Free Republic

In my Harvard University apartment, overlooking the serene Charles River, I grieve for the Israelis who were murdered last week by the Islamic Jihad, and I grieve for students at Harvard whose final lesson before graduating was about the noble meaning of Jihad. Zayed Yasin, a graduating senior, was selected to address thousands of students and their families about the virtue of Jihad as a moral struggle. While the word Jihad, in some contexts, could mean an internal struggle, the focus on this meaning at the commencement speech diverts attention from Sudanese Muslims who murder and enslave Christians in Southern...

ISLAMABAD: In a major development that holds ominous overtones for Pakistan and seeks the attention of foreign policy makers, Afghanistan has formally sought help from Israel for combating terrorism, The News has learnt. The request was put forth by newly elected Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai to Israeli Deputy Prime Minister Natan Sharansky on the sidelines of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia held in Almaty, Kazakhstan, a fortnight ago. "I expect your help, Israel's help, in everything that concerns Afghanistan's struggle against terrorism," Tel Aviv-based Israeli newspaper Vesti quotes Sharansky as telling it in an interview...

Republicans moved quickly last week into a damage-control mode after a White House political analysis that raised doubts about GOP prospects in the mid-term congressional elections came to light.The analysis, presented to California Republicans on June 4 by senior White House aide Karl Rove and Political Director Ken Mehlman, spurred candidates throughout the nation to respond to the candid contents.Campaign officials in both parties sought to capitalize on the memo’s revelations, putting their own spins on the data.The memo had an immediate impact on the Maine Senate race, where the contest is between Republican Sen. Susan Collins and her...

CNN’s Lou Dobbs has come in for criticism for saying something sensible and insightful. It is too vague and too politically correct to call America’s post-September 11th conflict a “war against terrorism.” He observes that “The enemies in this war are radical Islamists who argue all non-believers in their faith must be killed. They are called Islamists.” He emphasizes that “This is not a war against Muslims or Islam. It is a war against Islamists and all who support them.” “Islam” is the name of the religion founded by Mohammad, and believers are called “Muslims,” but “Islamism” is the name...

By Steve Rodan, JDW Correspondent, Tel Aviv, and Andrew Koch, JDW Washington Bureau Chief Syria is preparing to begin serial production of an extended-range version of its 'Scud-C' short-range ballistic missile, according to US and Israeli defence officials. The officials said Syria has completed preparations for the production of the extended-range missile, including work on an assembly line. Israeli defence officials said Syria could produce as many as 30 missiles a year, approximately equal to that of the current 'Scud-C' production. "They have either begun production or are about to begin production," one Israeli official told JDW. "So far, the...

I was sitting here, modelling a 3d fantasy creature in Lightwave, and thought of the PERFECT thing that Bush should say regarding the crisis in the Middle East. As you know, Bush is supposed to give a speech soon, endorsing a Palestinian State, and his plan on the mid-east. This cannot be done without significant punishment for the PA and terror groups, since anything else would be capitulating to terrorism, and legitimizing its tactics. However, there is a solution: Bush should indeed come out, and endorse a Palestinian State, one that Sharon would be happy with, as even Sharon has...

PESHAWER, June 19 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - Al-Qaeda and Taliban fighters killed forty soldiers from the U.S. special forces in southeast Afghanistan near the Pakistani borders, a Pakistani newspaper reported Wednesday, June 19. In response, U.S. forces attacked the entire area, said the Urdu-language Mashreq paper. Besides the 40 U.S. soldiers, 10 of the Afghan-U.S. allies were also killed during the attack which the fighters carried out at the American forces. U.S. forces were on their way to carry out an inspection and survey mission on the Birmil area in the province of Khost. The news was not confirmed...

Food for thought.Chapter & verse for your stance if any.

Hoping to flush out Republicans on a divisive campaign issue, the House Democrats today plan to launch a petition to discharge Social Security legislation that is bottled up in the Ways and Means Committee.The Democrats hope to force Republicans to vote on GOP proposals for Social Security reform. They also seek floor action on proposals made by the president’s Commission to Strengthen Social Security. PATRICK G. RYAN Rep. Robert Matsui (D-Calif.) Customarily, discharge petitions are brought in support of legislation sought by the sponsors. In this case, however, the Democrats oppose the proposals made by both the Republicans and...

 Weekday Commentary from Jim Puplava Home Gold's Bull MarketConfirmed and Holding The Week in GraphsGuest EditorialJames E. Sinclair CEO & Chairman, Tan Range Exploration6/19/02  A Top in Gold at $330 or simply a Chapter in Gold's "Long Term Bull Market?" Changing Preferences The Velocity of Money & The Short Seller's NightmareGLOBAL ANALYSIS with J. R. Nyquist The Error  Wednesday's Market Scoreboard  June 19, 2002  Dow Industrials 144.97 9561.15  Dow Utilities 1.77 281.56  Dow Transports 21.42 2755.1  S & P 500 17.15 1019.99  Nasdaq 46.12 1496.84  US Dollar to Yen 123.815  US Dollar to Euro .9574  Gold 0.60 320.3  Silver --...

