Free Republic

JAKARTA, INDONESIA - The Indonesian military's waiting game is almost over: Less than three years after it was implicated in the murder of hundreds of civilians in East Timor, it is on the brink of regaining direct military assistance from the United States, diplomats and analysts say. For that, it has to thank changed US priorities in the wake of Sept. 11. In Washington, idealism has been exchanged for pragmatism. Though US officials acknowledge ongoing abuses by the Indonesian military, they argue that America's interests are damaged by not dealing with the army of the world's largest Muslim nation. The...

By revealing the foam-at-the-mouth hostility to religion that grips our elites, the 9th Circuit's "under God" decision is a godsend, though the two judges in the majority would probably insist that we refer to it simply as a "send." The decision was such a howler that even many of those whose mouths usually foam decided to cringe instead. Much of the cringing comes from narrow political calculation. The court ruling obviously could help Republican candidates and judicial nominees. This is especially so since it recalls the political hay that the first George Bush made in 1988 by attacking Michael Dukakis'...

SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA, AND BEIJING - The Korean peninsula is on high military alert after a 21- minute gun battle between north and south that will likely delay talks between Pyongyang and Washington. The skirmish Saturday, in which a South Korean patrol boat was sunk and at least four South Koreans killed, came just as Seoul was wrapping up its hosting of the World Cup, which ended yesterday. Analysts say the clash in the Yellow Sea may have reflected Northern envy at the South's pride and success in hosting the soccer championship – or Pyongyang's fears that the games, some...

Well, I have about freakin had it. And here is why: Liberals believe that Christians feel superior - either you obey God, or you burn in hell. Christians have a mind set where there is right and wrong. But here is what liberals believe: They believe THEIR way is right. (same as Christians) They want to evangalize us and our children, to show us the path to 'salvation'. (Same - Christians do it to save souls) If we do not believe as they do, we need to be re-trained. (hmmmm) But alas, are not those the things they complain...

AMMAN, JORDAN - For the second time in two years, Jordanian officials say they have halted an Islamist plot against the United States. The arrest of 11 suspected militants – who are said to have Al Qaeda ties – may have short-circuited plans to attack a variety of US and Israeli targets in the area. The arrests were confirmed to the Monitor by the state prosecutor, Mahmoud Obeidat, who says the men are accused of "conspiring to carry out terrorist actions against US and foreign targets in Jordan, and possessing automatic weapons and explosives for illegal use." Arab countries –...

Don McKinnon, the Commonwealth Secretary-General, has expressed pessimism over prospects for change in Zimbabwe, which his group recently suspended in protest at alleged flaws in President Robert Mugabe's re-election. "It is sad that nothing is improving in that nation," McKinnon says. "I am not at all hopeful that anything is going to change." McKinnon, whose group of 54 mainly former British colonies suspended Zimbabwe for a year in March, said Mugabe's ruling ZANU-PF party was showing no sign of easing its pressure on the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC). Nor was there any let up in the policy of...

BUDAPEST, Hungary -- In a place where adventure, idealism, passion and romance abound, I was not surprised to hear top officials talk ardently about the need for the United States to adopt a consistent, caring and comprehensive stance toward failing or failed nations such as Afghanistan. The Hungarians are right, of course. Only the United States has the ability to lead in assisting, working with or -- in the worst cases -- intervening in failing or failed nations. In fact, because such countries easily can fall prey to terrorists or other extremists, a strong, proactive U.S.-led campaign to help them...

Feminizing America By Chuck Baldwin The Covenant News ~ April 5, 2002 Recent news reports stated that one of the reasons President Bush decided to take a more active role in negotiating a peace settlement in the Middle East was because of his concern that women voters were being "turned off" by pictures of dead bodies from war-torn areas in and around the West Bank. Keeping women voters happy seems to be a high priority for politicians these days, and for good reason - America is now a thoroughly feminized country. Subscribe to any cable or satellite service and one...

