Free Republic

Air Tran Airways Flight 297 was scheduled to leave Atlanta at 4:43PM in route to Houston Hobby Airport. Because of my position as Corps Commander of the Houston Regional Community Chaplain Corps, I frequently wear my Chaplain jacket as I travel. Like some sort of heavenly magnet, the Chaplain jacket invites discussion with a wide variety of people who are struggling with issues in need of a comforting ear. My connecting flight was late and the door to the jet way closed prior to my boarding. So, even though I was rescheduled on a much later flight far from C16...

“Holding this trial in a civilian court in NYC is giving Khalid Shaikh Mohamed a platform greater than he ever dreamed possible. In effect, the trial allows him and the terrorists to hold the Mother of all Press Conferences in front of the entire world. We are handing him a microphone to the world, and with it he will recruit future jihadists.” These are the words of Debra Burlingame, founder of 9/11 Families for a Safe and Strong America and one of the organizers of the 9/11 Never Forget Rally to take place at noon this Saturday, Dec. 5, at...

Usually in these posts I show you how YouTube is helping the terrorists by allowing them server space for their enemy propaganda at no charge.  Today, however, I'm going to show you how a different U.S. company is helping the Taliban hide their information by being a proxy domain holder for the official Taliban website, the Voice of Jihad (link is anonymized.)   First - the evidence of terror-supporting activities on this site --  when you first open the site, you'll notice a scrolling graphic of military members (mostly U.S. and British)  who have been killed by the terrorist Taliban,...

Three US Navy Seals who effected the capture of a highly sought terrorist suspect are headed for court-martial. Meanwhile, the suspect, Ahmed Hashim Abed may have to be released under new Obama Administration guidelines for dealing with perpetrators of the inaptly renamed “man-caused disasters.” The bizarre turn of events was set in motion by what Administration officials termed the “unnecessary roughness” displayed by the Seals during Abed’s capture last September. It appears that one of the Seals may have punched Abed and bloodied his lip. “We have rules governing this sort of thing,” said Secretary of Defense Robert Gates. “Without...

The recruits gather in scorching desert hideouts in Somalia, use portraits of President Barack Obama for target practice, learn how to make and detonate bombs, and vow allegiance to Osama bin Laden. Training camps in the lawless nation of Somalia are attracting hundreds of foreigners, including Americans, and Somalis recruited by a local insurgent group linked to al-Qaida, according to local and U.S. officials. American officials and private analysts say the camps pose a security threat far beyond the borders of Somalia, including to the U.S. homeland. In interviews with The Associated Press, former trainees gave rare details on the...

The attorney general has suggested that those who oppose prosecuting these men here in New York City are afraid – that we somehow don’t have the courage to face Khalid Shaikh Mohammed in court. How dare this man, who didn’t have the decency to notify victims’ families of his decision to bring these monsters here, imply that we lack courage. Courage is carrying on after watching your loved ones die, in real time, knowing that they burned to death, were crushed to death, or jumped from 100 flights high. Courage is carrying on, even as we waited, in some cases...

If you're like me, you're still reeling about the menacing decision by President Obama's terrorist loving Attorney General, Eric Holder, to give terrorists captured in a time of war, the same constitutional rights that U. S. citizens enjoy. As out of the realm of being believable that abominable and treasonous decision was, I really thought that it couldn't get any worse. Well, it has. I am beyond livid.

War On Terror: As Khalid Sheikh Mohammed receives the benefits of U.S. justice, three Navy SEALs face court-martial for allegedly punching a captured terrorist who hanged Americans from a bridge in Fallujah. Apparently our efforts to impress the world about the marvels of our criminal justice system require us to give foreign terrorists such as Khalid Sheik Mohammed, the man who invented the manned cruise missiles that flew into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon and plowed into a Pennsylvania field on its way to the Capitol Building, the full rights and protections of the American citizens he conspired...

Does the Obama administration ever get tired of getting things wrong? As their public support drains from the health-care overhaul they’ve pushed for the last several months, they have managed to find another way to marginalize themselves with the American public. By overwhelming numbers in the latest Gallup survey, Americans disapprove of the decision to try Khalid Sheikh Mohammed in a federal court — and can barely get a majority of Democrats to support it: By 59% to 36%, more Americans believe accused Sept. 11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed should be tried in a military court, rather than in a...

The decision by Obama administration officials to bring a terrorist who admits to plotting the Sept. 11 attacks and four others to New York City for criminal trials amounts to a public relations bonanza for terrorists and a disaster for U.S. security interests. At the same time, the trials will present terrorists with a venue and a reason to launch further attacks... They will draw just as much attention if similar to, for instance, the shootings by another Islamic extremist at Fort Hood just a few weeks ago. The trials also will give U.S. enemies valuable insights into vital national...

