Free Republic

WASHINGTON (AP) — The latest filing from special counsel John Durham in his investigation into the origins of the Trump-Russia probe has been seized on by the conservative media and Donald Trump himself as vindication of the former president’s oft-repeated claims that he was “spied” on. One headline said Durham had alleged that the campaign of Hillary Clinton paid to “infiltrate” servers at Trump Tower and the White House — though that verb is not used in the filing — and Trump suggested that Democrats had been caught “illegally spying” in a scandal worse than Watergate. Neither claim is exactly...

The road to the Red Cross Concentration Camp is caked in frozen mud etched with tire tracks and cracking puddles. A dog jogs ahead to dig holes in the camp’s yard. The barbed-wire fence lies in a decrepit heap next to the ticket office branded with a faded swastika and, in thick capital letters, “WACHE SS”.Also, there’s also a high school next door.“Many tourists ask, ‘Oh, is this also part of the camp?’ No, it’s just a school,” explains our guide, Aleksandra Zdravkovic. She works at the tourism office of Nis, a quiet city of 190,000 in southern Serbia, and...

Haditha: Where Are They (the Accusers) Now? Diana West January 18, 2012 Eight charged; seven cleared; one, please, let’s hope, to go.Finally, the last “Haditha” trial is in progress, and, thanks to Nat Helms at Defend Our Marines, everything you need or want to know about the proceedings, the witnesses, the facts about the case of SSGT Frank D. Wuterich, the last of the Marine Mohicans, is here. Tim McGirk, source of the Haditha myth-acre. Of course, I still have a few questions — the exact same questions I had when I first looked at the case back in late...

Let me see if I understand this: Chris Kyle was not a hero, but Brian Williams was? What do we make of Williams' attempt to snatch some vicarious honor? The response to "American Sniper" should not surprise us. Bill Maher called Chris Kyle a "psychopath patriot." It's more than likely that Maher thinks all patriots are a bit unhinged. Lindy West, writing in The Guardian, called Kyle a "hate-filled killer," and The Atlantic's Megan Garber wondered whether "heroism is still heroism when you're motivated by hatred." Spawned in the Vietnam era, the modern left cut its teeth defaming America. That...

An announcement by the government trumpeting the addition of 570 new jobs at Intel’s chip manufacturing plant in Kiryat Gat has created excitement in the finance sector. The upgrade -- which means an investment of NIS 10 billion ($2.7 billion) in Israel’s economy – will be carried out over an eight-year span, and is slated to begin in 2011. By 2018, the Kiryat Gat plant is expected to number about 3,100 staff members. The project is still subject to final approval from the government’s investment center and the Knesset Finance Committee.

SNIPPET: SEOUL, Jan 27, 2010 (AFP) - South Korea's spy agency said Wednesday it had issued an alert against cyberattacks aimed at stealing data from government networks. The National Intelligence Service (NIS) did not say whether North Korea was responsible. Open Radio for North Korea, a Seoul-based group specialising in the North, said the latest attack was led by Pyongyang, which runs elite hacker units. The NIS said its alert was heightened "from normal to concern" on Monday after a massive inflow of overseas hacking attacks. The attacks were aimed at stealing data from government and other state networks, it...

North Korea runs a cyber warfare unit that tries to hack into U.S. and South Korean military networks to gather confidential information and disrupt service, a news report said Tuesday. The North's military has expanded the unit, staffing it with about 100 personnel, mostly graduates of a Pyongyang university that teaches computer skills, Yonhap news agency reported, citing an intelligence agency it didn't identify. South Korea's Defense Ministry said it is aware that Pyongyang has been training hackers in recent years but did not provide details and had no other comment. The National Intelligence Service — South Korea's main spy...

/begin my translation Kim Jong-il's Trinity: N. Korean Subversion in S. Korea I recently met in a foreign country a N. Korean defector who used to work at S. Korean section of N. Korean intelligence. According to him, Kim Jong-il characterize the main principle of N. Korea's S. Korean operation as 'trinity.' It allegedly originates from the Kim Jong-il's instruction that N. Korean intelligence, pro-North (non-governmental) elements in S. Korea, and S. Korean government should make up the unbreakable trinity which would lay siege on those willing to fight for S. Korea(comment: conservative activists.) If the N. Korean outfit, Unification...

WASHINGTON (AP)--A South Korean man who met with John Kerry's fund-raisers to discuss creating a new political group for Korean-Americans was an intelligence agent for his country, raising concerns among some U.S. officials that either he or his government may have tried to influence this fall's election. South Korean officials and U.S. officials told The Associated Press that Chung Byung-Man, a consular officer in Los Angeles, actually worked for South Korea's National Intelligence Service. A spokesman for the South Korean consulate office said Chung was sent home in May amid "speculation" he became involved with the Kerry campaign and...

A South Korean man who met with Sen. John Kerry's fund-raisers to discuss creating a new political group for Korean-Americans was an intelligence agent for his country, raising concerns among some U.S. officials that either he or his government may have tried to influence this fall's election. South Korean officials and U.S. officials said that Chung Byung-man, a consular officer in Los Angeles, actually worked for South Korea's National Intelligence Service.

In an age of terrorism, guerilla and total warfare the medieval doctrine of Just War needs to be re-defined. Moreover, issues of legitimacy, efficacy and morality should not be confused. Legitimacy is conferred by institutions. Not all morally justified wars are, therefore, automatically legitimate. Frequently the efficient execution of a battle plan involves immoral or even illegal acts.As international law evolves beyond the ancient percepts of sovereignty, it should incorporate new thinking about pre-emptive strikes, human rights violations as casus belli and the role and standing of international organizations, insurgents and liberation movements.Yet, inevitably, what constitutes "justice" depends heavily on...

History teaches us little except how little we can learn from it. Still, there is nothing new under the sun. Thus, drawing too many parallels between the environmentalist movements of the late 19th century and their counterparts in the second half of the twentieth century - would probably prove misleading. Similarly, every fin de siecle has its Fukuyama, proclaiming the end of history and the victory of liberalism and capitalism.Liberal parliamentarianism (coupled with unbridled individualistic capitalism) seemed to irreversibly dominate the political landscape by 1890 - when it was suddenly and surprisingly toppled by the confluence of revolutionary authoritarian nationalism...

Activists Accuse S. Korea of Covering Up N. Korean Atrocities Christine Elliott Washington 16 May 2003, 20:31 UTC Listen to Christine Elliot's report (RealAudio) Elliott report - Download 457k (RealAudio) After meeting with President Bush on Wednesday, South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun said the two would work closely to solve the nuclear crisis on the Korean Peninsula. But some activists are upset about what the leaders did not say. They are threatening legal action against the South for preventing defectors from exposing human rights violations in the North. One activist who spent time as a doctor in North Korea says...