Free Republic

The buckets of cold water Turkey is pouring on Finland and Sweden’s bids to join NATO may be coming from the sea around the shore of Cyprus, the divided Mediterranean island that is a bargaining chip for the Turkish president, Tayyip Erdogan. There is mounting evidence that Turkey could be using its status as a member of NATO to wield its veto power over the anticipated accession to the alliance of the two Nordic countries as a lever to force the international community to confer legitimacy on its de facto Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus. London’s Sunday Express recently reported...

PORTLAND, Ore. — In a short letter issued Thursday, Oregon Governor Kate Brown said it was time elected officials and community leaders come together to condemn the acts in violence in Portland. The letter mentions there is no place for white supremacy or vigilantism in Oregon, but fails to mention the attacks on police or arson fires set by demonstrators inside occupied buildings including the building where Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler lives. The letter is signed by Mayor Wheeler and City Commissioner Amanda Fritz. City Commissioners Jo Ann Hardesty and Chloe Eudaly did not sign the letter. Newly elected Multnomah...

In total, 39 English language books were found at bin Laden's Pakistan compound along with a wealth of other written materials: The 2030 Spike by Colin Mason A Brief Guide to Understanding Islam by I. A. Ibrahim America's Strategic Blunders by Willard Matthias America's 'War on Terrorism' by Michel Chossudovsky Al-Qaeda's Online Media Strategies: From Abu Reuter to Irhabi 007 by Hanna Rogan The Best Democracy Money Can Buy by Greg Palast The Best Enemy Money Can Buy by Anthony Sutton Black Box Voting, Ballot Tampering in the 21st Century by Bev Harris Bloodlines of the Illuminati by Fritz Springmeier...

The vast majority of the annual shooting homicides are committed by inner-city and minority youths below the age of 30. Handguns are involved in 80% of all murders. Rifles and shotguns account for less than 10% of homicides. No matter; the National Rifle Association is now blamed for generic gun violence, especially the mass shootings at schools, even though usually no one knows of any proposed gun law — barring outright confiscation of previously purchased firearms, bullets, and clips — that would have prevented the shooters at Sandy Hook and Columbine. Gun merchants are blamed by the president while in...

SACRAMENTO, Calif.-Nearly 1 million undocumented immigrants could live and work openly in California with little or no fear of deportation under an initiative unveiled Friday by a state legislator and others. Assemblyman Felipe Fuentes, a Democrat, is helping spearhead the measure, called the California Opportunity and Prosperity Act. The proposal was filed Friday with the state Attorney General's Office, marking a first step toward a drive to collect the 504,760 voter signatures needed to qualify for the ballot. Fuentes called the measure a "moderate, common-sense approach" necessitated by the federal government's inability to pass comprehensive immigration reform. "I hope this...

Menachem Begin did not pull his punches. In 1981, as work neared completion on an Iraqi nuclear reactor that Israel believed would produce plutonium for warheads, the Israeli prime minister dispatched eight F-16 bombers to destroy the plant. Begin later said that the raid was proof his country would "under no circumstances allow the enemy to develop weapons of mass-destruction against our people". The event defined a strategy that became known as the "Begin Doctrine" and is best summed up by the phrase "the best defense is forceful preemption." Israel's message is now more guarded. In a civil defense drill...

Just found this photo from Communist North Korea from several days ago apparantly during one of dictator Kim Jong il's "on the spot guidance tours".and also here: Note the manufacturer of the computer monitor (and presumably the hard drive itself) (Dell Computer, Round Rock, Texas, USA), which General Secretary Kim Jong-il is inspecting. Link to article on North Korean news through Japanese website: LINK

The Author Who Got A Big Boost From bin Laden Historian 'Glad' of Mention As Sales of Book Skyrocket By David Montgomery Washington Post Staff Writer Saturday, January 21, 2006; Page C01 Twenty-four hours after Osama bin Laden told the world that the American people should read the work of a little-known Washington historian, William Blum was still adjusting. Blum, who at 72 is accustomed to laboring in relative left-wing obscurity, checked his emotions and pronounced himself shocked and, well, pleased. "This is almost as good as being an Oprah book," he said yesterday between telephone calls from the world...

OSAMA bin Laden has turned an obscure book by a radical Washington historian into one of the nation's best sellers by recommending it in his latest verbal attack on the United States. Since the Al-Qaeda leader mentioned "Rogue State: A Guide to the World's Only Superpower" in his tape last Thursday, William Blum's book has gone from 205,763 on the Amazon.com list of best sellers to number 27 on Saturday. As he fought off media attention, Mr Blum, 72, who lives in a one-room apartment in the US capital, told US media he had no regrets about the boost from...