While American families have gathered for the Thanksgiving holiday, President Obama schemes to release more hardened terrorists on an unsuspecting world. Obama demanding release of additional 1,000 terrorists Israel Matzav thelastcrusade.org Arutz Sheva is reporting that President Obama is demanding that in connection with the terrorists for Gilad trade, which is being made with Hamas, Israel release an additional 1,000 terrorists as a 'gesture' to 'moderate' 'Palestinian' President Mahmoud Abbas Abu Mazen. In response to U.S. demands that Israel free an additional 1,000-some terrorists as a "gesture" to Palestinian Authority chief Mahmoud Abbas, Lieberman said that previous releases of...

The Swiss are to decide this weekend whether to ban minarets on mosques, in what is in effect the first direct vote in a European country on Islam and the practices of Muslims. "The minaret has got nothing to do with religion. It's a symbol of political power, a prelude to the introduction of sharia law," argued Ulrich Schlüer, of the rightwing Swiss People's party, an architect of the campaign. UN experts and human rights activists condemned the campaign as overtly racist. The rightwing anti-immigrant lobby has led the campaign, but it has been joined by some secularist leftists and...

New York (CNN) -- The serendipitous occurrence of this year's Thanksgiving holiday on the same evening as the Muslim Eid-ul-Adha is a festive occasion to reflect on the place of Islam in American collective consciousness. On the same evening that millions of Americans gather around their Thanksgiving dinner to celebrate this most American of holidays, even more millions of Muslims around the globe, including the growing number of American Muslims, will do the same -- celebrating as well one of the most definitive moments of their faith -- Prophet Abraham's willingness to sacrifice his son for his God. This holiday...

(IsraelNN.com) Protests against the release of terrorists in exchange for kidnapped IDF soldier Gilad Shalit are continuing. The following video (with English subtitles) was posted on YouTube and was partially publicized on Israel's Channel 10 TV newscast as part of a news report. The goal of the video is to remind people of the terror that was carried out by the terrorists whose release is being demanded by Hamas.

Excerpts from Peter Re gan's remarks yesterday at a press conference on protests against the "9/11 trial" being held in New York. I AM here today to express my opinion on this administration's recent decision to put terrorists from a foreign land on trial in a civilian court of law of the United States of America. I am an American. I am a United States Marine, a New York City firefighter and the son of a New York City firefighter killed on 9/11. As an American, I believe in the Constitution of the United States. I believe that the rights...

Ex-Mossad official sees massive attack on U.S. homeland – www.worldtribune.com WASHINGTON — Yuval Aviv, who predicted the Al Qaida strikes on London's mass transit system in 2005, said he believes Al Qaida was planning a series of mass-casualty strikes throughout the United States. Aviv said the most likely targets were places such as Disneyland, Las Vegas casinos, malls and subways. "The attack will be characterized by simultaneous detonations around the country — terrorists like big impact — involving at least five to eight cities, including rural areas," Aviv, a former Mossad official said. Aviv, responsible for the Israeli offensive against...

Navy SEALs have secretly captured one of the most wanted terrorists in Iraq — the alleged mastermind of the murder and mutilation of four Blackwater USA security guards in Fallujah in 2004. And for their trouble, three of the SEALs, members of the Navy's elite commando unit, are now facing criminal charges, sources told FoxNews.com. The three have refused non-judicial punishment — called an admiral's mast — and requested a trial by court-martial. Ahmed Hashim Abed, whom the military code-named "Objective Amber," told investigators he was punched by his captors — and he had the bloody lip to prove it....

It's not true that the only good terrorist is a dead terrorist. Even dead terrorists aren't good. But at least they're dead. And that helps. But political correctness has possessed Washington. It's so bad that even Defense Secretary Robert Gates, who's done a great job in many other respects, parrots the cliché that "we can't kill our way out of this." Well, folks, there's no other way out of this all-or-nothing struggle with fanatics. Three thousand years of history teach that there's no alternative -- none -- to killing fanatics in large numbers when your enemies are ablaze with religious...

ISLAMABAD -- The Islamist militant group behind the deadly attack in Mumbai one year ago remains a potent force determined to strike India and the West, and a source of acrimony between South Asia's nuclear-armed rivals, say officials and members of the militant faction. Indian officials and experts say at least six new plots against Mumbai by the Pakistan-based group, Lashkar-e-Taiba, have been disrupted in the 12 months since 10 gunmen wrought three days of havoc on India's financial capital, killing 166 people. Lashkar's infiltration of India's part of Kashmir is again on the upswing, the officials say; and a...

