Free Republic

Insane, but true. The Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996, a flawed but fairly sensible piece of legislation, put into places measures like the ability to classify foreign terrorist groups and ban funding to them, as well as keeping terrorists out of America, and it also created the U.S. Alien Terrorist Removal Court (ATRC). That was 30 years ago. ATRC had the ability to remove terrorists based on secret evidence, but was never used despite the obvious need for such a thing. Then Judge James Boasberg suggested that the DOJ go to the ATRC instead of going to...

An Afghan woman residing in Fort Worth has been arrested for her alleged role in plotting to commit a terrorist attack in 2024 and faces deportation from a federal court that existed only on paper for 30 years. Nazira Haji Zada, 47, appeared before a federal judge Thursday morning for her first hearing in the Alien Terrorist Removal Court, according to a Department of Justice news release. This is the first time the court — referred to by legal experts as a “zombie court” — has been used since its creation by Congress in 1996. This special court is located...

Mike Lynch, a British tech entrepreneur, and his daughter Hannah are missing after a luxury yacht sunk off the coast of the Italian island of Sicily. After co-founding British tech firm Autonomy in 1996, and backing several successful tech firms, the businessman was regarded by some as the UK's answer to Microsoft founder Bill Gates. One person is dead and six are missing after a 56m superyacht called Bayesian, which has been linked to Mr Lynch's family, sank following bad weather. His wife, Angela Bacares, has been rescued. The British tech tycoon made his riches by selling his company Autonomy...

Former CIA analyst Douglas MacEachin, a member of the 9-11 commission staff, said in testimony last week Iran and its terrorist group ally Hezbollah were linked to the al-Qaida terrorist group. Other U.S. intelligence officials said there is also evidence Iran is linked to the Sept. 11 attacks. According to the officials, two of the hijackers, Nawaf al-Hazmi and Khalid al-Mihdhar, who were aboard the aircraft that hit the Pentagon, had stayed at the Iranian ambassador's residence in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, before entering the United States in January 2001. MacEachin disclosed that the Iran-al-Qaida ties were revealed in the 1996...

A fascinating piece by Andrew Higgins and Alan Cullison recently appeared in The Wall Street Journal [July 2] with the title: “How a Secret, Failed Trip to Chechnya Turned Key Plotter’s Focus to America and bin Laden.” The key plotter in this case was 9/11 mastermind and bin Laden’s Egyptian lieutenant, Ayman al-Zawahiri. The article’s title suggests that Zawahiri’s failure to settle in Chechnya (due to his “detention” by the KGB/FSB in 1996-97) led him to Afghanistan and an alliance with bin Laden. But according to ranking U.S. terrorism expert, Yossef Bodansky, Egyptian Jihad leader Zawahiri was preparing a massive...

Terrorist told of plan to crash into CIA's HQ Two years ago, federal prosecutors turned down a cooperation offer from a terrorist who claimed he was part of a well-financed 1995 plot to crash an airplane into the CIA headquarters. Abdul Hakim Murad said he got his pilot's license after training at several American flight schools, including one that is now under scrutiny in the terror investigation. Murad was convicted in 1996 for his role in a highly choreographed scheme to blow up 12 U.S.-bound jetliners flying out of Southeast Asia. The Pakistani-born man said that in addition to the ...

FORMER FBI SUPERVISORY SPECIAL AGENT R. LINDLEY DEVECCHIO INDICTED On September 5th, 2004, with the publication of COVER UP, Peter Lance, for the first time, told the story of how the FBI and the U.S. Justice Department covered up a scandal involving R. Lindley DeVecchio, a retired SSA known as "Mr. Organized Crime." This burial of evidence had the effect of suppressing a treasure trove of intelligence on an active al Qaeda cell in New York City and the possible connection between Ramzi Yousef, the original WTC bomber, and the downing of TWA Flight #800 on July 17th, 1996. Further,...

