Free Republic

After nearly a year away from their families, 1,200 members of the Minnesota National Guard will soon be coming home from Iraq. The 34th Infantry Division, known as the Red Bulls, won't be home for the holidays, but they will arrive not long after the new year. The first wave of men and women will start coming home next month. By the end of February, they should all be home. Theresa Nace is counting the days. Her husband Specialist Timothy Nace, is one of the guardsmen returning home. She said, "It's very helpful knowing that once 2010 comes then we're...

Note: The following text is a quote: FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASES Sunday, December 20, 2009 United States Transfers 12 Guantanamo Bay Detainees to Afghanistan, Yemen and the Somaliland Region Twelve detainees have been transferred from the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay to Afghanistan, Yemen and the Somaliland region. As directed by the President’s Jan. 22, 2009 Executive Order, the interagency Guantanamo Review Task Force conducted a comprehensive review of each of these cases. As a result of that review, which examined a number of factors, including potential threat, mitigation measures and the likelihood of success in habeas litigation, the detainees were...

12/21/2009 - SOUTHWEST ASIA (AFNS) -- More than 300 Airmen partnered with colleagues from five other countries for an exercise held in Southwest Asia that concluded in mid-December. The event began in November and simulated a "large force employment," and gave participating nations a chance to develop solutions to potential issues that might occur during contingency operations. Aircrews from France, Jordan, Pakistan, the U.K., and the U.S. took part in simulated air battles as well as the advanced tactical leadership course, which included more than 200 hours of classroom instruction. In addition, ground crews collaborated on maintenance and security challenges....

For eight long years under George W. Bush, conservatives endorsed a don’t ask, don’t tell foreign policy–they did not really ask why their country was at war and Republican leaders did not tell, or bother, Americans with any of the gory details. Missions were accomplished, we fought them over there so we didn’t have to fight them here and troops were supported by simply supporting the wars they fought, with little to no dissent. But why were we fighting? What was “victory?” How many had to die? What was the cost? Conservatives did not ask-Republican politicians did not tell. But...

12/21/2009 - CAMP TAJI, Iraq (AFNS) -- Five Air Force vehicle maintainers deployed to Iraq and assigned to Detachment 3 of the 732nd Expeditionary Security Forces Squadron here are working to keep security forces personnel on the road, but they aren't working on patrol cars. The maintainers work on more than 60 vehicles, the most challenging being the mine resistant ambush protected vehicle on which they have had no prior training. "My Airmen are not sent to technical schools to learn how to work on MRAPs. They're learning how to fix these vehicles while deployed using technical manuals and field...

JOINT BASE BALAD — Seventeen Iraqi medical care providers recently attended the December installment of the 332nd Expeditionary Medical Group's Iraqi nursing partnership program here. As the responsible drawdown of U.S. forces from Iraq continues, the program is intended to further the medical capabilities of local care providers. "I really believe this program will improve the nursing care in Iraq," said Col. Vennessa Hagan, 332nd EMDG chief nurse. "Some of the nurses who have attended told me they've benefited from the program and have been sharing the knowledge with other nurses in their community." The nursing staff at the Air...

Tech. Sgt. Jose Urquizaflores, 332nd Expeditionary Medical Group logistician, picks up a Christmas tree handed out by Airmen of the 332nd Expeditionary Force Support Squadron, Dec. 21. The Christmas trees were donated by The Dees Nursery and Florist Inc., located in Oceanside, N.Y. Photo by Senior Airman Chris Hubenthal, 332nd AEW. JOINT BASE BALAD — The spirit of the holiday season is alive here, as U.S. troops recently received 80 Christmas trees from Dees' Nursery and Florist in Oceanside, N.Y. The trees will be distributed to Army and Air Force units here, said Capt. Katie Garski, community service flight...

AL ASAD AIR BASE — U.S. Marines with Marine Light Attack Helicopter Squadron-269 gathered at their headquarters building here for a bittersweet ending to their six-year presence in Iraq, Dec. 15. "For more than half a decade, HMLA-269 has made Iraq a second home," said Lt. Col. Jon Hackett, commanding officer of the unit. "This marks the end of an era." During every year since 2004, HMLA-269 has had elements of the squadron conducting operations in the Al Anbar province. As part of their end-of-mission ceremony, the commanding officer and sergeant major cased their unit's colors for the final time,...

