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On Dec. 3, 1943, a B-24D Liberator bomber with two Army airmen from Massachusetts flew a stealth mission to destroy Japanese war vessels in the Bismarck Sea. The mission turned out to be a success. The crew found a Japanese convoy and bombed it.

3/11/2008 - PALAU INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT, Palau (AFPN) -- A Kansas Air National Guard KC-135 Stratotanker crew from the 190th Air Refueling Wing returned the human remains March 3 to American soil after a recovery team recovered from a downed B-24 Liberator shot down near the Pacific island nation of Palau Sept. 1, 1944. According to military reports, the Army Air Forces B-24 was involved in a fight between American and Japanese forces over the island and suffered anti-aircraft fire. Three of the crew reportedly bailed out, one without a parachute, before the bomber crashed into the water. BentProp officials, a...

If you've ever dreamed of sailing the skies in a World War II bomber, there may be no time like the present in Tucson. But it'll cost ya. Four vintage bombers will touch down in the city in April, offering rides at about $400 a pop. The events are sponsored by two nonprofit foundations that use the money to help keep the rare old warplanes running. The Old Pueblo has become a favorite stopover for such outfits because our warm-weather city has all the attributes they look for. "Tucson is a hot spot because it has so many retirees and...

In President Bush's speech, during a question and answer session, an Iraqi woman took the microphone and thanked America and President Bush for liberating 27 million Iraqis. She said that she lost family members to the ruthless Saddam Hussein's reign of terror and two sisters are now members of the new Iraqi Parliament. The unidentified Iraqi woman blasted the naysayers and non-supporters (read: Democrats and loony left) for standing against such a correct decision to oust Saddam from power. When the President told her to tell her relatives in Parliament to form a Unity government with Sunnis, Shiites, and Kurds,...

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Bush Meets Victims of 'Butcherer' Saddam By NEDRA PICKLER ASSOCIATED PRESS WASHINGTON (AP) - 0118dv-bush-iraqis Iraqis who said they were beaten, imprisoned and lost loved ones at the hands of Saddam Hussein's government shared their stories Wednesday with President Bush, who said the former Iraqi president "will get his due justice." There was an emotional atmosphere in the hourlong meeting, participants said, as Bush went around a table in the Roosevelt Room asking each of roughly a dozen Iraqis to tell their experiences. Bush said they told "stories of sadness and stories of bravery." "One of the interesting moments will...

In a foreign country the other day, a throng of people, chanting slogans and waving flags, awaited President George W. Bush. Hundreds of thousands of protesters, right? People angry at American aggressiveness and arrogance, no doubt. World citizens who think Mr. Bush is a reckless cowboy, too simplistic, his thought too little nuanced, his pronouncements too unmodulated for this complex, modern world. After all, isn't that what American elites have been telling us for years, now: that the Bush foreign policy is making the United States into the world's pariah? The elites were wrong again. The Bush visit occurred in...

BAGHDAD — The man replacing the mayor of Baghdad — who was assassinated for his pro-American loyalties — says he is not worried about his ties to Washington. In fact, he'd like to erect a monument to honor President Bush in the middle of the city. "We will build a statue for Bush," said Ali Fadel, the former provincial council chairman. "He is the symbol of freedom." Fadel's predecessor, Ali al-Haidari, was gunned down Jan. 4 when militants opened fire on his armor-covered BMW as it traveled with a three-car convoy. Fadel said he received numerous threats on his life...

It began as a lark. Two young women working in the cockpit of a Liberator bomber during World War II leave their names and addresses for the pilots to find. "I didn't expect to hear from anybody," says Mildred Lemons, who now lives in Arivaca. But a couple of months later, she did hear from one: Douglas Gordon Elliott, a flight engineer with the Royal Australian Air Force. Until the war's end, he and Lemons would correspond. And then both just drifted away. "I don't know who quit first," says Lemons. "I was married. The war was over." Suddenly, it...

