said had sensationalized his remarks in an often confrontational appearance at a reporters' club on Monday. But the Chicago preacher stood by the fiery sermons that have dogged Obama's Democratic presidential campaign since they gained public attention in March. "You cannot do terrorism on other people and not expect it to come back to you," Wright said at the National Press Club when asked about a speech in which he asserted the September 11 attacks were retaliation for U.S. foreign policy. Asked about another sermon...

PHILADELPHIA - Democratic Sen. Barack Obama on Tuesday tried to stem damage from divisive comments delivered by his pastor, while bluntly addressing anger between blacks and whites in the most racially pointed speech yet of his presidential campaign. Obama confronted America's legacy of racial division head on, tackling black grievance, white resentment and the uproar over his former pastor's incendiary statements. Drawing on his half-black, half-white roots as no other presidential hopeful could, Obama asserted: "This union may never be perfect, but generation after generation has shown that it can always be perfected." Obama expressed understanding of the passions on...

Voter Confronts McCain on Immigration Sunday October 14, 2007 11:46 PM By HOLLY RAMER Associated Press Writer HOPKINTON, N.H. (AP) - Sen. John McCain, who often faces challenging questions on illegal immigration, confronted a voter Sunday who called for ending legal immigration as well. For months, McCain has been telling New Hampshire audiences that he still believes in the immigration plan that failed in Congress earlier this year but that he now realizes that none of its components - including allowing millions of illegal immigrants to eventually earn legal status - can be enacted until the borders are secured first....

WASHINGTON - Republican presidential hopeful Rudy Giuliani has confronted a spate of bad news in recent days, from the drug indictment of his South Carolina chairman to criticism for skipping meetings of the Iraq Study Group. Every campaign faces bad news at one time or another, but with a fundraising deadline looming Saturday, the timing couldn't be worse. Most voters are not tuned in, but for those who are giving and raising money for the former New York mayor, the heartburn-inducing headlines may make them think twice. The string of events — some Giuliani's making, some out of his hands...

HERMOSILLO, Mexico - Police chased the remnants of a criminal assault force through mountains near the Arizona border on Thursday after kidnappings and gun battles in which at least 22 people died. Federal police helicopters and ground forces searched the Sierra Madre for fleeing gunmen on Thursday while state police moved in to replace terrified local officers who abandoned the town of Cananea, 20 miles south of the U.S. border. Officials said Thursday that a powerful drug cartel may have sent the assailants armed with assault rifles who arrived in 10 to 15 vehicles on Wednesday, pulled four lightly armed...

A liquor store customer was arrested for allegedly pulling a knife on a clerk he thought was a "Muslim militia terrorist," police said. Elias Michael Banales, 31, was arrested and booked for investigation of brandishing a knife, making terrorist threats and hate crime allegations. He remained in jail with bail set at $50,000. Banales allegedly told the clerk at Speedy Liquor and Mart on Spring Street that "he hated Muslims and that they should all be killed," according to the police report. The name of the clerk and his nationality and religious background weren't disclosed. Banales fled when a customer...

Afghan leader confronts Pakistan over terror support By Ahmed Rashid in Islamabad (Filed: 18/02/2006) President Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan has handed over extensive intelligence dossiers to Pakistan's President Pervez Musharraf detailing how suicide bombers who attack targets in Afghanistan are being recruited, trained and equipped in Pakistan. Although Mr Karzai stopped short of accusing Pakistan's military regime of perpetrating the attacks, he said the US and Britain would be "stepping up pressure on Islamabad" to take action to stop the attacks, as British troops soon deploy in southern Afghanistan. Hamid Karzai meets Pakistan's Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz Mr Karzai was...