Free Republic

'Crazy' Iraqi spy was full of misinformation, says report An alcoholic cousin of an aide to Ahmed Chalabi has emerged as the key source in the US rationale for going to war in Iraq. According to a US presidential commission looking into pre-war intelligence failures, the basis for pivotal intelligence on Iraq's alleged biological weapons programmes and fleet of mobile labs was a spy described as 'crazy' by his intelligence handlers and a 'congenital liar' by his friends. The defector, given the code-name Curveball by the CIA, has emerged as the central figure in the corruption of US intelligence...

There's an old saying that a lie can travel halfway around the world before the truth puts its boots on. Let it be known that mistakes can travel just as fast and just as far. Take the case of Rep. Ellen Tauscher, D-California, who at a hearing on Capitol Hill last week spoke about a 1962 nuclear test in the Nevada desert. The test was code named "Project Sedan." Tauscher's remarks were little noticed, until they were transcribed incorrectly in an unofficial transcript of the hearing. One letter was changed. The "Sedan" nuclear test became the "Sudan" nuclear test. And...

1946 Document on Jewish Children Tells a Different Story Undercuts Tale That Vatican Tried to Keep Them From Their Families ROME, JAN. 12, 2005 (Zenit.org).- The latest in a series of accusations about Pope Pius XII's behavior vis-à-vis the Jews and Nazi persecution seems to have little basis in fact. The latest round began Dec. 28 when an Italian newspaper published passages of an alleged 1946 Vatican document that supposedly aimed to keep baptized Jewish children from being returned to their families. The text, as stated in Il Corriere della Sera by Alberto Melloni, director of the G. Dossetti Library...

A letter that appeared in Tuesday's News Tribune suggested that the Bush administration was behind an attempt to reinstate the draft. As evidence, the writer cited by number two bills in the Senate and House and urged readers to write their representatives opposing them. In fact, there are no Republican-sponsored bills concerning the draft, and the two measures requiring conscription of all young adults, rich and poor, were sponsored by Democrats in early 2003 as a tactic against the then-impending war. Specifically, co-sponsor Rep. Jim McDermott of Washington wrote: "If we need to reinstate the draft in order to make...

The New York Times September 28, 2004 Prewar Assessment on Iraq Saw Chance of Strong Divisions By DOUGLAS JEHL and DAVID E. SANGER WASHINGTON, Sept. 27 - The same intelligence unit that produced a gloomy report in July about the prospect of growing instability in Iraq warned the Bush administration about the potential costly consequences of an American-led invasion two months before the war began, government officials said Monday. The estimate came in two classified reports prepared for President Bush in January 2003 by the National Intelligence Council, an independent group that advises the director of central intelligence. The assessments...

When I'm down here in Palm Beach County on Sunday morning, I usually pick up a copy of a local newspaper called the Hometown News. They have a section called Rants & Raves. The following was in yesterdays edition: Medicare prescription drug benefit is a big asset. "I see lots of TV ads about the Medicare prescription drug benefits and how bad it it, but it works for me. My monthly drug bill has dropped from over $450 to less that $20 a month. I am so grateful for this benefit. Of course, I had to apply for it. That's...

Washington, DC, Sep. 19 (UPI) -- CIA and Defense Intelligence Agency war-games have predicted unfavorable consequences of a U.S. pre-emptive strike on Iran's nuclear facilities. Newsweek quoted an Air Force source as saying, "The war-games were unsuccessful at preventing the conflict from escalating." Newsweek National Security Correspondent John Barry and Special Correspondent Dan Ephron have said administration officials were instead hoping to cause a regime change in Tehran-by covert means. However, the officials weren't ruling out the possibility of using force if necessary. Sources quoted by Newsweek said circulated memos echo the administration's unsuccessful Iraq strategy: oust the existing regime...

Looks like the New York Times has another ugly Jayson Blair-like scandal on its hands. This time, the young minority reporter is Charlie LeDuff, a part Native-American, part-Cajun writer, known as a rising star and favorite pet of former executive editor Howell Raines. The hotshot LeDuff is now in hot water over his cribbing of anecdotes from someone else's book about kayaking down the Los Angeles River for his own Page One fluff story about — you guessed it! — kayaking down the Los Angeles River. An embarrassing correction published in the New York Times on Dec. 8 explained: An...

A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.— Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution Interpreting the Second Amendment's statement of a right to bear arms is one of the most controversial of all the questions involving the rights of the people. Unlike the rights of free expression and those protecting persons accused of crimes, the Supreme Court has rarely addressed the issue, and so there is no authoritative judicial interpretation of what those words mean. But the American public, Congress, and...