WASHINGTON: An unexpected endorsement from Al Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden has resulted in a huge jump in sales for a book by a critic of US foreign policy. William Blum’s “Rogue State: A Guide to the World’s Only Superpower” was ranked 209,000 on Amazon.com’s sales list before bin Laden mentioned it in an audiotape released on Thursday. By Friday, the book was No. 30 on the Amazon.com list. Bin Laden said Al Qaeda group was preparing more attacks in the United States but also told Americans, “It is useful for you to read the book ‘The Rogue State.’“ “I...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - An unexpected endorsement from al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden has resulted in a huge jump in sales for a book by a critic of U.S. foreign policy. ADVERTISEMENT William Blum's "Rogue State: A Guide to the World's Only Superpower" was ranked 209,000 on Amazon.com's sales list before bin Laden mentioned it in an audiotape released on Thursday. By Friday, the book was No. 30 on the Amazon.com list. Bin Laden said al Qaeda group was preparing more attacks in the United States but also told Americans, "It is useful for you to read the book 'The...

Twenty-four hours after Osama bin Laden told the world that the American people should read the work of a little-known Washington historian, William Blum was still adjusting. Blum, who at 72 is accustomed to laboring in relative left-wing obscurity, checked his emotions and pronounced himself shocked and, well, pleased. "This is almost as good as being an Oprah book," he said yesterday between telephone calls from the world media and bites of a bagel. "I'm glad."

An unexpected endorsement from al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden has resulted in a huge jump in sales for a book by a critic of U.S. foreign policy. William Blum's "Rogue State: A Guide to the World's Only Superpower" was ranked 209,000 on Amazon.com's sales list before bin Laden mentioned it in an audiotape released on Thursday. By Friday, the book was No. 30 on the Amazon.com list. Bin Laden said al Qaeda group was preparing more attacks in the United States but also told Americans, "It is useful for you to read the book 'The Rogue State.'" "I was...

Yesterday I posted that the book Bin Laden mentioned in his recent audio tape was languishing at 209,572 on Amazon.com's book list. Well, take a look again today: "Rogue State: A Guide to the World's Only Superpower" by William Blum is, at this writing, ranked #43! According to Amazon, that means it is the 43rd best-selling book in their library. Amazing.

He may be in a cave somewhere, but it is apparent that Osama bin Laden has a very effective means of global communications. By the same token, the far left-wing in the U.S. has an effective way of conveying its message to the rest of the world. They succeeded in getting an obscure anti-American book into the hands of bin Laden, who is now promoting it worldwide. The significance of the latest bin Laden tape is that the world's top terrorist has made common cause with the blame-America-first crowd, which finds the U.S. guilty of everything that goes wrong on...

Sunday May 1, 5:39 PM Draft U.S. paper allows commanders to seek preemptive nuke strikes (Kyodo) _ The U.S. military plans to allow regional combatant commanders to request the president for approval to carry out preemptive nuclear strikes against possible attacks on the United States or its allies with weapons of mass destruction, according to a draft new nuclear operations paper. The paper, drafted by the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the U.S. Armed Forces, also revealed that submarines which make port calls in Yokosuka, Sasebo and Okinawa in Japan are prepared for reloading nuclear warheads if necessary to deal...

WASHINGTON, Sept. 27, 2004 -- If Syria doesn't reverse its counterproductive policy in Iraq, then the United States and Syria will have a "major deterioration" in relations, said a senior U.S. government official today. This is directly opposite what Syrian officials have been saying following a U.S.-Syrian meeting in Damascus two weeks ago. Syria has touted the fact that its government will participate in talks with Iraq and U.S. Central Command on problems related to the country's porous border with Iraq. This set of talks is scheduled to begin this week. Secretary of State Colin Powell addressed the situation with...

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Syria has shown a new readiness to work with U.S.-led forces to stop arms, militants and money from crossing into Iraq and fueling insurgency, Secretary of State Colin Powell said on Wednesday. "I sensed a new attitude from the Syrians," Powell told reporters after talks with the foreign minister of Syria, a nation Washington routinely accuses of supporting terrorism, seeking weapons of mass destruction and dominating Lebanon. "But of course it all depends on actions, not just on attitudes, so we will be working closely with them," Powell added, emerging relatively upbeat from a meeting with...

There was something shocking about the photographs of a garlanded Abdul Qadeer Khan after Pakistan had exploded its first nuclear bomb. The reasons for the test were obvious - arch-rival India had detonated a similar weapon a couple of weeks before - but fêting such a devastating device with flowers had a sinister ring. Pakistan was rejoicing in heightened tension in a region that Bill Clinton was later to call the most dangerous in the world. Nearly six years on, that unease appears more than justified. Dr Khan not only developed Pakistan's nuclear arsenal, but in the process also passed...

CAIRO, Egypt (AP) — Eager to shake off his pariah image, Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi said Saturday his country is no longer a rogue state and has even detained some Islamists suspected of links with the al-Qaida terror network. In a two-hour speech on Libyan national television, Gadhafi condemned the Sept. 11 attacks, saying: ``We have never seen such a horrific and terrifying act performed in such an exhibitionist manner.'' But he warned the United States and Britain against any invasion of Iraq to topple President Saddam Hussein, saying ``the collapse of the Iraqi regime will turn Iraq into another...