Free Republic

"Our ignorance of history causes us to slander our own times."--Gustave Flaubert Don't get me wrong. I am not happy, nor ignorant or naive about what is going on in Washington. If not for my Faith I would be a decidedly bitter creature this Christmas. So allow me to illumine a small ray of hope. This drunk-on-power cabal we call our representatives, these men and women so obviously impressed by their own words and grandiosity will be a collective, nameless speck--a sideshow --when our history is written. Our president, on the other hand, will be front and center. Recall: In...

The U.S. is reaching out to followers of a key Shi'ite cleric, Muqtada al-Sadr, whose militia once battled U.S. troops and who remains a powerful leader, particularly among Iraq's urban poor. A top Sadrist political leader in Baghdad, Qusay al-Suhail, told The Washington Times that he and his colleagues have been approached five times in the last five months by emissaries seeking to arrange meetings with senior U.S. military and civilian officials at the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad. "Yes, the Americans tried to talk to me and other Sadrists several times," Mr. al-Suhail said. "They try to talk to us...

The 30th summit of the Gulf Cooperation Council, meeting in Kuwait this week, expressed its solidarity with Saudi Arabia in its fight with the Shi'ite Houthi rebels in northern Yemen. The Kuwaiti emir noted that Saudi Arabia is facing "flagrant aggression that targets its sovereignty and security by those who have infiltrated its territory." The formerly little-noticed conflict between the Houthi rebels and the Yemeni government is now taking on the coloration of an additional hot front in an ongoing region-wide cold war. The conflict in northern Yemen reveals the ongoing Iranian regional effort to convert Shi'ite populations into assets...

CHICAGOMINUTEMAN PROJECT It is both a right and a responsibility of a democratic society to manage immigration so that it serves the national interest. - Barbara Jordan   PROTEST NO TERRORISTS IN ILLINOIS WHEN: Tuesday, December 22, 2009 - 1:00PM.WHERE: Sterling High School - 1608 4th Avenue - Sterling, Illinois WHY: [Alleged] President Obama has decided to move the Alien Terrorists in Gauntanamo Bay to our own backyard. I called Governor Patrick Quinn's office in Springfield to inquire as to the number of public hearings scheduled for this issue. The response was, "none." Caution: The elite propaganda outlets will try to convince us that this is nothing more than...

(Chicago-based terrorist causes India to revise its visa rules with U.S.) India is taking some precautionary measures after the arrest of Chicagoan David Coleman Headley as a terror suspect in the 2008 Mumbai attacks. The Asian country has revised its tourist-visa regulations, affecting those with long-term tourist visas, the India Times reports. “Americans with five- or ten-year tourist visas will no longer be allowed to enter India within two months of their last departure from India if their last visit was longer than 90 days or if they have stayed longer than 180 days during the past year,” an advisory...

If neither Maj. Hasan, the murderous doctor that slaughtered his fellow soldiers at Ft. Hood, nor the five Jihadist-wannabe’s that traveled from Washington to Pakistan, had no real ties to Al Qaeda, just a desire to join them, then we have to ask what is fertilizing these homegrown useful idiots? Chris Matthews, host of MSNBC’s Hardball, asked guest Irshad Manji, author and professor at New York University, what her initial reaction was when she heard about the five “young people” trying to join our enemies. Manji: “Chris I have to say I’m not surprised…I know, from having done the research...

Note: The following text is a quote: Some Guantanamo Detainees to Move to Illinois Prison By Gerry J. Gilmore American Forces Press Service WASHINGTON, Dec. 15, 2009 – President Barack Obama’s administration plans to transfer a limited number of detainees held at the detention center at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to a prison in rural western Illinois, senior administration officials said here today. The federal government plans to acquire Thomson Correctional Center, a 10-year-old maximum security prison in Thomson, Ill., a farming community about 150 miles west of Chicago, officials said in a background briefing. The administration would need to work...

The announcement that federal detainees in Guantanamo Bay will be moved to a facility in Thomson, Ill. rather than another facility such as the Standish Maximum Correctional Facility has generated a lot of discussion

They are not listening, and apparently do not care what we Americans think and believe. But, we, the average American, care. A key illustration of the fact that President Obama and the liberal democratic establishment are tone deaf is their almost blind acceptance of man-made global warming, when the theory has been based on questionable science. It's almost like a religion to the Left. Appeasing the rest of the world is (apparently) more important than standing up for the interests of their fellow countrymen.

Some Western analysts believe the political manifesto published at the end of November 2009 represented a fundamental change in Hizbullah policy. While its link to Iran as the ultimate source of authority was not mentioned in this or any previous political manifesto, this link - that is part of Hizbullah's essence - appeared in the "Open Letter" (Resala Maftuha) of 1985, which remains the founding manifesto of Hizbullah and continues to serve as the movement's ideological basis. The preface to the latest manifesto describes the decline of the US as the sole superpower and the retreat of American power throughout...

Forty members of Congress are calling on the military commander who ordered the court martial of three Navy SEALs over the alleged punching of a terrorist to dismiss the charges. The letter, circulated by Rep. Dan Burton (R-Ind.), was sent Thursday to Army Major Gen. Charles T. Cleveland, commander of Special Operation Command Central. Gen. Cleveland ordered the prosecution of the three SEALs. “In our opinion, prosecutorial discretion should have been exercised,” the 40 congressmen said. “Failing that, we respectfully and strongly urge you to exercise your leadership authority, stop the impending court martial and exonerate these men.” Earlier, 33...