23 November 2009 "SOME POINTERS FOR THE PERSISTENTLY PERPLEXED As regards "Spy Agencies' Quest: What Makes A Terrorist?"" SNIPPET: "I would like to submit the following for consideration: * Terrorism is about killing." SNIPPET: "* Motivation is not enough. Association, motivation, and opportunity must combine in order for someone to make good on their terrorist ambitions."

November 23: Dick Cheney Exclusive Interview

Of all the changes Barack Obama is trying to bring about, there is one that would have stunned and dismayed his most ardent supporters, had they foreseen it during the presidential campaign. After all his talk of American values and loyalty to the Constitution, Obama is positioning himself to become the man who brought indefinite detention to the United States. Under his leadership, we might soon have in our midst a group of people — accused terrorists currently residing at the U.S. facility in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba — who are permanently imprisoned, yet have never been charged with or convicted...

The Grassroots Fight Against Terrorism Sarah Carlsruh, November 19, 2009 Are we winning the war on terror? The Cultural Strategies Institute hosted a panel addressing this question at the National Press Club on October 11th. Host Lowell Christy said that the military is over-professionalized, and thus the only real solution is concrete actions focusing on the “invisible dynamics” of terrorism. Panelist Dr. Dominick Donald, who works with the Aegis U.S. Liaison Teams in Iraq to “establish ground truth,” discussed the work being done by the Department of Defense to understand and maintain order at a grassroots level in conflict zones....

Congressman Mike Pence (R-IN) issued the following statement urging the Obama Administration to overturn its decision to transfer several Guantanamo Bay detainees to New York City for trial, and in support of the efforts by Congressman Peter Hoekstra (R-MI), who filed a discharge petition on H.R. 2294, the "Keep Terrorists Out of America Act"...

Europe is no longer Europe, it is Eurabia, a colony of Islam, where the Islamic invasion does not proceed only in a physical sense, but also in a mental and cultural sense. Servility to the invaders has poisoned democracy, with obvious consequences for the freedom of thought, and for the concept…of liberty.” — Oriana Fallaci Italian journalist/author/activist (1929-2006) “...as horrific as this tragedy was, if our diversity becomes a casualty, I think that’s worse.” —General George W. Casey, U.S. Army Chief of Staff, speaking of the murders committed by an Islamic terrorist at Ft. Hood “Politically correct.” Leave it to...

On Wednesday, a Charlotte, NC man and woman -- illegally residing in the U.S. -- were charged in federal court with conspiracy to kidnap two children in Mecklenburg County, NC in 2009, according to reports obtained by the National Association of Chiefs of Police from the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department. According to the indictment, Ruben Garcia-Rosario, 25, and Linda Gonzalez, 21, aided and abetted one another in the attempted kidnapping through the use of cellular telephones and a motor vehicle. Garcia-Rosario is also charged in three additional counts alleging possession of a firearm by...

An Illinois woman is charged with a hate crime for berating a Muslim woman about the Fort Hood shooting and then pulling at her headscarf. The charge could lead to three years in prison: justice or prosecutorial overkill? In the days after the Ft. Hood shooting, mosques around the country bolstered their security in anticipation of a backlash from Americans angry about a Muslim man alleged to have killed American soldiers on their own turf. Since then, only one alleged hate crime against Muslims has been directly tied to the Fort Hood rampage. Two days after the rampage by an...

Senator John Kerry described international terrorism as “primarily an intelligence and law enforcement operation,’’ and urged voters to think of deadly jihadist violence as merely “a nuisance’’ that we need “to reduce’’ - akin, he said, to gambling or prostitution. Kerry lost that election, and the Bush administration’s very different approach - treating terrorist attacks as acts of war, not criminal violations - continued for four more years. Pre-empting terror in advance, not prosecuting it after the fact, remained the overriding priority. Counterterrorism efforts under George W. Bush were aggressive and they drew much criticism. But whatever else might be...

If there was ever a more irresponsible decision by a U.S. attorney general than Eric Holder's decision to try the mastermind of the 9/11 terrorist attack and four others as common criminals in a civilian court in New York City, I can't recall it. He is gambling with the nation's security and providing a platform that will give aid and comfort to the enemy at a time of war. And he is doing so with no discernible benefit, least of all to showcase the strength of our judicial system. Does Eric Holder remember the most infamous criminal trial of the...

