Free Republic

December 14, 1999 Russian Troops Advance to Grozny Outskirts By MICHAEL R. GORDON MAKHACHKALA, Russia -- Russian forces advanced to the outskirts of Grozny Monday, as the senior Kremlin policymaker on Chechnya predicted that the city would be seized within 10 days. Monday's fighting was a fresh indication that the battle for the Chechen capital has entered a decisive phase even as thousands of civilians remained trapped in the city. After a lull of several days, the Russian military resumed artillery barrages against Grozny. Russian forces had suspended air and artillery attacks against the city to encourage civilians to flee. ...

Russia's unknown legion of the dead By MARCUS WARREN, in Rostov-on-Don Far from the front line of the Chechnya war, Russia's war dead are seen only by their relatives, fellow soldiers and the laboratory technicians who try to identify their remains. Relatives and friends of the dead sit in crowded corridors, waiting for the nod to give the final verdict on the deformed and distorted features displayed on slabs behind shabby doors. In one room, an officer from the unit of Soldier 1288 and his best friend from school sat glumly in a viewing room, watching a brief video ...

Monday December 13 8:16 PM ET Pentagon Delays Anthrax Shots for All Troops By Charles Aldinger WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Pentagon said on Monday it was delaying the planned vaccination of all 2.4 million active and reserve U.S. troops against the deadly anthrax disease until the government approves a new facility built to produce the vaccine. But officials stressed that troops being sent to South Korea and the Gulf would continue to get anthrax immunization shots begun last year with previously produced vaccine because of the danger of biological attack by North Korea or Iraq. The problem, they said, is ...

December 14, 1999 PANAMA JOURNAL: A Canal Celebrity Honors Unheralded Workers By DAVID GONZALEZ PANAMA -- The first ship to pass through the Panama Canal and pretty much every one since have glided through the life of Cecil Haynes. He was born one year before the canal was dedicated on Aug. 15, 1914, and has worked for the Panama Canal Commission for 71 years, starting as an office boy in 1928 ferrying papers and filling inkwells. Now, on the eve of the symbolic transfer of the canal, Haynes, 86, will assume a special place among the bosses at the reviewing ...

I wonder if Ohio got to vote on this resolution?

December 14, 1999 Israel Lawmakers Closely Approve Talks With Syria By WILLIAM ORME After six hours of impassioned and often raucous debate -- and just two days before talks begin in Washington -- Israel's Parliament on Monday narrowly endorsed Prime Minister Ehud Barak's quest for a comprehensive peace settlement with Syria. Israel will have to pay "a heavy territorial price," Barak acknowledged in an emotional plea for parliamentary support. But failure to pursue peace with Damascus "could cost us in blood," he said. The vote of confidence in the prime minister's negotiating plans passed with 47 votes in favor, 37 ...

Washington, D.C. A public-interest group called "Freepers" today released newly discovered cat scans of Commerce Secretary Ron Brown's skull. The scans show an eight-inch knife plunged downward into Brown's head, right down the bullet hole. According to the Freepers, the scans cast "a tiny but real doubt" on official rulings that Brown's plane committed suicide. White House spokescreature Joe Lockhart laughed out loud at the Freeper theory, explaining that the crash impact had driven Brown's head onto the knife. "This was no stabbing," he said. "We use nine-inch blades."

December 14, 1999 With Berger in Catbird Seat, Albright's Star Dims By JANE PERLEZ WASHINGTON -- The end of the war in Kosovo was supposed to be a moment of glory for Secretary of State Madeleine K. Albright, who had argued passionately for the fight. Instead, in the six months since, Dr. Albright has been effectively eclipsed in foreign affairs by Samuel R. Berger, the national security adviser, who has brought his physical proximity to the Oval Office and his personal relationship with President Clinton to bear on every foreign policy issue, according to administration officials and foreign policy experts. ...

December 14, 1999 With Berger in Catbird Seat, Albright's Star Dims By JANE PERLEZ WASHINGTON -- The end of the war in Kosovo was supposed to be a moment of glory for Secretary of State Madeleine K. Albright, who had argued passionately for the fight. Instead, in the six months since, Dr. Albright has been effectively eclipsed in foreign affairs by Samuel R. Berger, the national security adviser, who has brought his physical proximity to the Oval Office and his personal relationship with President Clinton to bear on every foreign policy issue, according to administration officials and foreign policy experts. ...

December 14, 1999 Britain to Lift Ban on Gays in Military By WARREN HOGE LONDON -- Britain has decided to end the ban on homosexuals in the armed forces, Defense Secretary Geoff Hoon has said. Hoon said a new code of conduct would be introduced next year replacing the current prohibition against gay men and women in uniform, The Times of London reported Monday. Unlike the United States military, with its "don't ask, don't tell" policy, the British military flatly bans gays. The new code will specify that sexual behavior involving on-duty personnel will be a punishable offense but that ...

