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Posted on 05/01/2007 8:52:12 PM PDT by nwctwx
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http://www.assistnews.net/Stories/2007/s07050160.htm
ASSIST News Service (ANS) - PO Box 609, Lake Forest, CA 92609-0609 USA
Visit our web site at: www.assistnews.net — E-mail: assistnews@aol.com
Thursday, May 24, 2007
“American broadcaster helps launch portable air raid shelters in Israel”
By Michael Ireland
Chief Correspondent, ASSIST News Service
ISRAEL
http://www.assistnews.net/Stories/2007/s07050163.htm
ASSIST News Service (ANS) - PO Box 609, Lake Forest, CA 92609-0609 USA
Visit our web site at: www.assistnews.net — E-mail: assistnews@aol.com
Thursday, May 24, 2007
“Assyrian and Chaldean Christians flee Iraq to neighboring Jordan”
By Michael Ireland
Chief Correspondent, ASSIST News Service
Assyrian woman praying for Assyrian refugees at a church in Jordan.
AMMAN, JORDAN
PERSECUTION.ORG
http://www.persecution.org
http://travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw/pa/pa_1161.html
PUBLIC ANNOUNCEMENT
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
Office of the Spokesman
This information is current as of today, Fri May 25 2007 05:08:58 GMT-0700.
Worldwide Caution
April 10, 2007
http://littlegreenfootballs.com/weblog/?entry=25612_Al_Jazeera_English_on_YouTube&only
Thursday, May 24, 2007
“Al Jazeera English on YouTube”
www.youtube.com/profile?user=AlJazeeraEnglish
“101 East - Australian Sheikh - 18 May 2007 - Pt 2”
(Added May 24, 2007)
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/keyword?k=aclu
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Note: The following post is a quote:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1839831/posts
ACLU condemned for ‘attacking’ veterans memorials during time of war
OneNewsNow.com ^ | May 25, 2007 | Jim Brown
Posted on 05/25/2007 12:21:28 PM PDT by GFritsch
A constitutional attorney says instead of thanking American veterans for their service, the American Civil Liberties Union is “dishonoring” them by attacking their memorials across the United States.
The American Legion has announced that it is teaming up with the Alliance Defense Fund (ADF) and Liberty Legal Institute in a campaign to fight ACLU efforts to remove religious symbols from war memorials. The ACLU has already filed suit to remove crosses at veterans’ memorials, like the Mt. Soledad cross in San Diego and the Sunrise Rock cross in the Mojave Desert, which is now covered by a box.
At a press conference at the National Press Club in Washington, DC, Liberty Legal attorney Hiram Sasser accused the ACLU of engaging in “a war against honor and valor.” He said it is “inconceivable in a time of war such as now that the ACLU and others would be attacking the memorials, the very symbols of honor and sacrifice of our national heritage.
“These symbols and these memorials serve as reminders to all of us of the great sacrifice and courage and valor of our veterans,” Sasser observed. The ACLU and its allies “have no respect, decency or shame,” he added.
At that same news conference, ADF senior vice president Joe Infranco noted that it has never been unconstitutional for a memorial to have a religious symbol. “The will of the public expressed so clearly by voters and Congress is being attacked by a few individuals whose legal theory is based on a claim that they are offended,” he pointed out.
“Let us see this claim for exactly what it is,” Infranco continued. “These individuals assert that their being offended should override the public’s desire to honor veterans as we have since the founding of our nation,” he said.
ADF and Liberty Legal are offering pro-bono representation to any municipality that is sued for displaying a veterans memorial that contains religious symbols. Infranco said his group is on a “search and protect mission” to defend America’s veterans memorials from the “misguided fanaticism” of the ACLU.
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http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1839393/posts
“Cross on county seal draws criticism (Idaho}”
The Idaho Press-Tribune ^ | May 22, 2007 | Mike Butts
Posted on 05/24/2007 5:11:55 PM PDT by Baladas
ARTICLE SNIPPET: “CANYON COUNTY — Canyon County’s official seal depicts a Christian cross on top of a church and steeple. And the religious symbol has drawn criticism from a Caldwell man and others who say it excludes people of other religious faiths and non-believers.