U.S. Air Force F-22 Raptors fly in formation during a training mission in southwest Asia, Dec. 6, 2009. The F-22 fighters and crews are deployed from the 27th Fighter Squadron at Langley Air Force Base, Va., and entered the Air Forces Central area of responsibility for the first time as part of a multi-national exercise where aircrews from France, Jordan, Pakistan, the U.A.E., the U.K. and the U.S. trained together in fighting a large-scale air war. U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Michael B. Keller. SOUTHWEST ASIA — U.S. Airmen here marked a milestone recently, completing the first deployment...

Vice President Joe Biden. Click image to expand.Vice President Joe BidenGive credit to the vice president: He really does enjoy politics and "can't see a room without working it," as a colleague of mine half-admiringly remarked last Wednesday morning.We were waiting to enter the studio and comment after Biden had finished his interview with the Scarborough/Brzezinski team, in which the main topic was Afghanistan. Exiting, he chose to stop and talk to each of us. Not wanting to waste a chance to be a bore on the subject, I asked him why he had mentioned India only once in the...

THOUSANDS OF Iranians gathered yesterday in the holy city of Qom to mourn Grand Ayatollah Hussein Ali Montazeri, the country’s most prominent dissident cleric and harshest critic of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. His death from natural causes at 87 was announced by his family early in the day. But the authorities, fearing demonstrations against the regime by the opposition Green Movement, withheld the news for 10 hours. He will be buried today at the shrine of Hazrate Masoumen, a female saint revered by Shias. Ayatollah Montazeri, one of the architects of the 1979 revolution that toppled the shah, was born in...

Singing the enemy’s song Rahman, many experts have long suspected, was allowed to enter the United States by the Central Intelligence Agency in an effort to infiltrate Al-Qaeda -- a high-stakes intelligence gamble that backfired spectacularly “We have an expression in Arabic”, the blind Egyptian cleric who ran al-Qaeda’s networks in the United States once told an interviewer, “everybody sings for those he loves”. On February 26, 1993, a fifteen hundred kilogramme improvised explosive device went off in the underground parking garage of the World Trade Centre in New York -- the very building that, eight years later, would be...

Iran’s nuclear threat to regional security has replaced Israel as the Arab world’s public enemy number one for the Arab world, according to an Arab survey commissioned by the Doha Debates group.

This is the time of the year that the air is filled with everything Christmas. There is something for everyone: gifts for family and friends, prayers at churches, and Christmas music everywhere. It puts me in a contemplative mood, particularly when I hear the delightful Christian refrain, peace on earth, goodwill to men. This is the gift I want. This is my Christmas. When there is peace on earth and all people dispense and receive good will. Yet, I am saddened to see the world as it is, particularly with what Islam is doing to it, which is the exact...

Taliban sympathizer Jodie Evans and President Barack Obama, Oct. 15, 2009 In a wide-ranging interview released this week by MIPtalk, Obama funder, terrorist sympathizer and Code Pink co-founder Jodie Evans spoke about her meetings with the Taliban and President Barack Obama. She lauded the Taliban for bringing peace and justice to Afghanistan while saying that the U.S. has failed to deliver either. In a separate interview with Lauren Steiner, Jodie Evans went further in her criticism of the United States saying that we had created “hell on earth” in Afghanistan. Jodie Evans also spoke about being called on by Obama’s...

Showdown in Sterling on 12/22: rally against the jailhouse jihad moving north to Thomson No, al Qaeda will not break out of “beyond Supermax.” They’ll just wage jailhouse jihad at every opportunity and force guards to extract them from their cells when its feeding time. The slightest bruise will be dutifully reported to the press by their pro bono lawyers. Those indicted will have similar fun in lockups around the country for, in addition to Manhattan and Brooklyn, an additional 50 detainees will be farmed out for federal prosecution. Gitmo in the heartland Attorney General Eric Holder is, of course,...

A US Army general in northern Iraq has defended his decision to add pregnancy to the list of reasons a soldier under his command could face court martial. It is current army policy to send pregnant soldiers home, but Maj Gen Anthony Cucolo told the BBC he was losing people with critical skills. That was why the added deterrent of a possible court martial was needed, he said. The new policy applies both to female and male soldiers, even if married. The male sexual partners of female soldiers who get pregnant would also "face the consequences", he said. It is...

Pakistan government has made it mandatory for all foreigners to have security clearance by the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI). The Government has declared that security clearance by the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) is a prerequisite for all foreigners entering Pakistan, a private TV channel was reported by Daily Times as stating on Friday. The decision is said to have been taken in the wake of prevailing law and order situation in Pakistan. 'The decision was made due to the prevailing law and order situation in the country. The decision is also applicable to all those people who have acquired other citizenships after...

