Free Republic

"I am the same man and do not alter, it is you who change, since in fact you took my advice while unhurt, and waited for misfortune to repent of it . . . But you must not be seduced by citizens like these nor be angry with me -- who, if I voted for war, only did as you did yourselves." -- Pericles's funeral oration, "The Peloponnesian War" by Thucydides Wars have never been easy to defend. Even in "heroic" cultures, men and women applauded wars then grew weary of them. This Iraq war, too, was once a popular...

Five years after launching the invasion of Iraq, President Bush strongly signaled Wednesday that he won't order troop withdrawals beyond those already planned because he refuses to "jeopardize the hard-fought gains" of the past year. As anti-war activists demonstrated around downtown Washington, the president spoke at the Pentagon to mark the anniversary of a war that has cost nearly 4,000 U.S. lives and roughly $500 billion. The president's address was part of a series of events the White House planned around the anniversary and next month's report from the top U.S. figures in Iraq, Gen. David Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan...

WASHINGTON, March 17, 2008 – The United States must continue operations in Iraq until the job is done, Vice President Richard B. Cheney said today in Baghdad. “I think given the enormous effort that's been made and the sacrifices that have been made -- both in terms of lives and national treasure -- to succeeding in Iraq, it's very, very important that we succeed,” he said, “(and) that we not quit before the job is done. “We need to remember that our objective here is victory and that we need to be prepared to do whatever it takes in...

The presidential election presents a clear choice on the Iraq war. Republican Sen. John McCain vows to stay. Democratic Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama promise to begin a withdrawal. Still, when asked in New Hampshire if they would promise to have all U.S. troops out by the end of their first term, Obama and Clinton both refused.Since the invasion five years ago, Iraq has delivered enough surprises and overturned enough certainties - and the candidates have left themselves enough wiggle room - that there is reason to believe the United States could still be in Iraq five years...

On August 9, 2001, President Bush announced a compromise decision on the contentious question of whether the federal government should provide financial support for research into the curative properties of human stem cells extracted from embryos. Bush’s compromise allowed funding for research into embryonic stem cells that had already been harvested. At the same time, he disallowed funding for procedures that would collect stem cells from frozen (but still living) embryos, since doing so would require their destruction. In the case of those already collected, he said, “The life-or-death decision has already been made.” But that life-or-death decision would not...

"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." — George Santayana from "Reason in Common Sense" Despite the hope that we can learn from past mistakes and not repeat them, history suggests it is counterintuitive to actually believe it could be so. We won every military engagement of the Vietnam War yet Walter Cronkite and the American media conspired with the enemy to do what the North Vietnamese could not do on the battlefield. General Võ Nguyên Giáp, who was the commander of the North Vietnamese army, has published his memoirs. He has confirmed what most Americans...

American foreign policy has been nothing like as interventionist as its critics like to think. Critics of George W. Bush's Middle East policy are hoping for a change in direction once America's 43rd President has left the White House. The foreign offices of Europe all hope for more multilateralism. More realpolitik. Less sabre-rattling. The critics have a problem, however. In reality, Team Bush has largely been following European approaches to foreign policy for most of the world's troublespot nations. Take Pakistan. The “realist school” couldn't honestly disapprove of any aspect of Bush's dealings with Islamabad. American taxpayers have financed a...

Poland not deserting Iraq, says PM Tuesday, October 9. 2007 Poland should leave Iraq as part of a political plan and wait for a move on the part of the allies, especially keeping an eye on what happens after elections in the USA, Poland’s Prime Minister Jarosław Kaczyński has told Polish Radio. He was reacting to the recent series of attacks on the Polish embassy in Baghdad. “We should leave the Iraq within a framework of a political plan, and not run away or desert because this would mean that we lose everything we already gained there. And we will...

Democratic politicians are either far more insightful than your average Republican, or, uniformly more political. I'd opt for the latter conclusion. How to explain that there is not one Democratic leader that sees any merit in our struggle in Iraq? There is no such uniformity among Republicans, and, after all, the commander-in-chief, who is leading this effort, is from their own party. We've got a Republican candidate for president, Ron Paul, who self identifies as the "anti-war candidate." And we've got highly credible and outspoken Republican doubters who have no political calculations to make. I'm talking about guys like Chuck...

PRIME Minister John Howard has reaffirmed his leadership after fresh rumours he will stand down as early as this week. Speaking after visiting the Armenian Cultural Festival in Sydney, Mr Howard rejected speculation he will announce his retirement on Tuesday. “Well, that's news to me,” Mr Howard said. “My position was outlined last week and you know me, it hasn't changed.”