SIERRA VISTA - Sixty years ago today, Dennis C. Jones was relaxing. He had taken a shower, shaved and eaten. It was Armistice Day - as today's Veterans Day is called. But for Jones - Casey to his friends - Nov. 11, 1944, was far from idyllic. There was no armistice the day Jones took a break on Panay Island in the Philippines. The area was still under Japanese control as he and a few other airmen made their way up the island - a 35-day trip - to where they would board a submarine to be taken to Australia....

They may not know what the Republican Party is, but Sulaimaniyah residents are staunchly in favour of its leader. As the United States presidential election approached, George Bush and John Kerry were still neck and neck in the polls – unless, of course, you count those carried out in Sulaimaniyah, in the Kurdish area of north-eastern Iraq. Here Bush would be assured of a runaway victory. As in the rest of Iraq, people here may still not be enjoying the lifestyle and freedoms they had hoped would follow the end of Saddam Hussein’s rule, and many are openly critical of...

...[T]he thousands of academics, lawyers, rights advocates, and other educated elites leading the effort to create a new Iraq... have hitched their fortunes to our own and nearly all of whom hope that President Bush wins. ...These, after all, are the Iraqis building institutions, occupying key positions in ministries, and cooperating openly with the U.S. And they're the Iraqis with the most to lose in the event John Kerry makes good on his pledge to "bring the troops home where they belong."... Such fears haven't been spun out of whole cloth. As far as Iraqi elites are concerned, President Bush...

"Dutch's Home!!" (To be sung to Bruce Springsteen's "Thunder Road") Effete Whore'd's damned...Reagan's hearse waits... RATS' derision towards Nancy, the Right ignores... As Sean Hannity raves!! Liberator's fightin' fer "the lowly"... Hey, I'm FReer 'cuz what Reagan showed me!! Dutch's headin' home again...Right claims his grace...we're not alone!! We gathered outside...Leftists, you know just what we're here for!! RATS're scair't 'cuz they're thinkin'...our Nation ain't listenin' to FOOLS anymore!! Show a little faith, there's passion on the Right!! RATS're poltroonish...we'll win the Big Fight!! Folks, FReedom's all Right to me!! Left ain't Right...we'll recover...RATS' loss is our gain!! Right's awestruck...cut...

Summary: Did the United Kingdom's influence in its heyday match the United States' today? Two Hegemonies provides an answer; but "empire" might be the better word.Niall Ferguson is Herzog Professor of History at the Stern School of Business, New York University, and a Senior Research Fellow of Jesus College, Oxford. He is the author of Empire: The Rise and Demise of the British World Order and the Lessons for Global Power.From Foreign Affairs September/October 2003Hegemony or Empire? By Niall FergusonTwo Hegemonies: Britain 1846-1914 and the United States 1941-2001 .Patrick Karl O'Brien & Armand Clesse. Aldershot, U.K.: Asghate, 2002, 365 $84.95...

President 'will go down in Arab history as the liberator of Baghdad' Despite today's widespread Arab rage over the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, President George W. Bush "will go down in Arab history as the liberator of Baghdad," writes one bold Saudi columnist. Writing in the Saudi daily Arab News yesterday, columnist Dr. Muhammad Al-Rasheed praised last Sunday's capture by Americans of the former Iraqi tyrant and hailed Bush as a liberator. Here, courtesy of the Middle East Media Research Institute, or MEMRI, are excerpts of Al-Rasheed's column: "Beware the march of history or the ides of March, whichever appeals...

Lord, Keep our Troops forever in Your care Give them victory over the enemy... Grant them a safe and swift return... Bless those who mourn the lost. . FReepers from the Foxhole join in prayer for all those serving their country at this time. ...................................................................................... ........................................... U.S. Military History, Current Events and Veterans Issues Where Duty, Honor and Countryare acknowledged, affirmed and commemorated. Our Mission: The FReeper Foxhole is dedicated to Veterans of our Nation's military forces and to others who are affected in their relationships with Veterans. Welcome to "Warrior Wednesday" Where the Freeper Foxhole introduces a different...

