Free Republic

TEHRAN, Iran - Iranian officials often say that places with the greatest troubles offer their country the best opportunities. Iranian influence in Iraq has surged since the U.S.-led invasion three years ago. Its reach into Afghanistan continues to grow. And now, the war in Lebanon could make Iran an even more important player in the Islamic world even as its militant Shiite Arab client, Hezbollah, gets pounded by Israel. "Iran sees itself more than just the moral father of Hezbollah. Iran seeks to become a major force across the region as a counterbalance to America and Israel," said Ahmad Bakhshaiesh,...

Iraqi police recruits head toward their sleeping quarters after going through orientation at Forward Operating Base Duke on July 2. Iraqi police recruits go through a two-week training course called the crucible, which is conducted by the U.S. Army's 3rd Battalion, 16th Field Artillery Regiment and civilian contractors. (U.S. Navy photo by Petty Officer 2nd Class Katrina Beeler) BAGHDAD -- The Iraqi national security advisor announced the recent killing of several al-Qaida terrorist group leaders and the capture of others during a press conference here yesterday. Calling it “a major blow to al-Qaida in Iraq,” Dr. Mouwafak al-Rubaie said...

FORT BLISS, Texas (Army News Service, June 9, 2006) – Sixteen Afghan pilots, crew chiefs and flight engineers graduated the U.S. Army Sergeants Major Academy today at Fort Bliss, Texas. The first Afghan aviators to graduate the academy, they will use their new knowledge to help combat narcoterrorists in Afghanistan. “This is a great day for the people of Afghanistan and for the people of the United States,” said Richard J. Douglas, deputy assistant secretary of Defense for Counternarcotics. “This sets the stage for what you have accomplished here at Fort Bliss …by helping President Hamid Karzi’s efforts to suppress...

FORT BLISS, Texas (Army News Service, June 5, 2006) – The first-ever Afghan soldier to attend the Sergeants Major Academy has graduated as a member of SMA Class 56, at Fort Bliss, Texas, May 19. Sgt. Maj. Roshan Safi was selected to attend the U.S. SMA on recommendations from his commanders and U.S. Army mentors in Afghanistan because of his consistent leadership potential as a career-soldier, which began with the post-Taliban controlled Afghan military. “We have officer and enlisted training in Afghanistan,” says Safi. “But in the future we want to establish more non commissioned officer enlisted and officer schools.”...

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Three major hurricanes will strike the United States this year, with the storm-battered Gulf Coast most at risk in June and July, forecaster AccuWeather predicted Monday. The outlook comes after a record-setting hurricane season in 2005 that devastated New Orleans and other coastal cities along the Gulf, and dealt a heavy blow to the U.S. oil industry that sent energy prices to record highs. "The 2006 storm season will be a creeping threat," said AccuWeather Chief Forecaster Joe Bastardi. He projected that five hurricanes, three of them with winds over 110 miles per hour, would hit...

WASHINGTON, April 21, 2006 – U.S. soldiers from Task Force Band of Brothers scored successes in two operations this week. Soldiers from the task force caught seven suspected insurgents in the act of emplacing explosives yesterday. Soldiers on patrol with Battery B, 3rd Battalion, 29th Field Artillery Regiment, 3rd Heavy Brigade Combat Team, observed the suspects digging. As the patrol approached, the suspects tried to flee in two vehicles. The soldiers stopped, searched and detained all the suspects. In one vehicle, a blue truck, soldiers discovered more than 120 mortar rounds, fuses and four missiles. At the site where the...

BAGHDAD, April 6, 2006 – U.S. officials announced today that Iraqi forces captured a terrorist leader in Iraq early last month. Iraqi forces captured and arrested Iraqi terrorist leader Muhammed Hila Hammad Ubaydi, also known as Abu Ayman, in the Mahmudiyah neighborhood of southern Baghdad March 7. Investigators held notice of this capture until now to wait for the results of DNA testing, which confirmed the identity of the man in custody. "Ayman's capture was the result of a determined manhunt conducted by Iraqi intelligence professionals and several intelligence agencies within the coalition," U.S. officials said in a release. Until...

A video grab from CNN shows reporter Wolf Blitzer reporting on Israel's largest shipping line endorsing the takeover of six major U.S. ports by Dubai Ports World March 2, 2006. Dubai Ports World $6.85 billion acquisition of Britain's P&O will close on Friday or Monday, despite an additional 45-day review by the U.S. Government in response to security concerns, a U.S Treasury Department official said on Thursday.

FORT HUACHUCA — This year and next will be the toughest for the Army in Iraq and Afghanistan, the service’s top enlisted soldier said Friday. Equating too many things coming together at once to the movie “The Perfect Storm,” Sgt. Maj. of the Army Kenneth O. Preston said the Army is in the midst of a major transformation of creating more brigade combat teams, movement of forces from overseas locations, base closures and realignments, recruiting more soldiers and continuing to fight terrorism. What cannot be lost is protecting the nation, he told nearly 700 noncommissioned soldiers and officers during a...