The county’s spokeswoman said the seal reflects the county’s values and that no one complained about the seal when officials presented it to the public and later adopted it in 2005.
County commissioners approved the new seal in November of that year, hoping it would represent modern-day Canyon County. The cross is too small to be visible in many uses of the seal, such as on county letterhead. But it is plainly visible on several larger seals displayed in the County Courthouse. The seal depicts a scene with a river, hills, livestock, buildings and other items.
“To bring up religion at all is a violation of the Constitution,” Caldwell resident Randy Hooban said. “It’s the wrong mindset for government.”
The First Amendment’s establishment clause bars government from endorsing religions. And the city of Edmond, Okla., lost a court case in the late 1990s that challenged a cross on its city seal when the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear the city’s appeal. The 10th Circuit Court of Appeals had ruled that the Edmond seal violated the establishment clause by endorsing Christianity.
Los Angeles County supervisors voted to remove a cross from its official seal in 2004 after the American Civil Liberties Union threatened a lawsuit.
City government seals depicting religious symbols have faced legal challenges in other parts of the country, including Missouri and Ohio.
Hooban noticed the Canyon County seal earlier this year at a Canyon County Democratic Central Committee meeting. He said he contacted the ACLU of Idaho in Boise about the seal and brought the issue up with Canyon County Commissioner Steve Rule.
Now, county attorneys are making sure they have their “ducks in a row,” spokeswoman Angie Sillonis said, in case they have to defend the seal. But she said the county has not heard from the ACLU.
Canyon County Prosecutor Dave Young said he did not think there was a legal problem with the seal. “I think a strong case can be made that churches and the cross have a very strong historic significance in Canyon County,” he said, “and the Supreme Court has said you can have religious displays if they have historical significance.”
Speaking for the commissioners, Sillonis said the church with a cross on it represents religion, which is a “key value in the community.” Commissioners David Ferdinand and Matt Beebe were in office when the seal was adopted.
“The seal was intended to reflect the community, and I think the commissioners think it does,” Sillonis said. “There was a list of items we wanted to depict on the seal, and churches was one of them.” But others disagree on its appropriateness.
“If we have representations of only one faith, of only one set of beliefs, doesn’t that limit us?” Pastor Doug Yarbrough of Nampa First Congregational United Church of Christ said. “That puts some people on the outside, and that seems unhealthy to me.”
Sillonis said there are 152 Christian churches listed in the Canyon County phone book and no non-Christian churches. But Canyon County Democratic Chairwoman Maria Gonzalez Mabbutt, who ran against Ferdinand in November, said the seal could be divisive.”
Note: The following post is a quote:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1839835/posts
In Flanders Field
1917 | Col John McCrae
Posted on 05/25/2007 12:26:06 PM PDT by SF Republican
IN FLANDERS FIELDS the poppies blow Between the crosses row on row, That mark our place; and in the sky The larks, still bravely singing, fly Scarce heard amid the guns below.
We are the Dead. Short days ago We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow, Loved and were loved, and now we lie In Flanders fields.
Take up our quarrel with the foe: To you from failing hands we throw The torch; be yours to hold it high. If ye break faith with us who die We shall not sleep, though poppies grow In Flanders fields.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1839430/posts
“FReeper Canteen ~ Memorial Day Weekend ~ 25 May 07”
Serving The Best Troops In The World | The Canteen Crew
Posted on 05/24/2007 5:59:59 PM PDT by Kathy in Alaska
http://www.defenselink.mil/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=46173
“Officials Confirm Body Found in Baghdad is Missing Soldier”
American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, May 25, 2007
Note: The following text is a quote:
http://www.defenselink.mil/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=46177
Coalition, Iraqi Forces Detain 28, Find Weapons
American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, May 25, 2007 – Coalition and Iraqi forces detained 28 suspected terrorists and found two weapons caches in operations throughout Iraq in the past two days, military officials reported.
Coalition forces detained 20 suspected terrorists during several raids targeting al Qaeda in Iraq today.
In Baghdad, coalition forces raided a house looking for a suspected al Qaeda battalion commander. The ground force detained three suspected terrorists at the targeted location, including the alleged leader.
