Free Republic

The Episcopal Church has approximately 2 million members and 7,200 churches in the U.S. and is part of the 77-million member Anglican Communion. Because of its presence in the U.S., the relative wealth of its members, and its connections to Anglicans throughout the world, the Episcopal Church is in a strategic position to influence attitudes toward Israel on both a national and global scale. - Sadly, the Episcopal Church is Not a trustworthy observer of the Arab-Israeli conflict. The church's leaders and constitutive bodies routinely issue one-sided statements about the Arab-Israeli conflict, and its publications portray Israel as exclusively responsible...

WASHINGTON, Sept. 6, 2006 -- At about 9 a.m. on Sept. 11, 2001, Debra Wagner and her colleagues at the Pentagon got a phone call telling them to turn on the television. There had been a terrible “accident” in New York City. Debra Wagner, Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Army for Manpower and Reserve Affairs, stands by a display honoring the people who lost their lives in the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attack on the Pentagon. Wagner said she came through the tragic events with a profound belief in the resilience of America and its people. Photo by...

Iran unveiled its first locally manufactured fighter plane Wednesday during large-scale military exercises, state-run television reported. The report said the bomber Saegheh is similar to the American F-18 fighter plane, but "more powerful." It also said the plane was "designed, optimized and improved by Iranian experts." State TV said the Iranian air force had commissioned the Saegheh plane after many test flights in the past year. Television footage showed the airplane taking off and launching two rockets. The plane had a small cockpit and only one pilot. "Saegheh is capable of launching both rockets and bombs," the report said. General...

Iran said on Monday it had tested a new air defense system to counter missiles and aircraft during large-scale military exercises throughout the country, state-run television reported. "The upgraded missiles successfully destroyed the presumed enemies' missiles in low altitude simultaneously in several points," said Gen. Amir Amini, deputy commander of Iran's Air Force. The television footage showed at least four surface-to-air missiles being fired from mobile launching pads. The report did not say if the missile was equipped with a guidance system. During maneuvers dubbed "The Blow of Zolfaghar," which began in August 19, Iran test fired short-range surface-to-surface and...

THE scale of the Holocaust has been "greatly exaggerated", Iran's foreign ministry spokesman said today, adding he had visited several former concentration camps in eastern Europe. “When I was ambassador I saw several of these camps in (the former) East Germany and Poland. In my opinion it has been greatly exaggerated. It is far from what is being publicised,” Hamid Reza Asefi said. His comments come ahead of a conference to be held on December 11 in Iran which the Islamic republic hopes will present “hidden aspects” of the slaughter of Jews under Nazi Germany. “Different opinions which affirm and...

THE Italian Foreign Minister said today that Iran's desire to develop nuclear energy is "legitimate" provided the goal of the program was for "peaceful purposes"."If Iran is looking to use nuclear energy for peaceful purposes, it is not only legitimate, but can also clear the way for cooperation" with other countries, said Massimo D'Alema.He stressed that Iran's nuclear program must be peaceful."We must work so that Iran does not build a nuclear weapon," he said.The comments by Italy's top diplomat came one day before a deadline set by the UN Security Council for Iran to halt its uranium enrichment...

The United States has warned Iran that military option "is not off the table" as it mulls a multi-pronged strategy to prevent Tehran from going nuclear. "I think any president charged with responsibility for protecting the American people is not going to take the military option off the table when you confront a threat as grave as an Iran armed with nuclear weapons," US Ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton said. "... He's (Bush) made it plain for some time that our preferred way of dealing with this problem is through peaceful and diplomatic means, and that's what we've...

SO, what now? Iran has defied the UN order to stop its most controversial nuclear work. It looks as if there will be a fudge by the European Union, dragging the US along behind. At yesterday's deadline, which was supposed to be the climax of this long-running standoff, Europeans blinked first. Germany and Italy, in particular, have taken the view that more talks would be preferable to sanctions, even at the cost of blurring the force of the UN Security Council demand. That has played into the hands of Russia and China, who never much wanted sanctions. It has left...

Prodi says two nations have useful experience in region (ANSA) - Rome, September 1 - Italian Premier Romano Prodi said on Friday that Rome and Paris should work together to find a solution to current international tensions over Iran's nuclear programme . Speaking at a joint press conference after a meeting with French Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin, Prodi noted that both nations had "interests, experience and relations" in the region . Diplomatic cooperation in the Mideast could become "more intense" and could "extend to the Iranian problem", he said . Prodi's meeting with de Villepin came a day after...

UNITED NATIONS, Sept. 1 (UPI) -- The International Atomic Energy Agency told the U.N. Security Council its inspectors have found new traces of enriched uranium in Iran. The discovery marked the third instance that highly enriched uranium was found at an Iranian facility, but the IAEA said the nuclear fingerprint on the new discovery does not match that found on earlier samples, which the agency had concluded came from contaminated equipment from Pakistan, The New York Times reported Friday. The 6-page IAEA report did not identify where the uranium might have originated or whether it was connected to a secret...

