Free Republic

In recent weeks, Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott has started referring to the Islamic State terrorist organisation by a name they reportedly despise — Daesh. Australia’s allies in the Middle East have suggested the Western world not use monikers such as ISIL (Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant), ISIS (Islamic State of Iraq and Syria), or IS (Islamic State) as they legitimise the group’s aspirations. “Daesh hates being referred to by this term, and what they don’t like has an instinctive ­appeal to me,” Abbott said. “I absolutely refuse to refer to it by the title that it claims...

In what appears to be yet another desperate House Democrat attempt to stay relevant while in the minority, Rep. Lynn Woolsey accused General David Petraeus of using a “Charlie Sheen counter-insurgency strategy” in Afghanistan. Speaking at the Congressional Progressive Caucus Peace and Security Task Force, Woolsey made the comments while hearing testimony from Rolling Stone writer Michael Hastings and other military experts: Rep. Lynn Woolsey (D-Calif.) on Wednesday sharply criticized David Petraeus, the commander of U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan, and signaled agreement with an assessment from a Rolling Stone editor who likened the commander’s performance to that of...

January 9, 2015 Retired Gen. David Petraeus Could Face Federal Charges CBS News has confirmed that felony charges may be brought against retired Gen. David Petraeus. Both the FBI and federal prosecutors are recommending that Petraeus be charged with providing classified information to his former mistress while he was director of the Central Intelligence Agency. Petraeus, a four star general who led U.S. military forces in both Iraq and Afghanistan, resigned from the CIA in November 2012 after his affair with Paula Broadwell, an Army Reserve officer, became public. A search of Broadwell's computer turned up intimate emails with Petraeus...

>PATRICK J. FITZGERALDUNITED STATES ATTORNEYNORTHERN DISTRICT OF ILLINOISPREPARED REMARKS FOR THESUBCOMMITTEE ON CRIME, TERRORISM, AND HOMELAND SECURITYCOMMITTEE ON THE JUDICIARYU.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVESAPRIL 28, 2005INTRODUCTIONMr. Chairman, members of the Committee, thank you for asking me here today. I verymuch look forward to this opportunity to discuss with you how the efforts of the United StatesAttorney’s Offices in the investigation and prosecution of terrorists have changed since thepassage of the USA PATRIOT Act (“Patriot Act”) and, in particular, section 218 of the PatriotAct which helped to dismantle what was formerly known as “the wall” between intelligence andlaw enforcement.I will state up...

Document ISGQ-2005-00023243 is dated September 19 2002 and it is letter from the Chairman of the Chemistry department in the Iraqi Atomic Energy Organization where he is asking to provide him some Chemical Materials that can be used as Precursors for making Chemical Weapons mainly the Phosphorus Pentasulfide that can be used as a main Precursor to make VX Nerve Gas the deadliest of all Chemical Weapons. Other materials on the list like Phosphorus oxychloride, Thiophosphoryl Chloride and Thionyl Chloride that can also be used to make Chemical Gas weapons. All these materials are called the “dual use” where it...

In the speech at a celebration of Saddam Hussein's birthday in 2001, the Oak Lawn man praises the Iraqi ruler as a "great'' and "inspirational'' leader. A federal judge ruled Friday that prosecutors can show jurors a videotape of Khaled Abdel-Latif Dumeisi's remarks at his trial on charges that he acted as an unregistered agent of the Iraqi government. The trial begins Monday in U.S. District Court. Prosecutors accuse Dumeisi of spying on Iraqi opposition members in the United States. Federal judge Suzanne Conlon agreed with prosecutors that the speech, made at the headquarters of the Iraqi Mission to the...

Iowa National Guard Lt. Pat Hendrickson, right, stands with Nabiullah Mohammadiin Afghanistan. “He was my right-hand man,” Hendrickson said.(Photo: Courtesy photo via The Des Moines Register) The price of aiding and abetting the U.S.? One of the most often repeated phrases in our military culture is “Leave No Fallen Comrade Behind.” Many service members relied so heavily on their Afghan and Iraqi translators that some were considered members of the unit. It goes without saying that, when troops are in the combat zone, their lives are in constant danger. But at the end of their tours, they get to go...

In the eyes of most Iraqis, their country's best ally in the war against the Islamic State group is not the United States and the coalition air campaign against the militants. It's Iran, which is credited with stopping the extremists' march on Baghdad. Shiite, non-Arab Iran has effectively taken charge of Iraq's defense against the Sunni radical group, meeting the Iraqi government's need for immediate help on the ground. Two to three Iranian military aircraft a day land at Baghdad airport, bringing in weapons and ammunition. Iran's most potent military force and best known general — the Revolutionary Guard's elite...

Erbil, Iraq, Jan 11, 2015 / 06:01 am (Aid to the Church in Need).- “Thank you, thank you, thank you:” Suheila, an elderly Christian woman from Mosul was effusive in expressing her gratitude to a group of European visitors. "May God make things easy for you in your lives." Home for Suheila is the Sports Club Center in Ankawa, where more than 200 Christian families from Bakhdida (Qaraqosh) have found shelter in mobile homes: "This is really a big improvement. I'm grateful for it. But in general, of course, this is no life. We've lost everything. The worst thing is...

