Free Republic

Americans ‘overreacted’ to the 9/11 attacks, according to the newly appointed first female vice-chancellor of Oxford University. Terrorism expert Professor Louise Richardson said the 2001 atrocity provoked such a response because violent extremism was a ‘new experience’ in the US. Widespread panic ensued in America after al-Qaeda hijacked four passenger airliners and flew them into buildings, causing almost 3,000 deaths. In contrast, British citizens have shown themselves to be more ‘resilient’ in the face of terror when dealing with violence during the Troubles in Northern Ireland, she said.

Speaking via telephone to the summit he was scheduled to attend before his bike accident scrubbed those plans, Kerry forcefully pushed back against any notion that ISIS is a state, despite the group's broad territorial gains. Kerry spoke about the need to "maintain momentum in the battle of ideas," according to excerpts from the call provided by the State Department. "One way is to expose at every opportunity the false nature of Daesh's claim to be the Islamic State. In reality, Daesh is no more a state than I am a helicopter," Kerry said, using another name for ISIS widely...

<p>For years, Ryan Broderick has been trapped inside his mind, watching a constant reel of explosions that rocked the Army vehicles he had scrubbed of blood during three combat tours in Iraq and Afghanistan.</p> <p>Since January, Broderick has been stuck inside a real jail, fortified by cinder blocks, surrounded by barbed wire. The government that Broderick upended his life to serve locked him up in Edgecombe County, about 75 miles east of Raleigh.</p>

In an interview with CBS News, General (retired) John Allen, the Special Presidential Envoy for the Global Coalition To Counter ISIL, or the Islamic State, attempted to assure Americans that they should not be concerned with the US providing military and other support for Shiite militias, many of which are backed by Iran. Allen attempts to separate the “extremist elements” from the Popular Mobilization Force (or Committee), when the distinction is practically meaningless. From the interview, which was published on the US State Department’s website (emphasis is mine): With regard to militias, it’s really important to understand that the militias...

A National Guard reservist has been arrested at the Canadian border in Washington for allegedly trying to aid al-Qaida in a plot to attack a Southland subway. Nicholas Teausant, 20, of Acampo, Calif., was charged Monday with attempting to provide material to support a foregoing terrorist organization, the U.S. District Attorney’s Office said. He made his first appearance in a federal courtroom in Seattle Monday afternoon.

Politics: President Obama removed Cuba as a state sponsor of terror Friday, forgetting the dictatorship's long record of killing, smuggling and, yes, terror. If this is the new standard, why not just scrap the list entirely? The lifting of Cuba from the list of nations that support terrorism was a farce that may well come back to the haunt the United States. After all, the ruling Castro regime that benefits from it in the name of normal relations with the U.S. and new access to World Bank loans is the same regime that once tried the first 9/11, aligning itself...

The story, as told in this classic 2005 This American Life episode, is a tale of ineptitude, entrapment, and bureaucratic self-perpetuation, starring very young U.S. attorney Christopher (!) Christie. The episode is a full hour, and you should absolutely listen to (or at least read) the whole thing. But until then, enjoy some highlights from Christie's dogged the pursuit of this dangerous terrorist: Here is a list of what Lakhani claims he can acquire, when prodded by an FBI informant: Stinger missiles ammo submarines night-vision goggles (although the exchange makes clear that he think that might just be another term...

A Muslim mob in Deder, Ethiopia, attacked a Christian man and forced him out of his home on pain of death in an effort to appropriate his land and build a mosque on it—despite recent court rulings confirming the Christian man’s property rights.“Their first plan was to kill my husband,” said Fikere Mengistu’s wife. “Now, he has escaped from the area. We are fasting and praying for God to rescue us from this forceful action.”She remains with her five children, aged mother-in-law, and 30 other Christians praying on the property.According to International Christian Concern, Fikere Mengistu’s family has owned their...

The arrest of two southern California men last week who were planning to travel to Syria to join the Islamic State brings the number of U.S.-based individuals involved in international terror-related cases this year to 40. (UPDATE: with the arrest of Houston-area Asher Abid Khan late Monday for supporting ISIS, the tally is now 41.)This number highlights the metastasizing Islamic terror threat in the American homeland. At the current pace, by the end of June — halfway through 2015 — the number of cases will exceed the number from the past two years combined (48). <-- PJM_300_by_250_middle --> The Islamic...

A national defense analyst says it's a disgrace that U.S. military officers are not fighting an ongoing effort to put women in front-line combat units.The Washington Times recently reported that Congress is prodding the armed forces to develop a special combat boot for women to minimize stress fractures due to marching and training. Bob Maginnis, a senior fellow for national security at the Family Research Council, says the issue is about more than combat boots for women.It's about women are not men. Women are not little men either," says Maginnis, who retired from the U.S. Army as a lieutenant colonel....