Few people paid much attention when, late last month, Shabir Hussain and his friend Mohammed Shabir were jailed for 11 years at Birmingham Crown Court. Working with rudimentary tools in the basements of their homes, the pair had set themselves up as armourers to the local underworld, converting blank firing pistols into lethal weapons. They produced more than 170 guns and sold them to gangs from Bristol to Manchester. One week after the jailings, the murder of Nottingham jewellery shop owner Marian Bates, the gunning down of Hertfordshire gangster Dave King, and a drive-by shooting in Reading in which three...

BAGHDAD, Iraq, Aug 28, 2003 (AP WorldStream via COMTEX) -- A Baghdad mother and father, to show their thanks to U.S. President George W. Bush for the overthrow of Saddam Hussein, have named their son after the American leader. Had the couple had twin boys, they say, the would have named them George Bush and Tony Blair. The new George Bush - probably the only one in Baghdad - was born six weeks ago to Nadia Jergis Mohammed, 34, and her husband Abdul Kader Faris, 41. "I tell you all Iraqis hated Saddam's regime. It was only George Bush who...

Baghdad: The US army has launched a glossy patriotic magazine to rally its 3rd Infantry Division, whose troops face hostile action in the badlands of western Iraq a full two months after Saddam Hussein's ouster. Called the "Liberator", the 16-page in-house publication carries rousing reports from the field to win over homesick troops who might be doubting the rationale for the US presence more than six months after they first arrived in Kuwait to train for the invasion. The 5,000-copy launch edition opens with Specialist Jacob Boyer's answer to doubting comrades. "I found the debate raging in my own head...

Byrd: 'False Premises' Prompted Iraq War Wed May 21, 7:42 PM ET Add Politics - U. S. Congress to My Yahoo! By KEN GUGGENHEIM, Associated Press Writer WASHINGTON - Sen. Robert Byrd (news, bio, voting record) accused the Bush administration of using "false premises" to get Americans to accept what he said was an illegal and unprovoked attack on Saddam Hussein (news - web sites)'s government. AP Photo Latest news: · UN Votes to Lift Iraq Sanctions by 14-0Reuters - 12 minutes ago · Impact of New Post-War Iraq Resolution AP - 20 minutes ago · After decades of Saddam's...

The news from Iraq has changed. Statue-toppling and impromptu street celebrations have given way to looting and factional violence. Already, there's a whiff of resentment toward the United States and England for not being quick enough to provide food, water and security to the country. This shift, sudden though it was, should not have come as a surprise. Few countries love their liberators once the cheering dies away. This is especially true when they feel humiliated. Almost 60 years ago another country was freed by American and British forces: France. In fact, one cannot help wondering whether President Jacques Chirac...

SAFWAN, Iraq, March 21 — Waving white flags and raising their hands to the sky, hundreds of Iraqi soldiers quickly surrendered to coalition forces in southern Iraq — and some even tried to give themselves up to Western journalists. One Marine traffic control unit manning an intersection in southern Iraq accepted at least 45 soldiers’ surrender by sundown Friday. ... In the town of Safwan, Iraqi civilians eagerly greeted the 1st Marine Division. One little boy, who had chocolate melted all over his face after a soldier gave him some treats from his ration kit, kept pointing at the sky,...

The Liberator By Darren Morrison “Liberator” was the name given to a weapon of war called the B-24 bomber. Though this plane was in the shadows of the famous B-17 flying fortress, the B-24 was a remarkable aircraft in its own right. The Liberator had a number of virtues which made it a highly sought-after bomber: it was fast (300 m.p.h. at 30,000 feet); capable of carrying a payload of 8,000 pounds; and had an operational range of approximately 2,290 miles. The Liberator was the most sought-after bomber in World War II. This plane had an outstanding war record in...