WASHINGTON -- For late-19th-century anarchists, terrorism was the "propaganda of the deed." And the most successful propaganda-by-deed in history was 9/11 -- not just the most destructive, but the most spectacular and telegenic. And now its self-proclaimed architect, Khalid Sheik Mohammed, has been given by the Obama administration a civilian trial in New York. Just as the memory fades, 9/11 has been granted a second life -- and KSM, a second act: "9/11, The Director's Cut," narration by KSM. September 11, 2001 had to speak for itself. A decade later, the deed will be given voice. KSM has gratuitously been...

MIDI - "LET'S GO" - THIS MIDI IS HORRIBLE BUT I SEARCHED AND SEARCHED AND FOUND NOTHING BETTER Our suicide belts have been prepared...we got high on drugs so we're not scared Our virgins will await We had a lap dance and got aroused...America's death is what we espouse Virgins will await...it will be so great Allah Akbar we will yell and then we'll unleash hell So let's go...let's go We're ready to go Muslim...let's go We're ready to go Muslim...let's go Let's go In our mosque we pray that you'll soon be dead If you won't convert, then...

Attorney General Eric Holder lacks authority to make a decision on moving terror detainees to civilian courts for trial, one of his predecessors said Wednesday. Former Attorney General John Ashcroft, who held his position during the Bush administration from 2001-2005, said that Holder lacked the legal standing to decide to move alleged 9/11 mastermind Khalid Shaikh Mohammed and other terror detainees to federal courts in New York City to stand trial. >p> "The attorney general doesn't have the authority to mandate that the secretary of Defense turn somebody over to him and yield jurisdiction so that something that would have...

-- For a moment, he became judge, jury and executioner. President Obama yesterday blurted out a predicted conviction and death sentence for 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheik Mohammed -- then sheepishly qualified the prejudgment. In one of several TV interviews at the end of his Asia trip, Obama said those offended by the legal privileges offered to Mohammed in a civilian rather than military trial won't find it "offensive at all when he's convicted and when the death penalty is applied to him." And then he quickly backtracked, saying he didn't mean to suggest he was prejudging the self-confessed mass murderer....

In the old days, when I was a kid, we used to put on our patent leather shoes, chiffon and tulle dresses and walk to the neighbor kid's birthday party carrying a wrapped Mr. Potato Head, or Barbie Doll. We were willing to suffer the indignation of dressing up on a Saturday for a slice of thick, homemade cake and a collection of prizes like a Pez dispenser or a ring-whistle or a wooden paddle ball awarded to the winner of each game. Pin the Tail on the Donkey, Musical Chairs and, my favorite, the treasure hunt. Our hostess would...

War On Terror: Sen. Dick Durbin calls a plan to transfer 100 Guantanamo detainees to northwest Illinois "a dream come true." It would paint a bull's-eye on America's heartland in time for the 2012 Iowa caucuses. It seems the question of where to put the Guantanamo detainees is being settled as we speak, with liberal Democrats in the very blue state of Illinois welcoming them with open arms and outstretched hands for the federal dollars that will come with them. Federal officials last Friday inspected the Thomson Correctional Center in Thomson, Ill., a town of 500 on the Iowa border,...

In today's interview with ABC's Barbara Walters, Sarah Palin was asked about her opinion regarding Obama's position on Israeli "settlements". Her response was the most decisive and unequivocal of any conservative politician: "I disagree with the Obama administration on that," Palin told Walters. "I believe that the Jewish settlements should be allowed to be expanded upon, because that population of Israel is, is going to grow. More and more Jewish people will be flocking to Israel in the days and weeks and months ahead. And I don't think that the Obama administration has any right to tell Israel that the...

Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., raised concerns that Holder was imperiling national security by determining that war-time combatants, potentially even Usama bin Laden, might be sent into the criminal system. "We're making bad history here," Graham said. "The big problem I have is that you're criminalizing the war. ... I think you've made a fundamental mistake here."

In a follow up to my earlier post advocating for an actual debate on this issue here in Illinois on this business of bringing terrorists to live in Illinois, a new effort to try and stop this mess has been launched. Go to Not In Illinois and sign the petition and tell Governor Pat Quinn that we do NOT want terrorists living among us. We the undersigned ask you to not bring terrorist into Illinois. They should be tried in military courts and not in civilian courts. They are a danger to the citizenry of the United States and should...

Hey folks, I was in on a conference call with Rudy today. Unfortunately, only the big girls got their questions in - seems the moderator cherry-picked. Oh well. The topic was the terror trial in NYC. Here's the raw audio:

Picking up the Sunday paper Nov. 15 could make a reader a little airsick -- even while standing in the driveway. The Washington Post "news analysis" on the front page carried the headline "9/11 trial could become a parable of right and wrong: Before worldwide audience, both prosecution, defense seek control of narrative." Does The Washington Post really think that the death and destruction of 9/11 "could" be right, or "could" be wrong? Liberals cannot stand it when the national media won't simply declare contentious debates over and their viewpoint settled truth. Take, for example, the allegedly inevitable impending destruction...