CHICAGO (Reuters) - A Pakistani-born Chicago businessman charged with helping plan an attack on a Danish newspaper knew about the assault on Mumbai in advance and discussed other potential targets in India, prosecutors said on Monday.U.S. In arguing against releasing Tahawwur Rana from jail on bond, federal prosecutors in Chicago gave more details about a conversation authorities recorded earlier this year between Rana and accused conspirator David Headley. In the September 7 conversation during a long car drive, Rana, 48, and Headley, 49, discussed Rana's meeting in Dubai days before the November 2008 attack on Mumbai with an associate referred...

Justice: A leaked memo exposes the hypocrisy of those who opposed indefinite detention of terrorists without trial at Guantanamo. For the right price, they're willing to hold detainees without trial indefinitely in America's heartland. The plan to ship as many as 100 unidentified terrorist detainees from Guantanamo Bay to a little used prison in Thomson, Ill., a sleepy town of 450 people near the Mississippi River about 150 miles west of Chicago, is well under way, according to a Justice Department memo unearthed by Andrew Breitbart and biggovernment.com. The memo allegedly from Eric Holder's Department of Justice to Defense Secretary...

Law: American heroes are arraigned for allegedly punching a terrorist in wartime. What happens to Tiger Woods isn't vital to our country's future. What happens to Matthew McCabe, Julio Huertas and Jonathan Keefe is. People are more likely to recognize the names of Tiger's alleged bimbo eruptions than the names of these three Navy SEALs we sent into battle. They are not household names in a nation consumed with Climate Gate, the public option and the antics of billionaire athletes. An administration consumed with apologies has said the architect of 9/11's massacre, Khalid Sheik Mohammed, must be given all the...

In all my life I have never seen such fear and concern for the future of America as I do now. I have thought long and hard back into my childhood, wondering if there was something I have overlooked. Was there a time when Americans were truly afraid of losing their constitutional freedoms and rights? Was there a time when Americans feared their own government so much that they began building safe houses within their homes, food storage rooms, and making plans for the worst possible scenario?

In what must be one of the most outrageous criminal prosecutions in American history, the U.S. military is dragging three Navy SEALs into court to face criminal charges. Their crime: punching a terrorist in the mouth and giving him a bloody lip. The alleged "victim" of this so-called assault is not just any old anti-American, murderous barbarian Muslim terrorist. No, the man who got the schoolyard fat lip was Ahmed Hashim Abed, the same man the U.S. government suspects planned the ambush, murder, and mutilation of four U.S. civilian contractors in Fallujah, Iraq in 2004. After the ambush, terrorists hung...

(Ekstra Bladet) Astute Bloggers is reporting: 25 yr old American on international wanted-list, a 35 yr old Morrocan born Danish citizen, and a 27 yr. old stateless palestinian were arrested this morning by police in Copenhagen. Two women were arrested after searches were conducted at 2 separate addresses. A sucdcessful attack upon COP15 would be a wet dream come true for al Qaeda. Stay tuned… The Jawa Report has more. The AFP is now reporting on the arrests: An American, a Dane of Moroccan origin and a stateless Palestinian were detained after they were stopped in a car a few...

Note: The following text is a quote: Manhattan U.S. Attorney Announces Capture of Three Members of Colombian Terrorist Group Charged with Hostage-Taking of U.S. Citizen PREET BHARARA, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, JOHN V. GILLIES, the Special Agent-in-Charge of the Miami Division of the Federal Bureau of Investigation ("FBI") and MICHELE M. LEONHART, the Acting Administrator of the Drug Enforcement Administration ("DEA"), announced today the arrest of EDILBERTO BERRIO ORTIZ, a/k/a "El Gavilan," ALEJANDRO PALACIOS RENGIFO, a/k/a "El Gato," a/k/a "Yimi," and ANDERSON CHAMAPURO DOGIRAMA, a/k/a "El Tigre," a/k/a "Dairon," three members of the...

In the age of balloon boys and party crashers, regular people just don't know what to believe any more. Last week, I spent more than my share of hours trying to track down the truth about an incident on an AirTran flight out of Atlanta on Nov. 17. Flight 297 to Houston, with about 70 passengers onboard, departed gate C-16 at 4:43 p.m. Until something happened that caused the pilot to turn around and come back. Two and a half weeks later, the incident is in high dispute, thanks to some passengers who have spoken out on the Internet about...

(IsraelNN.com) Terrorists in Hamas-controlled Gaza escalated attacks against Israel Sunday and fired Russian-made anti-tank missiles for the first time. The missiles exploded in the fields of Kibbutz Alumim, adjacent to the separation fence, and no injuries or damage was reported. The advanced missiles were of the type usually fired from helicopters, and they carry a larger payload and have a longer range than anti-tank missiles that previously have been used in attacks against Israel.

One year ago this Thursday, 10 gunmen wreaked havoc across Mumbai. The targets they attacked included two world-class hotels, a café popular with foreign tourists, the headquarters of India's Central Railways, and a Orthodox Jewish center. One hundred and thirty-eight Indians were killed in the attacks, and 28 foreign nationals lost their lives as well. It took almost 60 hours before commandos from India's National Security Guards killed the last of the remaining terrorists. One of the gunmen was captured in the early hours of the attack. Muhammad Ajmal Amir Kasab admitted to being a member of the Pakistani Islamist...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CR6eQcg7hR8 Quote - Snippet: http://www.jihadwatch.org/2009/12/female-jihadis-training-on-us-soil.html SNIPPET: "Watch this brief video. It is clear that this is not play-acting, not comic opera soldiery, but very real training -- and for what? What do authorities think these women are doing this for? To stay in shape? They're training for battle. For combat. The Christian Action Network sent me the full video of which this is a part. It shows veiled women marching and engaging in hand-to-hand combat training, firearms training, and more -- in a Muslim compound in the U.S. The implications are clear. Americans, for the most part, have no clue...

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...