Intelligence reports indicate he is responsible for numerous attacks in Baghdad, including assassinations, attacks on news media and attacks on the city’s infrastructure.
Coalition forces detained 11 suspected terrorists in an operation southwest of Baghdad targeting al Qaeda leadership. One of the individuals detained is allegedly a close associate of a Libyan who facilitates the movement of foreign fighters in the area.
In continuing operations to disrupt the car bomb network in Baghdad, coalition forces targeted a known explosives expert associated with the al Qaeda in Iraq network. The individual is also known to have knowledge of explosively formed penetrators, or EFPs, and was recently promoted within the network. Coalition forces detained two suspected terrorists from the target location.
In Mosul, coalition forces detained two suspected terrorists linked to an al Qaeda weapons dealer allegedly involved in an IED network there.
Two suspected terrorists were detained during a coalition forces raid targeting al Qaeda leadership in Baghdad. Ground forces found a small cache of weapons, which they safely destroyed on site.
“We’re continuing to take the fight to al Qaeda, to thwart their ability to attack Iraqis and spoil their attempts to destabilize the country,” said Army Lt. Col. Christopher Garver, Multinational Force Iraq spokesman.
In another operation, Iraqi and coalition forces detained one suspected terrorist while targeting a terrorist cell leader this morning during raids in Sadr City.
The individual detained during the raid is closely linked to a suspected leader in a secret cell terrorist network known for facilitating the transport of weapons and explosively formed penetrators, or EFPs, from Iran to Iraq, as well as bringing militants from Iraq to Iran for terrorist training.
En route to the objective, Iraqi forces began receiving heavy small-arms fire from multiple locations near an intersection. Ground forces returned fire, but the incoming automatic fire continued. Coalition forces supporting the Iraqi forces, using appropriate self-defense measures, called in close-air support.
Although there were no terrorists confirmed killed in the fighting, the opposing gunfire was subdued, and Iraqi and coalition forces moved on to the objective.
Intelligence reports indicate the individual targeted is suspected of having direct ties to the leader of the EFP network as well as acting as a proxy for an Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps officer.
“These rogue militia elements have no respect for the peace of Iraq,” Garver said. “We will continue to track them and diminish their ability to attack the Iraqi people and disrupt the progress of the country.”
Meanwhile, as the search for two missing 10th Mountain Division soldiers continues, several arrests were made for other crimes.
Soldiers from Company D, 4th Battalion, 31st Infantry Regiment, detained two local men May 23 who are believed to be responsible for a May 12 rocket attack on Patrol Base Inchon that killed an interpreter. They were detained one kilometer from the attack site.
The same day, a patrol from Company C, 2nd Battalion, 14th Infantry Regiment, detained two Iraqi men who tired to flee from a house being searched eight kilometers northwest of Yusufiyah.
Found in the house was a weapons cache consisting of two AK-47 assault rifles hidden in a tennis racket case, an SKS assault rifle, 50 rounds of 7.62 mm ammunition, a cell phone with foreign phone numbers programmed into it and a rocket-propelled grenade night sight.
Soldiers from Company B, 4-31, detained men near Rushdi Mullah yesterday. They were wanted for attacks against the Iraqi army, local civilians and coalition forces. The detainees are being held for questioning.
(Compiled from Multinational Corps Iraq and Multinational For
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/keyword?k=china
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http://www.defenselink.mil/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=46183
“Report Documents Chinese Military Power, Calls for Transparency”
By Jim Garamone
American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, May 25, 2007
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/keyword?k=iran
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/keyword?k=russia
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http://off-topic.internet-haganah.com/archives/001178.html
(HAARETZ.com)
May 24, 2007
“AND WHY WOULD THEY LIE...
Russia denies permitting Syria to sell air defense systems to Iran”
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1839888/posts
“MEMORIAL DAY—Thread Four—”Welcome Home””
redrock...”Welcome Home to EVERY name on that Black Granite Wall” | 05/27/04 | redrock repost
Posted on 05/25/2007 2:19:00 PM PDT by Kathy in Alaska
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/keyword?k=morocco
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1839908/posts
http://aawsat.com/english/news.asp?section=1&id=9071
“Dozens of suspected terrorists on trial in Morocco after repeated delays”
25/05/2007
ARTICLE SNIPPET: “SALE, Morocco (AP) - A long-stalled trial for more than 50 alleged terrorists accused of plotting attacks on military and tourist sites in Morocco got under way Friday, with new purported links to foreign extremists emerging.