For expanding government, increasing debt, diminishing America's role in international affairs and promoting state involvement in every facet of American life, Mr. Obama can give himself high marks. From our perspective, however, his report card is nothing to brag about. In economics, civics and foreign affairs, Mr. Obama has flunked every test.

Ramadi, Iraq Iraqis remain deeply concerned about Iranian influence in their country five months before the US begins the massive drawdown of its troops from Iraq. Next year, elections will be held in March, and the 112,000 American forces will shrink by more than half by the end of August. As that transition nears, Iraq has made significant progress toward greater security.

KABUL - The Taliban have announced they will release a new video of a U.S. soldier captured in Afghanistan, a U.S.-based terrorism monitoring group said Wednesday.

At the end of an hour-long meeting Sunday evening with Egyptian intelligence chief Omar Suleiman, Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman stated that "Egypt has more to fear from Iran than we do." The foreign minister went on to stress that "The greatest danger in the Middle East today is Iran, which is a greater threat to moderate Arab nations than to Israel." Teheran, according to Lieberman, is "attempting to duplicate the model of Hizbullah in Egypt, Jordan, and Yemen." Earlier on Sunday, Defense Minister Ehud Barak welcomed Suleiman to Jerusalem, saying that Egypt is a "central player" in the Middle East....

If the intervention in Iraq was indeed "a war for oil," then some of that war's more positive consequences were to be seen in Baghdad last week. The country's oil minister, Hussain al-Shahristani, presided over an auction at which development rights for seven major oil fields were awarded in competitive bidding among several international consortia. Three features of the outcome were worthy of note. The auction was to award service contracts rather than the production-sharing agreements that the major corporations prefer. The price was set at between $1.15 and $1.90 per barrel, as opposed to the $4 that the bidders...

President Barack Hussein Obama is proceeding to destroy America and has opened up a six-front war to do so: 1. He has a Democratic controlled Congress that is willing to rubber-stamp his wildest schemes, without even reading them…as we’ve already seen. The Democratic Party is now aiding and abetting the demeaning and destruction of America and has become the voice of leftist extremism. The moderates have disappeared or been transformed, issuing only occasional squeaking and whining before following the liberal party line drawn by Mr. Obama. Where have all the Democratic moderates gone? 2. Mr. Obama has immense executive authority,...

ABOARD A U.S. MILITARY PLANE, Dec. 20, 2009 – Navy Adm. Mike Mullen said his trip to Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iraq has given him an opportunity to assess changes in strategy and meet the men and women who will carry out that strategy. Security specialists accompany U.S. Navy Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, as he tours the market place in Abu Ghraib, Iraq, Dec. 19, 2009. DoD photo by U.S. Navy Petty Officer 1st Class Chad J. McNeeley   (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. Overall, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said...

BAGHDAD — Iraq “is not going to be pushed around” by Iran, the U.S. Ambassador to Iraq, Christopher Hill, said here yesterday. Hill and Gen. Ray Odierno, the commander of Multi-National Force - Iraq, spoke to reporters traveling with Navy Adm. Mike Mullen, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Iranians moved onto a disputed oil well in southern Iraq and placed an Iranian flag on the facility. They have since left the facility, which is clearly in Iraqi territory. “It’s like a game of capture the flag,” said an American spokesman in southern Iraq Friday. “It has been...

This building in Basrah, once used by Saddam Hussein as an interrogation facility, is being demolished to make way for a new Iraqi Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) facility. Photo courtesy of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. BASRAH — A building once used by Saddam Hussein as an interrogation facility is being demolished to make way for a new Iraqi Explosive Ordnance Disposal office. According to Ken Bright, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Gulf Region South project engineer, the community as a whole is happy about the demolition and new construction because the facility held bad memories. “To quote the...

In the latest of many shameful lapses, the federal agency in charge of securing the nation’s transportation system approved background checks for a dozen illegal immigrants working in sensitive areas of a busy U.S. airport. The illegal aliens, from Central America and Mexico, worked in operational areas of Stewart International Airport, a 2,400-acre facility located about 60 miles north of New York City. Stewart is a major passenger airport for the state’s mid-Hudson region that also handles large quantities of cargo and serves as a military field. The illegal aliens all had security badges approved by the Transportation Security Administration...

A CBS news report filed by Kimberly Dozier states that U.S. Navy Adm. Mike Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, met in Kandahar with five Afghan tribal elders. Pulling out his notebook, the admiral asked the Afghans what they need. Apparently the new fashionable counterinsurgency introductory question is "What do you need?" rather than "Are you fighting on our side?" or "Are we winning?" (snip) To use Dozier's own words, the most striking comments made to Mullen by the Afghan elders was "Stop fighting for us." "You must understand our culture," one said. "It's insulting for you...