Farid Benyettou .. The Islamist "spiritual guide" who allegedly helped radicalise the Kouachi brothers behind the deadly attack on Charlie Hebdo now works as a trainee nurse in the accident and emergency unit of one of the Paris hospitals where some of the victims of the assault on the magazine were taken. ... Benyettou was a known recruiter of candidates for jihad for Iraq, operating in the 19th arrondissement of Paris in the early 2000s. Jean-Julien Xavier-Rolai, the public prosecutor at the time, described him as the “spiritual guide” of the Kouachi brothers and “the link between the suburbs of...

By Joel Leyden Israel News AgencyJerusalem — January 9, 2015 … Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with French Ambassador to Israel Patrick Maisonnave and made the following remarks at the start of their meeting: “I wish to send from this place our deepest condolences to President François Hollande, the bereaved families and the people of France. We grieve with our French brothers and sisters. We reaffirm our commitment to work together to defeat the enemies of the democratic values we all cherish. I know that you’re going from here to France, and I want you to take with you...

The 27-year-old man photographed in 2009 seemed to represent hope springing from Paris’s desperate suburbs. Part of a work-insertion program, he was about to meet then-French president Nicolas Sarkozy, who was trying to combat high youth unemployment.... The man was Amedy Coulibaly, who was killed Friday after seizing hostages in a Jewish supermarket in Paris, an attack he claimed was in support of the terrorist Islamic State of Iraq & Al-Sham. A close associate of Said and Chérif Kouachi, the two brothers who attacked the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo Wednesday, Coulibaly is a symbol of the huge challenges lying ahead...

Mr. Nadhmi Auchi is a business partner of Syrian-born businessman Antoin "Tony" Rezko, who has supported US Presidential candidate Barack Obama financially since his first run for the Illinois state senate in 1996.

Illinoispaytoplay.com (IP2P) has learned that Daniel S. Mahru, former business partner of Antoin "Tony" Rezko, made a deal with the Department of Justice (DoJ) for his silence. IP2P is the first to report that on, October 4 2012, Daniel S. Mahru will receive probation at his sentencing hearing. IP2P has also learned that this is being done to insure Mahru will not speak of crimes, of which he has knowledge, that implicate Barack Obama, Valarie Jarrett, Allison Davis, Tony Rezko and others. (Remember Tony recently saying he committed crimes for which Fitzgerald did not charge him.) IP2P is also investigating...

The city is trying to kick-start development of vacant 62-acre parcel near downtown controlled by a controversial Iraqi billionaire once linked to convicted Democratic influence peddler Antoin "Tony" Rezko.

In the run-up to the 2012 election, a story surfaced about an Iraqi billionaire who managed to buy access to Washington policy makers while funding a Chicago Pay-to-Play scheme that helped produce a Governor, a U.S. Senator, and, ultimately, a President of the United States. The story was eight years in the making, yet despite the extent of his political influence, this Iraqi’s name remains widely unknown. He wants it that way. In fact, he has spent millions of dollars to hinder the reporting of his activities by the news media. The lack of attention paid to him, however, is...

WASHINGTON — The F.B.I. and Justice Department prosecutors have recommended bringing felony charges against retired Gen. David H. Petraeus for providing classified information to his former mistress while he was director of the C.I.A., officials said, leaving Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. to decide whether to seek an indictment that could send the pre-eminent military officer of his generation to prison. The Justice Department investigation stems from an affair Mr. Petraeus had with Paula Broadwell, an Army Reserve officer who was writing his biography, and focuses on whether he gave her access to his C.I.A. email account and other...

WASHINGTON — The F.B.I. and Justice Department prosecutors have recommended bringing felony charges against retired Gen. David H. Petraeus for providing classified information to his former mistress while he was director of the C.I.A., officials said, leaving Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. to decide whether to seek an indictment that could send the pre-eminent military officer of his generation to prison. The Justice Department investigation stems from an affair Mr. Petraeus had with Paula Broadwell, an Army Reserve officer who was writing his biography, and focuses on whether he gave her access to his C.I.A. email account and other...

Q: From what you know, please, tell me if you have a very favorable, somewhat favorable, somewhat unfavorable or very unfavorable opinion of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant otherwise known as ISIS? France came out with the largest number of supporters for the Islamic State. Only 31% of French “people” responding to the survey stated they had “very unfavorable” opinions of the Islamic State. The rest responded to various degrees of approval, meaning that they clearly approved of the Islamic State. Therefore, the headline of the actual article, “15% of French people back ISIS militants, poll finds”,...

Iraq and the Kurdistan Regional Government are still trying to resolve a dispute that for six months has kept a tanker full of Kurdish oil off the coast of Galveston and central questions of Kurdistan’s right to sell oil overseas in limbo. Iraqi officials struck an interim, temporary deal late last year allowing exports of oil produced in semi-autonomous Kurdistan if it went through Iraq’s state oil company. But that agreement didn’t cover the tanker United Kalavryta, anchored in the Gulf of Mexico since July, or other broader political and legal issues that could define Kurdistan’s independence. Those issues, which...