The Senate on Tuesday rejected an attempt to bar using funds from a defense spending bill to build or modify prisons in the United States to hold detainees from Guantanamo Bay, a move that suggested congressional Democrats may be lining up behind President Obama's vision for closing the military prison. The Senate vote, largely along party lines, came days after the administration announced plans to bring five alleged terrorists, including Khalid Sheik Mohammed, the self-proclaimed mastermind of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, to New York for trial. The GOP-backed measure was attached to a $134 billion plan that funded programs...

Welcome to the Terrorists-for-Jobs Exchangeby Kevin McCullough, FOXNews.com Updated November 16, 2009 Shouldn't the voters of a state that have the chance to weigh in on whether or not terrorists should be housed in a prison in their state? It appears that officials in three states--Illinois, Montana, and Colorado--are salivating over the hope of landing a federal contract to house some of the remaining Gitmo detainees. The reason for such desperation appears mostly to be driven by desperate economics. Amid reports this weekend that President Obama's home state of Illinois is hoping to sell a prison facility to the federal...

In the string of amazing decisions made during the first year of the Obama administration, nothing seems more like sheer insanity than the decision to try foreign terrorists who have committed acts of war against the United States in federal court, as if they were American citizens accused of crimes. Terrorists are not even entitled to the protection of the Geneva Conventions, much less the Constitution of the United States. Terrorists have never observed, nor even claimed to have observed, the Geneva Conventions, nor are they among those covered by them. But over and above the utter inconsistency of what...

Some folks in this dying Mississippi River town would rather take their chances with suspected terrorists in their backyard than watch their neighbors continue to move away in despair over the lack of jobs. News that the federal government may buy the nearly empty Thomson Correctional Center and use the maximum-security state prison to house Guantanamo Bay detainees has given people in Thomson hope that things might be about to turn around in this woeful town of 450. "This town is slowly but surely dying off, and I mean that literally because the people that are retired are dying off...

Ill. town would rather get Gitmo prisonersBy Deanna Bellandi, Associated Press Writer – 42 mins ago THOMSON, Ill. – Some folks in this dying Mississippi River town would rather take their chances with suspected terrorists in their backyard than watch their neighbors continue to move away in despair over the lack of jobs. **SNIP** "This town is slowly but surely dying off, and I mean that literally because the people that are retired are dying off and there's no young people coming back in to take their place. There's nothing here to draw them," said Richard Groharing, a 68-year-old retired...

Once again we see how clueless Democrats like Illinois Governor Pat Quinn and Senator Dick Durbin are on matters of national security. With Barack Hussein Obama's decision to treat the terrorists at Guantanamo Bay as if they are common American criminals, as the president bestows all American rights upon them, and with his decision to spread these monsters out across the U.S.A, we see Quinn and Durbin idiotically asserting that terrorists equal "good paying jobs." These jobs might come from the sale to the federal government of the Thomson correctional facility in west central Illinois where Obama could send some...

General Casey obviously does not have the guts to speak the truth about the Islamic terrorist attack on Fort Hood. But retired Army three-star Gen. Jerry Boykin, pulls no punches in this short interview. Here is an excerpt from the video. "I think everybody in America realizes that the persecution of Christians is acceptable in our society today by both the leadership and the media, but no one wants to offend a Muslim," said Boykin. "

James Galyean wrote a post on Friday afternoon that I think we probably ought to focus on a bit more. The left is celebrating Barack Obama’s decision to send Khalid Sheikh Mohammed to New York City for a criminal trial in a civilian court. In fact, since Friday I have gotten a lot of hate mail from leftists saying I must not trust our due process system. The problem, however, is just the opposite. I very much trust our due process system to be exceedingly fair to a terrorist who will put great value in his opening statement. But, that...

We want to know what you think! Should KSM and other 9/11 terrorists be tried on American soil six blocks from the WTC or for war crimes by a military tribunal?

The government will have to choose between vigorous prosecution and revealing classified sources and methods. This is a prosecutorial decision as well as a national security decision," President Barack Obama said last week about the attorney general's announcement that Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and other al Qaeda operatives will be put on trial in New York City federal court. No, it is not. It is a presidential decision—one about the hard, ever-present trade-off between civil liberties and national security. Trying KSM in civilian court will be an intelligence bonanza for al Qaeda and the hostile nations that will view the U.S....