An American president is constitutionally limited by the 22nd amendment, passed in 1951, to two terms in office. This amendment was pushed by the Republican-led 80th Congress elected in 1946, and in some measure was a response to the Democrat Franklin Roosevelt's winning four presidential elections between 1932 and 1944. Many Republicans later would regret this term-limiting amendment as it made lame ducks of presidents Dwight D. Eisenhower and Ronald Reagan, each of whom most likely would have won third terms and Americans will never know what this would have meant for their country. If Eisenhower, a war-hero and five-star...

Good evening. In the life of all free nations, there come moments that decide the direction of a country and reveal the character of its people. We are now at such a moment. In Iraq, an ally of the United States is fighting for its survival. Terrorists and extremists who are at war with us around the world are seeking to topple Iraq's government, dominate the region, and attack us here at home. If Iraq's young democracy can turn back these enemies, it will mean a more hopeful Middle East and a more secure America. This ally has placed its...

War In Iraq: Gen. David Petraeus' realistic report on Iraq demonstrates why the public trusts the military more than a Congress that wants, once again, to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. Petraeus delivered news that should be celebrated by both sides in the Iraq debate. In his long-awaited report to Congress Monday, he said the troop surge will enable the U.S. to slowly cut the number of troops in Iraq from 168,000 troops now to 130,000 troops by mid-2008, about the level before the surge began. Better still, the drawdowns can start immediately, he said, and proceed "without...

Not sure if this has been posted already, but this is a clip of a US Congresswoman causing an uproar in the Congress by her words. Can you guess who is bleating? U.S. Congress IN Uproar By Womans Choice of Words

As opposition politicians scramble to score political points on Afghanistan, Stephane Dion's position bears the most scrutiny because his party has the only chance of replacing the government. On the Liberal party website, we read: "In the face of a mounting insurgency in Afghanistan, and with fading support from our NATO partners, our troops are facing an increasingly difficult mission. We owe it to our soldiers to develop a strategy that will achieve real results in establishing a lasting peace." But last week Dion said: "I want the prime minister to say right away that we are out of the...

It won't exactly be a ticker-tape parade, but expect a considerable amount of support for the troops, the mission and Gen. David Petraeus as he presents his long-awaited report on Iraq next week. Some of that backing is grounded in politics, but the motivation for many is the strong belief that wars should be won, commitments to allies should be honored, and any attempt to dishonor those who serve should not go unanswered. There are already TV ads featuring Iraqi war veterans and Gold Star moms, courtesy of Freedoms Watch. Move America Forward has a pro-troop, cross-country caravan under way,...

JOHN Howard is going nowhere - except to an election - and he's not convinced that means he is going to his political doom. The Prime Minister and a senior leadership group believe the election can be won by the Coalition despite a string of opinion polls handing victory to Labor leader Kevin Rudd. Liberal sources yesterday rejected suggestions victory would first require Mr Howard to stand aside for Treasurer Peter Costello on the eve of the poll. However, they acknowledged a major opinion survey next week - the first after his hosting duties at APEC - would increase pressure...

WASHINGTON - President Bush's senior advisers on Iraq have recommended he stand by his current war strategy, and he is unlikely to order more than a symbolic cut in troops before the end of the year, administration officials told The Associated Press Tuesday. The recommendations from the military commander in Iraq, Gen. David Petraeus, and U.S. Ambassador Ryan Crocker come despite independent government findings Tuesday that Baghdad has not met most of the political, military and economic markers set by Congress. Bush appears set on maintaining the central elements of the policy he announced in January, one senior administration official...

Prime Minister John Howard has promised to stand by the United States in terms of Australia's presence in Iraq on the eve of an American reassessment of the recent military surge in the troubled nation. US President George W Bush will return home early next week from the APEC summit in Sydney to hear a report from General David Petraeus, the US commander in Baghdad. Mr Howard said Australia should stand by its ally in difficult times. "It's very difficult times for the US," Mr Howard told reporters in Sydney. "One of the things that influenced my thinking is the...

WASHINGTON, Aug. 28, 2007 – Defeating extremists in the Middle East is essential to America’s security, and the most important way to counter these extremists is to win the fight in Iraq, President Bush said today. “The challenge in Iraq comes down to this: Either the forces of extremism succeed, or the forces of freedom succeed. Either our enemies advance their interests in Iraq, or we advance our interests,” Bush said at the 89th Annual American Legion National Convention in Reno, Nev. The violent ideology that inspires extremists in the Middle East has two main strains, Bush said: Sunni...