December 14, 1999 Tripp Not Promised Immunity In Maryland, Starr Team Says By NEIL A. LEWIS ELLICOTT CITY, Md. -- Some of the prosecutors who helped direct the independent counsel's investigation of President Clinton told a court hearing Monday that they never promised Linda Tripp immunity from prosecution in Maryland for taping telephone conversations with Monica Lewinsky. Instead, the three prosecutors said they told Ms. Tripp that if she turned over the tapes and cooperated with them in investigating the president's relationship with Ms. Lewinsky, they would make it almost impossible for Maryland authorities to win a conviction. The prosecutors' ...

December 14, 1999 Nuclear-Weapons Scientist Pleads Not Guilty; Held Without Bail By CHRISTIAN BERTHELSEN ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. -- A weapons scientist pleaded not guilty on Monday to the illegal computer downloading of a vast trove of nuclear arms data, but a federal magistrate ordered him jailed pending trial, declaring that the acts he is accused of represent "a clear and present danger to the security of the United States." The defendant, Wen Ho Lee, was ordered held behind bars after all-day proceedings here, where he entered the courtroom smiling broadly at relatives and dozens of supporters and left to live in ...

December 14, 1999 Democrats Give $1 Million To Refurbish Gore's Home By LESLIE WAYNE Whether for a billiard table or a hot tub, a steam shower or lush landscaping, leading Democratic donors dug into their pockets to contribute over $1 million to make improvements in Vice President Al Gore's residence. Businesses including Bell Atlantic, Coca-Cola, PricewaterhouseCoopers and General Motors contributed to the 8-year-old effort to improve the 33-room mansion, situated on the grounds of the United States Naval Observatory in Washington. The drive was led by the nonprofit Vice President's Residence Foundation, which used the money for items not covered ...

December 14, 1999 Candidate Cast as Underdog Pours Resources Into Iowa By JAMES DAO CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa, -- Once viewed as a prohibitive underdog in Iowa, former Senator Bill Bradley has been pouring resources into this state in preparation for next month's Democratic presidential caucuses, betting that a strong showing here will send a powerful message to party members nationwide that their nomination is truly up for grabs. Many political analysts had thought that Bradley would have trouble competing in Iowa against Vice President Al Gore, his lone rival for the Democratic nomination. Not only is Gore better known, but ...

December 14, 1999 The Military Orders Spot Check of Bases On Gay Harrasement By ELIZABETH BECKER and KATHARINE Q. SEELYE The action came after a highly publicized court-martial in which an army private was convicted of murdering a gay soldier who had been viciously harassed with the knowledge of his superiors. After the conviction, the president called into question the usefulness of the "don't ask, don't tell" policy, and the first lady has called for its elimination. Tonight, Vice President Al Gore called for the outright elimination of the administration's policy. "Gays and lesbians should be allowed to serve their ...

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- U.S. officials have revealed that about a dozen suspects were arrested by local authorities in the Middle East and accused of plotting to attack Christian targets in Jerusalem and elsewhere in the region over the Christmas and New Year's period. The officials did not say in what countries last week's arrests took place because they said operations are still ongoing. Some sources also suggest there may have been plans to hit targets in Rome. Officials said Monday that all those arrested have been linked to the organization of Osama bin Laden, the accused terrorist mastermind of ...

December 14, 1999 Bush Tangles With McCain Over Campaign Financing By FRANK BRUNI DES MOINES -- In the most spirited Republican debate so far, Gov. George W. Bush of Texas and Senator John McCain of Arizona sparred over McCain's advocacy for overhauling the nation's campaign finance laws, with Bush declining McCain's offer that the two take a joint pledge against accepting so-called soft money, largely unregulated corporate contributions. McCain, who has emerged as the most potent challenger to Bush for the Republican presidential nomination, told Bush that special interests were stealing the federal government and that, "You and I can ...

COLFAX, Iowa (AP) — Republican presidential candidate Gary Bauer accused rival George W. Bush on Monday of playing ``inside political games'' to get the Louisiana caucuses canceled, denying Bauer a potential platform. The Jan. 15 caucuses were scrapped Saturday by a party state committee dominated by the forces of Gov. Mike Foster, an ally of the front-running Texas governor. Now the nation's first results will come from the caucuses Jan. 24 in Iowa, where polls show Bush holding a wide lead among people expected to attend. Though just three of the six GOP candidates planned to compete in Louisiana, ...

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Texas Gov. George W. Bush and Arizona Sen. John McCain clashed over campaign finance, taxes and federal farm subsidies Monday night in a spirited debate that underscored a tightening race for the Republican presidential nomination. Bush challenged McCain on his signature issue, a call to reduce the influence of big money in political campaigns. ``Here's my worry with your plan. It's going to hurt the Republican party, John,'' said the Texas governor, adding it could amount to ``unilateral disarmament'' for the GOP. McCain retorted that there were no such thing as six-figure labor and corporate ...

Monday, November 29, 1999 WorldNetDaily by Jane Chastain In this countdown to the millennium with the Y2K computer problems, we constantly are being warned to "be prepared" to take care of ourselves and possibly friends and neighbors in the event of shortages, power outages, and communications disruptions. Depending on the report you read or the seminar you attend, the predictions range from a few minor inconveniences to severe problems -- including a breakdown in police, fire, and rescue services. "Be prepared" is the motto of the Boy and Girl Scouts of America. Preparedness long has been a respected character trait; ...