Scotland Yard has warned businesses in London to expect a Mumbai-style attack on the capital. In a briefing in the City of London 12 days ago, a senior detective from SO15, the Metropolitan police counter-terrorism command, said: “Mumbai is coming to London.” The detective said companies should anticipate a shooting and hostage-taking raid “involving a small number of gunmen with handguns and improvised explosive devices”. The warning — the bluntest issued by police — has underlined an assessment that a terrorist cell may be preparing an attack on London early next year.

Polish soldier killed in Afghanistan Associated Press 2009-12-19 11:58 PM A Polish soldier has been killed in fighting with Taliban insurgents in Afghanistan. Lt. Col. Dariusz Kacperczyk, an armed forces spokesman, says Private Michal Kolek was shot Saturday after he and other soldiers were called in to support a Polish patrol that was attacked in central Ghazni province. The death of the 22-year-old Kolek brings to 16 the number of Polish troops who have been killed in Afghanistan since their mission started in 2002. Poland is to reinforce its contingent of some 2,000 troops in Ghazni in March by adding...

Cut loose the destroyers, then lock them in Gitmo North. Too bad for Illinois. By the way, if there is any question as to the baseline from which Obama works, read his Koran If there is any question as to his prime prophet, Read: Truth re: Mohammed: Rape, Murder, Mosestation, Behading.

Last spring, in an interview with 60 Minutes, Barack Obama criticized his predecessor over the detainees at Guantánamo Bay. That wasn't new. What was surprising was one of the arguments the president made. When Steve Kroft pointed out that some of those released had been working to recruit others to jihad, Obama agreed. Well, there's no doubt that we have not done a particularly effective job in sorting through who are truly dangerous individuals that we've got to make sure are not a threat to us, who are folks that we just swept up. A classified Defense Intelligence Agency report...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A "bunker buster" bomb with more than 10 times the explosive power of its predecessor is to be put into service by the United States next December, six months later than previously scheduled, the Defense Department told Reuters on Friday. The deployment's timing may help shape new calculations in long standoffs with Iran and North Korea over their nuclear programs, much of which are believed to be underground to avoid detection and enhance their chances of surviving an attack. "Funding delays and enhancements to the planned test schedule have pushed the capability availability date to December 2010,"...

Lockerbie bomber Abdul Baset al-Megrahi's health is deteriorating, according to a Libyan hospital source. The 57-year-old arrived at the hospital on Saturday coughing and vomiting, the statement said. "A scan has shown a worsening of the disease which has spread more than before," it added.

Wait till Marxist Muslim Barack Hussein Obama’s henchmen step in between your doctor and you. Wait till they tell your doctor how to doctor. Wait till you have to bow down to DC crook liars headed by Chief Liar in order to learn what med tests you can have. Wait till you wait to learn from Allah devotee what prescriptions you can get and how much they will overcost. Wait till you have to wait for three or four years for a pacemaker as my friend in Canada had to wait—put on the notorious “wait list.” Wait till your Medicare...

Colombia has announced it will build a new military base near its border with Venezuela, in a move likely to further strain its tense ties with Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez. Defense Minister Gabriel Silva said Friday that the base, located on the Guajira peninsula near the city of Nazaret, would have up to 1,000 troops. "It is a strategic point from a defense point of view," Silva said. Army Commander General Oscar Gonzalez meanwhile announced Saturday that six air battalions were being activated, including two on the border with Venezuela. Venezuela shares a ...1,250-mile border with Colombia . In November...

Wait till Marxist Muslim Barack Hussein Obama’s henchmen step in between your doctor and you. Wait till they tell your doctor how to doctor. Wait till you have to bow down to DC crook liars headed by Chief Liar in order to learn what med tests you can have. Wait till you wait to learn from Allah devotee what prescriptions you can get and how much they will overcost. Wait till you have to wait for three or four years for a pacemaker as my friend in Canada had to wait—put on the notorious “wait list.”

On orders from President Barack Obama, the U.S. military launched cruise missiles early Thursday against two suspected al-Qaeda sites in Yemen, administration officials told ABC News in a report broadcast on ABC World News with Charles Gibson. Share ABC's Brian Ross details missile strike on al-Qaeda militants in Afghanistan. One of the targeted sites was a suspected al Qaeda training camp north of the capitol, Sanaa, and the second target was a location where officials said "an imminent attack against a U.S. asset was being planned." The Yemen attacks by the U.S. military represent a major escalation of the Obama...