Moroccan authorities introduced at least four more suspects Friday to the original 58, after recent arrests following up on the initial police investigation last summer. Of the four confirmed new suspects, one was arrested in Libya, where he is alleged to have links to terrorists networks. Another, arrested in Morocco, is accused of ties to a hard-line Islamic militia in Somalia.
Previously, Moroccan authorities had claimed the group had no links to foreign extremists. Defense lawyers argued that the new suspects were unconnected to the case and should not be included in the trial.
Prosecutors say the group, known as Ansar al-Mehdi, planned to attack military and tourist sites in Morocco with the aim of bringing down the government. The group’s name means “supporters of the Mehdi”, a divine figure in Islamic tradition whose arrival is said to herald the end of the world.
Suspected members include soldiers and the wives of pilots for the North African kingdom’s state airline, unusual in a country where violent extremism is very rare, and usually surfaces among the jobless poor.
The suspects face various charges under Morocco’s anti-terrorism law, hastily introduced after suicide attacks in Casablanca in 2003 killed 45 people, including the bombers, and woke the nation to the threat of militant Islamic extremism.”
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http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1839924/posts
Adult’s body found in air conditioning duct at school
CNN ^ | 5/24/07 | Not given
Posted on 05/25/2007 3:42:47 PM PDT by BlazingArizona
• NEW: Officials think the man tried to climb through duct, got stuck and died • Body was on roof of cafeteria at a Phoenix, Arizona, elementary school • It was found as plumber investigated foul odor; school was evacuated • Police detective said the adult was “not related to the school” Adjust font size:
PHOENIX, Arizona (AP) — The body of a man who apparently tried to break into an elementary school was discovered Friday in an air conditioning duct on the school’s roof, police said.
The body was found as a plumber investigated a foul odor noticed by cafeteria staff earlier in the day, said Roosevelt School District Superintendent Mark Dowling. Sierra Vista Elementary School was evacuated.
Authorities think the man tried to climb through the duct, got stuck and died. It was not known how long the body was there.
“Obviously because of the smell, there are indications that he had been there for some time,” said Sgt. Andy Hill, a Phoenix police spokesman...
(Excerpt) Read more at cnn.com ...
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http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1839921/posts
My wife, a prisoner in Iran (travesty of justice in Iran)
The Los Angeles Times ^ | May 25, 2007 | Shaul Bakhash
Posted on 05/25/2007 3:40:37 PM PDT by Clintonfatigued
ON MAY 8, the walls of Tehran’s Evin prison closed around my wife, Haleh Esfandiari, a 67-year-old scholar, grandmother and dual citizen of Iran and the United States.
Haleh, director of the Middle East Program of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington, went to Iran in late December to visit her 93-year-old mother, a trip she has made almost twice each year for a decade or more. On Dec. 30, on her way to the airport to fly back to Washington, she was stopped by three masked, knife-wielding men who took all her belongings, including her Iranian and U.S. passports. In retrospect, it was clearly an inside job; Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence fielding “highwaymen” against Iran’s own citizens.
Without a passport, Haleh was forced to return to her mother’s apartment. When she tried to apply for a new one, a member of the Ministry of Intelligence took her aside. Over the next six weeks, Haleh was subjected to 50 hours of interrogation.
At first, she told me by e-mail and phone, her inquisitors asked about her work, who spoke at what conference, where and when — things they could easily find with the click of a mouse on the Wilson Center’s website. But Haleh told them what she remembered about the lectures, exchanges, panels and classes she had arranged. To help with the details, I e-mailed piles of downloaded documents at night.
If the questions seemed almost laughable, the interrogations were not. They were accompanied by threats, accusations and intimidation — and always the implication that Haleh was involved in something nefarious. She also was pressured to provide information she did not have, to identify alleged “networks” of whose existence she was unaware, to admit that she was holding things back. She refused.