IRAN has left no doubt it intends to seek nuclear weapons now that it has violated a UN Security Council deadline to suspend uranium enrichment, and the council must now be ready to impose sanctions, US Ambassador John Bolton said yesterday. Iran’s president defiantly refused to compromise, saying his country won’t be bullied into giving up its right to nuclear technology. Security Council unanimity was not needed before taking action against Iran, Bolton said in a reference to continued Chinese and Russian reluctance to move quickly on sanctions. He spoke shortly after the UN nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic...

Time's up! That should be the United Nations' firm reply today to Iran's nuclear defiance. Rather than get sidetracked by Tehran's foot-dragging offer to hold talks about future talks to curb its nuclear bomb-building program, the Security Council should vote quickly to impose sanctions that bite in order to dissuade Iran's leaders from their reckless folly. U.S. President George Bush offered months ago to reopen a dialogue with Tehran for the first time since the Islamic revolution in 1979. Key Security Council countries also offered Iran attractive political, security and trade incentives to suspend its nuclear fuel enrichment program. Iranian...

SINGAPORE, Aug 31 (Reuters) - Oil prices rose more than half a percent on Thursday as Iran looked set to defy the United Nations' deadline for halting nuclear enrichment, raising the risk of sanctions against the world's fourth-biggest exporter. U.S. oil prices climbed 40 cents to $70.43 a barrel after bouncing from a 10-week low $68.65 a barrel on Wednesday, shaking off an unexpected rise in gasoline and crude stocks. London Brent rose 52 cents to $70.70 a barrel. Later on Thursday the U.N. nuclear watchdog is likely to report that Iran has not complied with a U.N. demand to...

Olmert firm on Lebanon blockade Ehud Olmert and Kofi Annan Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has rebuffed calls for a swift end to Israel's seven-week blockade of Lebanon. Speaking after talks with UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, he said the siege would only be lifted once ceasefire terms were fully implemented. Mr Olmert said that one of the key conditions was the release of two Israeli soldiers captured by Hezbollah.A Hezbollah cabinet minister has said that there will be no unconditional release of the Israeli soldiers. Lebanese Energy Minister Mohammed Fneish said on Wednesday that such a release was "not possible",...

Tropic Lightning Puts on the ‘Groove’ Concert gives soldiers a break from the war. By Spc. Mike Alberts 3rd Brigade Public Affairs CAMP BEUHRING, Kuwait, Aug. 29, 2006 — For a moment, soldiers were anywhere but in the desert. There was no wind, sand, heat or war. In their minds, soldiers were transported by the power of music to more familiar places. For a moment, soldiers got their “groove” on. “V.C. Groove,” a 76th Army Band ensemble, performed live for Tropic Lightning soldiers and others at the Morale, Welfare, and Recreation stage here at Camp Beuhring, Kuwait, Aug. 3....

AUSTIN – Jim Fuller, Libertarian candidate for Texas House District 38, has died. Fuller was vacationing at his stepson’s house in Kalamazoo, Mich., when he did not wake up the morning of Aug. 12, said Floyd Murray, his stepson. The cause of death was ruled congestive hear t failure. Fuller’s death leaves only Eddie Lucio III on the November ballot for the open seat that includes most of Harlingen and northern Brownsville. Lucio III, considered to be the frontrunner, has wide family influence and was the only candidate raising money. The Republican candidate, Brownsville businessman Luis Cavazos, withdrew from the...

US Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld made his strongest public case for a plan, opposed by some in the US Congress and by Russia, to convert some Navy long-range missiles from a nuclear to a conventional role for potential use against terrorist targets anywhere in the world. Rumsfeld held talks Sunday with Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov, and they discussed the issue at a joint news conference. Opponents of the plan argue that it could create a situation in which a conventionally armed US Trident missile, launched from a submarine, would be mistaken for a nuclear launch, thus risking the...

Iran has shrugged off the threat of sanctions, saying such a move would push already high oil prices higher still, hurting economies in industrialized countries more than Iran. International crude prices remain in sight of record highs partly because of market fears that supply from Iran, the world's fourth largest oil exporter, could be disrupted if the nuclear dispute escalates.

LONDON, August 28 (IranMania) - Iran warned it would prosecute any individual or business inside the country from working with foreign-based Persian language satellite channels, the student ISNA news agency reported. "Any cooperation, participation in programs, placing advertisements, interviews and joint production of programs is prohibited and will be prosecuted," Iran's conservative culture ministry said in a statement carried by ISNA. The ministry said the ban was issued because of the "illegal activity and the irreverent content of foreign based Persian-language TV channels". The reception of satellite programs is prohibited in Iran but media reports say about three to four...

LONDON, August 28 (IranMania) - Secretary of Iran-Italy Chambers of Commerce said that investing in Iranian projects implies concurrent investment in all regional countries given that Iran is the pivotal country in the Persian Gulf and Central Asia-Caucasus regions. Speaking to ILNA, Jamshid Haqgou added that the volume of trade between Iran and Italy in 2006 has increased. This is while in 2005 bilateral trade amounted to over five billion dollars, he said noting, “The figure is rapidly increasing and we predict that by the end of this year it will exceed $5.5 billion.“ He added, “Iranian investments in Italy...