Scotland Yard has warned businesses in London to expect a Mumbai-style attack on the capital. In a briefing in the City of London 12 days ago, a senior detective from SO15, the Metropolitan police counter-terrorism command, said: “Mumbai is coming to London.” The detective said companies should anticipate a shooting and hostage-taking raid “involving a small number of gunmen with handguns and improvised explosive devices”.

SNIPPET: "Security sources said concerns had been raised by "chatter" on a prominent jihadist website two weeks ago."

Iran confirmed Saturday that its forces had taken over East Maysan oil field, located on the Iran-Iraq border. The move caused a 2.4% spike in oil prices. "The Iranian forces are on Iranian soil, as defined by known international borders. This oil field is Iran's" said an Iranian armed forces statement quoted by the Islamic Republic Arab-language television station, al-Alam. Proprietary of the East Maysan oil field had been the center of a dispute between Tehran and Bagdad for a lengthy period of time. Iraq's Deputy Interior Minister Ahmed Ali al-Khafaji said the move was the latest in a series...

Arab honour is at the root of Arab rejectionism and intransigence. It prevents Arabs from accepting blame or compromising. It also prevents Arabs from losing land to Israel or ending the conflict. Arab honour is closely linked to Islamic concepts of jihad and dhimmitude. Arab honour impells them to seek domination. Failure to dominate, dishonours them. Accepting responsibility is an anathema to their honour.. Muslim violence against the publication in Denmark of cartoons featuring Mohammed is a prime example of their refusal to accept the rule of law or western norms that are at odds with what their honour demands....

Dec. 19 (UPI) -- A CBS news report filed by Kimberly Dozier states that U.S. Navy Adm. Mike Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, met in Kandahar with five Afghan tribal elders. Pulling out his notebook, the admiral asked the Afghans what they need. Apparently the new fashionable counterinsurgency introductory question is "What do you need?" rather than "Are you fighting on our side?" or "Are we winning?" In addition to new dams for irrigation purposes, Afghan elders made two requests, which were surprising only from the standpoint that, after eight years in Afghanistan, either request could...

La Prensa Grafica (San Salvador, El Salvador) 12/17/09 “El Salvador applauds Migratory Reform proposal in USA” - full transl. - Subheading: The Salvadoran Chancery has estimated that the initiative that senator (sic) Gutierrez supports is an integral migratory reform, more humane, compassionate and comprehensive. The Ministry of Foreign Relations of El Salvador has applauded the introduction of a law proposal for an Integral Migratory Reform in the United States. The initiative is promoted by the United States congressman for Illinois, Luis Gutierrez. The document was presented yesterday in the Chamber of Representatives of the Congress of the United States of...

Here's a final set of numbers from our new NBC/WSJ poll that we find fascinating: 57% say the Iraq war has been successful, versus 40% who say it has been unsuccessful. It's a reversal from July 2008, when 43% said Iraq was successful, and 53% said it was unsuccessful.

LEWISTON — In the early evening on the first day of summer, a large group of Somali boys approached a woman on the corner of Ash and Pierce streets. According to police reports, they intimidated the woman and slapped her in the back of the head before scattering into the downtown. Five days later, shortly after midnight, a man was accosted by a group of Somali boys outside the Big Apple on Main Street. Police reports say several members of the group punched the man and took money from him. They then fled in a car. Later that night, a...

RISTINA/BERLIN (Own report) - A new mafia scandal involving Berlin's Kosovo partner is creating unrest in Pristina. A former agent of the Kosovo intelligence service explained that a close associate of Kosovo's incumbent Prime Minister, Hashim Thaci, had commissioned the assassinations of political opponents. According to his report, spies from Thaci's entourage were also responsible for threats and assaults on witnesses, who were to testify against former UCK commanders before the ICTY war crimes tribunal. The European Union, who's "Rule of Law Mission" (EULEX) has known of the accusations for months, is still dragging its feet. Hashim Thaci, who, from...

BEIJING - With 30,000 more United States troops on their way to Afghanistan, it is growing clearer that they will not suffice and that larger challenges loom. Afghanistan is also increasingly developing into a political proxy war between India and Pakistan. Pakistan, which backed the mujahideen against the Soviets in the 1980s and offered a safe haven and breeding ground to the Taliban in the 1990s, is now looking askance at the government of President Hamid Karzai in Kabul, which it sees as pro-India. Conversely, India has fond memories of the time when Kabul was firmly under Moscow's hands and...

U.S. military surveillance cameras over Kosovo were able to be accessed by almost anyone with a satellite dish. Mark Phillips reports.