Sent into combat zones 11 times, Brian O’Rourke now will be battling for veterans’ well-being.A week that Americans started by remembering those who gave all in our country’s service is a fitting time for Special Operations Chief Brian O’Rourke to retire from the Navy. He has been a SEAL for two decades, the last nine years with the elite Naval Special Warfare Development Group—“DevGru,” commonly called SEAL Team Six. It has been a remarkable journey for Mr. O’Rourke, who entered the Naval Academy in 1990, bent on becoming a SEAL. Counselors suggested he switch to a less demanding major than...

SANTA ANA – A man was sentenced to 70 months in prison today for his role in a domestic terrorism plot to wage war on the United States by attacking Jewish synagogues and military bases. Hammad Riaz Samana is the fourth member of Jami'yyat Ul-Islam Is-Shaheeh, or JIS, a prison-founded group that wanted to make a political statement that also had plans to attack the Israeli consulate in Los Angeles and El Al Israel Airlines at the Los Angeles International Airport. Samana was 21 when he was charged in the case in July 2005, along with the cell's mastermind, Kevin...

Grammy-winning country music legend Charlie Daniels is fed up with President Obama's refusal to blame Muslims for terrorism and America's political correctness when it comes to Islamic murderers, and says, "Lock and load America, trouble is on the way." In a lengthy statement on his website, triggered by the terrorist attack in Garland, Texas, on May 3, Daniels blasted both Muslims and Obama. Daniels, whose hits, "The Devil Came Down To Georgia" and "The South's Gonna Do It Again" have earned him a place forever in country music history, wrote about the Garland shooting, "The ramifications of this incident should,...

RUSH: Grab audio sound bite number two -- did you see over the weekend that the war in Afghanistan's over? (interruption) Yeah. Yeah. I remember on Friday, if you recall, if you were here, you might not have been because it's a big travel weekend, but I want to revisit something. Grab sound bite number one. Let's go ahead and play audio of me last Friday as we headed into the Memorial Day weekend, 'cause this sets up this Afghanistan comment. RUSH ARCHIVE: This, to me, is one of the most important Memorial Days, and they're all important, even that...

NEW LONDON, Conn. (Reuters) - Rising seas and thawing permafrost caused by warmer global temperatures threaten U.S. military bases and will change the way the U.S. armed services defend the country, President Barack Obama said on Wednesday. In a commencement address at the United States Coast Guard Academy, Obama underscored the risks to national security posed by climate change, one of his top priorities for action in his remaining 19 months in office. "The threat of a changing climate cuts to the very core of your service," Obama told the 224 graduating cadets, who studied the impacts of global warming...

A lawyer who came to prominence for his full-throated defense of a subsequently convicted terrorist was quietly promoted to the No. 3 slot at the Department of Justice last month, a post that puts him in charge of the administration’s policy regarding Guantanamo Bay detainees. The move has raised red flags on Capitol Hill and elsewhere among national security stalwarts who argue that the promotion could imperil the country’s longstanding war on terrorism.

Scandal: A month before the terrorist attack, the State Department was warned Benghazi couldn't protect itself and was surrounded by Islamist militia and al-Qaida camps. It was 3 a.m. and the administration pressed "snooze." When the U.S. mission in Benghazi called an Aug. 15 emergency meeting, it wasn't to discuss an obscure Internet video. It was to discuss the lack of security for a consulate surrounded by at least 10 terrorist camps. An Aug. 16 cable to the office of Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and obtained by Fox News reported that the State Department's senior security officer "expressed concerns...

Fans of homebrewed beer and backyard distilleries already know how to employ yeast to convert sugar into alcohol. But a research team led by bioengineers at the University of California, Berkeley, has gone much further by completing key steps needed to turn sugar-fed yeast into a microbial factory for producing morphine and potentially other drugs, including antibiotics and anti-cancer therapeutics. Over the past decade, a handful of synthetic-biology labs have been working on replicating in microbes a complex, 15-step chemical pathway in the poppy plant to enable production of therapeutic drugs. Research teams have independently recreated different sections of the...

U.S. Special Operations Forces had to fight “hand to hand” in Friday night’s raid that killed the Islamic State terrorist group senior commander Abu Sayyaf, several defense officials told The Daily Beast Saturday. Troops from the U.S. Army Delta Force landed near a multi-story building with Ospreys and Blackhawks and were met with resistance when they entered, including “hand to hand” combat, one official told The Daily Beast. There was some resistance from armed guards and from the terrorist commander himself, but the troops were well prepared to handle that, another official said.

Boys, move the goalposts. If you’re having trouble keeping track of all the promises, threats, and “red lines” that Obama has applied to Syria and Assad, you’re not alone. There have been so many that things tend to get confusing. However, one constant through it all has been a warning that, if the Assad regime uses chemical weapons, it would trigger a US military response. Now we have widespread reports of the Assad regime deploying weaponized chlorine gas. So, if you’re a President who’s absolutely terrified of backing up his own proclamations with actual action, what are you to do?...