<p>"Liberals don't have to emerge from the hot tub and start attending NASCAR races or — God forbid — church, but it would be nice if they'd stop lying all the time."</p> <p>Let's take a dunk in Vermont, where independent Rep. Bernard Sanders has just had a beach renamed in his honor.</p>

<p>Education groups were curiously absent from the public outrage last week over the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals' Pledge of Allegiance ruling.</p> <p>Contrast that with the organizations' reaction to the Supreme Court's ruling upholding vouchers, which drew immediate and total condemnation: The National Education Association pledged to "fight for children and public education — and oppose divisive and counterproductive proposals to divert energy, attention, and resources to private school tuition vouchers." The National Association of Elementary School Principals went further to express "grave disappointment," and the National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP) said the ruling highlighted "a serious disconnect between the issues which need to be dealt with and the solutions put forth."</p>

<p>HONG KONG — Scuffles broke out between police and pro-democracy activists shortly after Chinese President Jiang Zemin arrived yesterday on the eve of the fifth anniversary of Britain's surrender of its vibrant commercial and trading colony.</p> <p>Earlier, the Falun Gong meditation group — outlawed on the mainland — complained that more than 90 practitioners had been barred from entering the territory to protest at today's ceremony where Mr. Jiang will be joined by Hong Kong Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa, who is being sworn in for a second five-year term.</p>

<p>SEOUL — North Korea launched a blistering propaganda attack yesterday, saying that the United States had pushed relations to the brink of war, and that South Korea was guilty of "noisy, false propaganda" over a sea battle in which four Southern sailors were killed.</p>

<p>MOSCOW — In islands of secrecy across Russia, American specialists and American money are fitting locks and installing cameras, hardening walls, powering up databases and training guards in a vast, costly effort by one old foe to defend the weapons of another.</p>

<p>Croatia's main conservative opposition party is facing an internal revolt as high-ranking officials plan to break away and establish a new political movement devoted to the legacy of the late President Franjo Tudjman.</p> <p>"We are prepared to start a new, broad-based movement or political party based on Franjo Tudjman's ideas," said a senior official of the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ), speaking on the condition of anonymity.</p>

Israelis have been in near universal agreement that CNN is thoroughly biased in favor of the Arabs and against Israel. In the two years since Arafat launched the Oslo war, CNN has certainly done little to disavow Israelis of this notion. The Israeli dissatisfaction with CNN has been so great that Fox News recently began broadcasting in Israel as an alternative to CNN. Things reached a boiling point, however, with Ted Turner's not too bright comments equating the Israeli army and terrorist suicide bombers. In an attempt to contain the damage, CNN responded quickly. They disassociated themselves from Turner's statement...

<p>KARACHI, Pakistan — A lone campaigner who says he wants to "restore sanity" among political and military leaders beating war drums in South Asia believes that at least 2.8 million people would die in the first hours of an all-out nuclear conflict between India and Pakistan.</p>

<p>Q: What can the United States do to protect citizens from a court that has entered into force?</p> <p>A: Washington is trying to create havens of protection for U.S. service members one legal agreement at a time. At the United Nations, diplomats are trying — so far, unsuccessfully — to exempt from prosecution soldiers, civilians and government officials in connection with U.N. peacekeeping missions and military operations endorsed by the U.N. Security Council. Washington is also trying to amend bilateral military contracts called status of forces agreements, or SOFAs.</p>

WASHINGTON -- The first time someone described Ann Coulter as a "right-wing telebimbo," she was stunned and maybe a little hurt. But now she wears it as a badge of honor. "As Mao said, "It's a good thing to be attacked by your enemy,' " she told me Friday in one of the many interviews she has been doing to promote her new book, Slander: Liberal Lies About the American Right. As Coulter proved on NBC's Today show early last week, she will do or say just about anything to promote herself and her book -- even calling Katie Couric...

<p>American parents have been discussing their nation's legal freedoms, democracy and distinctiveness with their children in preparation for the first Independence Day since the September 11 terrorist attacks, a poll by the American Bar Association reveals.</p> <p>"September 11 was a vivid reminder that we must not take our liberty and freedom for granted," ABA President Robert Hirshon said.</p>

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. (AP) - The chestnut sapling planted on this grassy hillside doesn't look like much - just a spindly stem bearing a handful of twigs and leaves that seem entirely too big for such a small plant. Researchers hope it is the start of a chestnut grove that will help restore a species all but eliminated from the continent over the last century. Most of the trees are expected to eventually succumb to the blight that has killed much of the rest of their kind. But from the survivors could come the stock for eventually repopulating Eastern forests...