(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...
http://memri.org/bin/articles.cgi?Page=subjects&Area=jihad&ID=SP159807
Special Dispatch Series - No. 1598
May 25, 2007 No.1598
“Islamist Websites Monitor No. 103”
http://memri.org/bin/articles.cgi?Page=subjects&Area=jihad&ID=SP159907
Special Dispatch Series - No. 1599
May 25, 2007 No.1599
“‘Fath Al-Islam’ Military Commander: We Are Ready To Blow Up Every Place In Lebanon”
SNIPPET: “In an interview with the London daily Al-Hayat, the military commander of the Fath Al-Islam organization, Shihab Al-Qaddour, also known as Abu Hurieira, threatened that if attacks by the Lebanese military against his organization continued, “all fronts will be opened” and that Fath Al-Islam would be “ready to blow up every place in Lebanon.” He also noted that his organization’s activists were prepared for a battle lasting two years or more.
Al-Qaddour, 36, from the village of Mishmish in the sub-district of Akkar in northern Lebanon, is considered the No. 2 man in Fath Al-Islam, after the leader Shaker Al-’Absi. According to Al-Qaddour, who spent five and a half years in a Syrian prison, he has fought for 21 years in various areas, including Iraq.
The following are excerpts from the interview:”
UPDATE:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1839932/posts
“9 years for Vail eco-terrorist (Gerlach sentenced)”
denverpost.com ^ | May 25, 2007 | Steve Lipsher
Posted on 05/25/2007 4:12:56 PM PDT by jazusamo
ARTICLE SNIPPET: “Chelsea Gerlach, who joined the radical-environmental movement as a teenager, was sentenced today in Oregon to nine years in prison for her prominent role in torching a Vail ski lodge and five other so-called “eco-terror” attacks.
Gerlach, 30, pleaded guilty to conspiracy, destruction of an energy facility and 23 counts of arson after being identified by an informant as a major player in a six-year reign of attacks on government, business and research facilities.
As a member of a small clandestine group that called itself “the Family,” Gerlach and others helped cell leader Bill Rodgers in October of 1998 haul fuel up Vail ski area. There, under the cloak of darkness, he torched the stately Two Elk Lodge and several other buildings and lifts, causing an estimated $24 million in damages.
While the others abandoned the endeavor, Gerlach - who used the pseudonym “Country Girl” - waited for Rodgers to hike off the mountain and then drove him down to a public library in Denver, where the pair sent an e-mail communiqué warning that the fires were in protest of Vail’s controversial Category III terrain expansion into the habitat of endangered Canadian lynx.
“Putting profits before Colorado’s wildlife will not be tolerated,” the communiqué stated. “This action is just a warning. We will be back if this greedy corporation continues to trespass into wild and unroaded areas.”
Additionally, she confessed to participating in arsons at the Childers Meat Co., a Boise Cascade Corp. facilty, a Eugene police substation and the Jefferson Poplar Farm, and she helped topple a high-voltage power-line tower, all in Oregon.
Gerlach could have faced 35 years to life in prison, but prosecutors recommended to U.S. District Court Judge Ann Aiken that she serve only 10 years after she cooperated with the investigation that ultimately netted 10 participants of the Family.
Gerlach joined the radical-environmental movement when she was 16, after her father gave her a copy of the EarthFirst! Journal and soon allowed her to join a summer-long gathering of activists in Idaho, where she was arrested for blockading a road, according to federal prosecutors.
There, she met and became enraptured by Rodgers, a soft-spoken anarchy-bookstore owner from Prescott, Ariz., who adopted the moniker “Avalon” and who is accused of leading the Family’s efforts.
The group communicated through a shared e-mail account - never sending the e-mails, but instead leaving them in a “drafts” folder - and gathered periodically to plot their attacks in what members called “Book Club” meetings.
Gerlach had an on-and-off romantic relationship with another conspirator, Stanislas Meyerhoff, 29, who played roles in several of the attacks, including the Vail fires. He was sentenced to 13 years in prison earlier this week.
Rodgers committed suicide in a Tucson jail days after his arrest.
Gerlach participated in the group’s activities as recently as 2002 and supported herself primarily by selling marijuana ecstasy, according to prosecutors.”
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