<p>Officials at California's teacher licensing board are livid at U.S. Secretary of Education Rod Paige. In a report issued last week, Paige singled out the low standards in California's basic test for teachers as an egregious example of what he sees as the flabby academic skills of a large proportion of American teachers.</p>

<p>IN the old James Bond films, Sean Connery played Agent 007. The double-0 meant Bond was one of but a handful of British agents who were licensed to kill. So it would appear is George W. Bush.</p> <p>According to Bob Woodward of the Washington Post, President Bush has directed the CIA to conduct a covert operation to oust Saddam Hussein from power, and to use all available means, including the Special Forces. Adds Woodward, ``Such forces would be authorized to kill Hussein if they were acting in self-defense.''</p>

SAUDI ARABIA MARRIAGE TO SAUDIS DISCLAIMER: THE INFORMATION IN THIS CIRCULAR RELATING TO THE LEGAL REQUIREMENTS OF SPECIFIC FOREIGN COUNTRIES IS PROVIDED FOR GENERAL INFORMATION ONLY. QUESTIONS INVOLVING INTERPRETATION OF SPECIFIC FOREIGN LAWS SHOULD BE ADDRESSED TO FOREIGN COUNSEL. The following information has been prepared by our Embassy in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia to assist American citizen women in understanding more fully the cultural and legal differences they may face if they are considering marrying a Saudi man. Read the rest of the article at http://abcnews.go.com/sections/world/DailyNews/statemirror.html

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The FBI recently has warned its field offices about possible terrorist attacks at July 4 celebrations, bureau officials said on Wednesday. They emphasized there was no specific or credible information an attack was planned on Independence Day, but said July 4 was a significant date in U.S. history and terrorist groups in the past have used such dates to carry out attacks. The officials said the FBI warned all of its 56 field offices out of an abundance of caution, a policy it has adopted after the Sept. 11 hijacked plane attacks that killed about 3,000 people....

<p>Washington -- President Bush is asking Congress to create a national research center at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory to help protect Americans against biological and radiological attacks -- almost two weeks after the White House proposed transferring nearly all of the lab's budget to the newly proposed Department of Homeland Security.</p>

STEVE STECKLOW, AP and ALIX M. FREEDMAN, The Wall Street Journal As a punishment for its 1990 invasion of Kuwait, Iraq has been required to pay reparations to companies and individuals damaged during the Persian Gulf War. More than two million war-related claims, totalling more than $300 billion, were submitted to the United Nations, which supervises the program. The claims cite losses ranging from ruined oil equipment to lost jobs to cancelled deals. But in the past four years, some 185 companies have quietly dropped a total of $2.9 billion in claims, according to U.N. records. These companies, including giant...

A YOUNG US woman has gone missing in the Pakistani city of Karachi, the scene of a string of recent attacks targeting US citizens and interests. "A US citizen was reported missing in Karachi," said State Department deputy spokesman Philip Reeker today. "Our consulate in Karachi is working with local authorities on that matter to see if we can find out any more facts." The woman, who cannot be named due to US Privacy Act restrictions, went to the city alone on June 13 to visit someone, a US official said later on condition of anonymity. The official said it...

Improving on the National ASK Campaign The "Million Mom March" organization and other gun control activists are currently promoting, with the help of the mass media and various national organizations, a National "ASK ('Asking Saves Kids') Campaign," in which parents are encouraged to ask their neighbors:      1) whether they have a gun in their home, and  2) if so, how it is stored.  The goal, obviously, is to prompt participants' neighbors to make sure all firearms are stored in such a way as to prevent unauthorized access. This is a worthy goal, even if some might very seriously...

Iran is planning to export unmanned planes in the future, the official Iranian news agency IRNA quoted a Defense Ministry official as saying on Wednesday. Iran is planning to export unmanned planes in the future, the official Iranian news agency IRNA quoted a Defense Ministry official as saying on Wednesday. Brigadier Hossein Alaei, head of Aviation Industries of Iran's Defense Ministry, stressed the need to develop the designing and production technology for unmanned planes to strengthen Iran's deterrence capability. Alaei said that the qualitative development of Iran's designing and production technology for unmanned planes, a major program of the Defence...

<p>GOV. Gray Davis has escaped the worst possible outcome of the Oracle software hearings. No indisputable evidence of corruption has emerged.</p> <p>But he and his administration have been badly stained by their inability to offer a coherent explanation for the approval of a $123 million contract for database software, and by the lingering suspicion that political influence had much to do with it.</p>