Baqubah General Hospital underwent major surgery by Claude D. McKinney Gulf Region North U.S. Army Corps of Engineers The 331-bed Baqubah General Hospital can accommodate 400-500 patients daily is one of two hospitals in Baqubah. In the total Iraq Relief and Reconstruction Program, there are 30 Hospital projects planned nationwide, with 16 currently ongoing, and 13 completed. (GRD photo) Baqubah, Iraq—After a year under construction, the Baqubah General Hospital is finished … with a new incinerator and reverse osmosis water treatment system; plumbing and sewer system upgrade; architectural renovation; emergency backup generator and repair of existing elevators. The completed...

John Whyte commanded three companies, including a rifle company in Iraq. John was killed in an accident after returning from combat, when a car struck him while he was standing on the side of a Kansas City highway. There is a proverb that reads, "As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another." Those who knew John might change it to read, "As iron sharpens iron, so John Whyte sharpens those around him." He was on a self-imposed mission to be the most effective leader that he could be, and even better, he was on a self-imposed mission to help...

Week of Nov. 5, 2005; Vol. 168, No. 19 , p. 294 Volcanic Suppression: Major eruptions can reduce sea level Sid Perkins Large volcanic eruptions can temporarily cool Earth's climate and, a team of scientists now suggests, lower sea level worldwide. BLOWING ITS TOP. Ocean cooling following the June 1991 eruption of Mount Pinatubo in the Philippines caused sea level worldwide to temporarily drop about 5 millimeters. D. Harlow/U.S. Geological Survey The tiny particles of broken rock and droplets of condensed gases that a volcano ejects high into the atmosphere reflect sunlight into space. So, after an eruption, there's less...

WASHINGTON -- The Supreme Court refused Monday to disturb New York's system of taxing the income of telecommuters who live elsewhere but are employed by companies in the Empire state. Justices passed up a chance to hear the appeal of a Tennessee computer programmer who claimed that New York's tax law is unconstitutional. Thomas Huckaby had been ordered to pay New York income tax for his full salary, not just the time he spent at the New York offices of the union for which he worked. He lived 900 miles away in Nashville.

A major dust storm has just broken out on Mars and the event will be visible this weekend with good-sized backyard telescopes. The timing is incredible. Amateur skywatchers around the world are planning to gaze at Mars Saturday night because it will be closer to Earth than anytime until the year 2018. The dust storm was no more than a small bright dot Thursday yet it was large and obvious Friday, as seen in images taken by Clay Sherrod at the Arkansas Sky Observatories. NASA took note and is monitoring signals from its Mars rovers, one of which has detected...

TOLEDO, Ohio - A coin dealer and major GOP donor at the center of a scandal in Ohio state government was charged Thursday with illegally funneling $45,400 in contributions to President Bush's re-election bid. Tom Noe was accused in a federal indictment of giving money directly or indirectly to 24 friends and associates, who then made the campaign contributions in their own names. In that way, he skirted the $2,000 limit on individual contributions, prosecutors said. "It's one of the most blatant and excessive finance schemes we have encountered," said Noel Hillman, section chief of the U.S. Department of Justice's...

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa - Deadly epidemics. Ruined crops. The extinction of some of Africa's wildlife. The potential consequences of global warming could be devastating for the world's poorest continent, yet its nations are among the least equipped to cope. "It is our vulnerability that sets us apart from developed nations," said Luanne Otter, a researcher at the University of the Witwatersrand during a climate change conference this week in South Africa. Surface temperatures rose about 1 degree Fahrenheit in the 20th century — the largest increase in 1,000 years, according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. It said 1998...

SACRAMENTO (AP) - The California Teachers Association, among the most vocal opponents of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's special election initiatives, contributed $21 million this week to groups campaigning against the governor. The high-dollar distribution comes just as the fall campaign is set to begin in earnest, with both sides targeting the Labor Day weekend as the unofficial kickoff. Schwarzenegger helped raise and spend nearly $20 million during the first half of the year to qualify and promote his ballot measures and has raised about $6 million since July. Marty Wilson, the governor's fundraising manager, said he expects Schwarzenegger will reach the...

Archaeologists make major discovery... underwater When most people think about Mayan archaeology they imagine excavations in royal tombs or trenches cut into tree covered mounds. Few of us would expect that a significant find could be made underwater... particularly in a swamp. But Belizean archaeology is a many-faceted field, as the presentations at this year's Archaeology Symposium, now underway in San Ignacio, amply reveal. Among the updates to last year's reports is a startling discovery made by a team from Louisiana State University. It is a find unlike any in all of the Meso-American world, and it was made right...

Major excavation at Roman forts The forts have been discovered at Dinefwr Park Three weeks of digging to excavate what could be the largest Roman garrison fort in Wales start on Monday. The site, which dates from the first century AD, was first found at Dinefwr Park, near Llandeilo, in 2003. Experts said the south Wales discovery could rewrite our understanding of the Roman conquest in the area. Recent surveys confirmed the site, which is invisible from the surface, is much larger than first thought and is made up of two overlapping forts. Emma Plunkett Dillon, archaeologist for the National...

Major Bronze Age haul unearthed More than 140 pieces have been recovered from the garden A large haul of Bronze Age artefacts has been uncovered by a gardener. The 145 items, dating from about 800BC, were found by Simon Francis as he landscaped the grounds of a house in Cringleford, near Norwich. Norfolk County Council archaeologists say the haul is one of the largest and most significant they have known. Curator of archaeology Alan West said: "The items are in good condition and the more items we find the better knowledge we can develop of the era." It is very...