<p>A letter to the editor of The Washington Times, purported to be from a senior U.S. diplomat with scathing criticism of the Foreign Service for lack of loyalty to the Bush administration, was exposed yesterday as a forgery.</p> <p>Wesley Pruden, the editor in chief of The Times, said the newspaper learned "from the highest level at the State Department" that the letter was a hoax and the newspaper fully accepts "as true that the ambassador was not the author of this letter."</p>

Focus on the Family's founder and chairman talks at length about the Terri Schiavo case — and the extraordinary efforts of Americans to help save her life. It was a momentous day in Florida yesterday, when the Sunshine State's Legislature passed "Terri's Bill — legislation giving Gov. Jeb Bush the authority to rescue Terri Schiavo from the court-ordered dehydration she's been suffering through since last week. As of this moment, Schiavo is receiving the nourishment she needs to live. Dr. James Dobson, founder and chairman of Focus on the Family, told a national listening audience on his daily "Focus on...

The latest entry in the Democratic presidential candidate lineup has rocketed to become the top candidate within two weeks of his announcement. General Wesley Clark is a retired general and a Rhodes scholar, and he served as NATO commander during the Kosovo war as well as a CNN commentator during the Iraq war this spring. His words of July 11 sound like the kind of straight talk that could reassure Americans increasingly uncertain about the direction of the war in Iraq: “When I was in the military,” he said, “I took an oath to uphold the Constitution. There is nothing...

Some conservative Republicans who say they believe state Sen. Tom McClintock would be a better governor than Arnold Schwarzenegger but who planned to vote for Schwarzenegger as their best hope of electing a Republican are switching to McClintock in light of recent polls indicating both GOP candidates will likely finish ahead of Cruz Bustamante. "If it is down to a two-man race," a GOP activist said, "my vote is for Tom. Schwarzenegger seemed to be the lesser of two evils compared to Bustamante, but that rationale disappears when Bustamante turns out to be the candidate that can't win." McClintock, who...

<p>The top Democrat on the House education panel has condemned the continuing efforts of many of his fellow party members and the National Education Association to water down school reform provisions of the No Child Left Behind Act.</p> <p>In a letter to fellow House members last week, California Rep. George Miller said critics have spread "misleading or outright inaccurate information" about federal requirements to improve student achievement.</p>

Psyops Teams Combat Baghdad Rumors By Spc. Christopher Stanis / 1st Armored Division BAGHDAD, Iraq - In a city that has a reputation of running on widespread rumors, the opinions of Baghdad's residents might be easily swayed because of misinformation. The 1st Armored Division's tactical psychological operations teams throughout the city combat false rumors daily to subdue fears and paranoia citizens may have about the coalition. "If there is somebody spreading rumors against (the United States), we're not going to go out and call them liars; that would just lend them more credibility," said Cpl. Philip Chun, Tactical Psychological...

Today I received via e-mail two notes from corporate leadersheep (sp!) Both of these notes contained 'red flag' notes in them within the first 2 paragraphs. Please understand when you read this that my company does not make Iraqi sand sifters or camel pooper scoopers. The statements:First-"I know there are a lot of things out of our control such as the economy and the situation in Iraq."Second-"Plus, the Iraq situation remained unsettled, and the economy wasn’t showing much life."

Being a newcomer to Free Republic, I have noticed a sharp decline in confidence in the Bush administration lately over the WMD and SOTU issues. I don’t understand why this is, so I thought I might post a thread soliciting opinions on it. I am wondering how many Freepers really believe that the Administration does not know what it is doing. I also would like to hear why many of you seem so concerned over Democrat and Media attacks on the President, when he has shown himself to be completely capable of handling these attacks skillfully. I firmly believe that...

Safety/Guns and Kids Are my children at risk if I own a gun? Every 2 hours, someone’s child is killed with a loaded gun.For every child killed by a gun, 4 are wounded.43% of American households with children have guns.There is a loaded gun in one in every 10 households with children.The risk of suicide is 5 times greater if there’s a gun in the home.The risk of domestic homicide is 3 times greater if there’s a gun in the home.A gun kept in the home for self-protection is 22 times more likely to kill someone you know than...

<p>As a public official, I appreciate and commend those trying to protect our nation against terrorist attacks," the letter from a municipal employee of Bothell, Wash., begins. "I also have concerns, specifically regarding the treatment of those who have been identified as potential risks. It has become apparent, over the course of my last few trips, that I am one of those individuals."</p>

<p>How could Saddam Hussein have been so fatally wrong? How could he have so misjudged President Bush? How could the late Iraqi dictator, with access to informed judgments by his allies like French President Jacques Chirac, Russian President Vladimir Putin and German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, not have realized that President Bush would go to war?</p>