A terror group from Egypt told the FBI it was responsible for downing TWA Flight 800 and killing all 230 people aboard, according to newly surfaced FBI records featured in a new documentary marking the 30th anniversary of the tragedy. An explosive claim buried in a trove of newly obtained Freedom of Information Act documents is reviving decades-old questions about whether a missile or bomb brought down the Boeing 747-100 off Long Island on July 17, 1996. Among the records obtained by the transparency nonprofit Judicial Watch is a New York teletype dated two days after the crash, case file...

President Donald Trump signed an executive order drastically shrinking the size of two national monument areas in Utah on Monday. The order applies to the Grand Staircase-Escalante and Bears Ears national monuments, shrinking their total coverage by roughly 90% from 3 million acres to 300,000. The areas were established as federal monuments by President Bill Clinton in 1996 and Barack Obama in 2016, respectively. "They took the land from the people quite honestly," Trump said during the Monday signing ceremony. "We’re giving it back." Utah Gov. Spencer Cox also attended the signing and praised the move, saying the original size...

In 1958, the world was introduced to an intergalactic horror movie about an alien gelatinous goo that consumes everything in its wake: The Blob. The '50s B-movie has gone down in history as a classic monster flick, that would later even spawn a gory remake in 1988. But, this terrifying UFO film isn't entirely fiction, and you may want to keep an eye on the sky after hearing the shocking true story that inspired The Blob.

So Peg Lautenschlager wants to take over the Chai Vang case. We wish the Wisconsin attorney general good luck. She'll need it. We're inclined to agree with the cynics who think this is more about politics than prosecutorial discretion. After all, it's certainly no coincidence that Lautenschlager will be up for re-election in 2006. It's also important to note that Lautenschlager is trying to live down a DWI conviction. Adding insult to injury, she was in a state-owned vehicle earlier this year when she was pulled over and refused to submit to a sobriety test. Clearly, a victory in the...

Bill Ayers Represents Not the Past, But the Democratic Party's Future, There had to be some corks-a-popping at the Chicago home of Bill Ayers and wifey Bernardine Dohrn on Tuesday night. Not since Klaus Fuchs leaked the secrets of the Manhattan Project to his Soviet handlers 80 years prior had Commies in America so much to celebrate. Salon summed up the news concisely, “Socialist sweep reveals New York City’s rising power centers.” Ayers and Dohrn did more than their share to make communism respectable. In September 1995 they opened the doors of their home to state senate candidate Barack Obama....

A former high-ranking Iranian government official, Brig. Gen. Alireza Asghari, 63, has defected to the United States, Iranian exiles and other sources told Newsmax today. Asghari had access to highly-classified intelligence information and "defected to the Americans with lots of secrets," respected Iranian journalist Alireza Nourizadeh told Newsmax from London. The disappearance of the former Revolutionary Guards General has created a panic in Tehran. Gen. Asghari left Iran on an officially-sanctioned trip to Damascus, Syria, then went missing during a stop-over in Istanbul, Turkey on February 7, according to statements by Iranian government officials in Tehran. Nourizadeh believes he had...

April 20 — At least three senior United Nations officials are suspected of taking multi-million dollar bribes from the Saddam Hussein regime, U.S. and European intelligence sources tell ABCNEWS. One year after his fall, U.S. officials say they have evidence, some in cash, that Saddam diverted to his personal bank accounts approximately $5 billion from the United Nations Oil-for-Food program. In what has been described as the largest humanitarian aid effort ever undertaken, the U.N. Oil-for-Food program began in 1996 to help Iraqis who were suffering under sanctions imposed following the first Gulf War. The program allowed Iraq to sell...

Neo-Nazi Links with Arab Palestinian Extremist OrganizationsFrançois Genoud: Financier Linking Nazi and Palestinian Militant NetworksFrançois Genoud (1915–1996) was a Swiss Nazi sympathizer, financier, and political activist who served as an important intermediary between former Nazis, European far-right networks, and Palestinian militant organizations during the Cold War. Rather than acting as a militant himself, Genoud used financial, legal, and political connections to support causes he viewed as aligned with his anti-Zionist and anti-Israeli worldview (Aarons & Loftus, 1991; Lee, 1998). Early Connections to Arab Nationalist and Pro-Nazi Networks Genoud's involvement with Arab nationalist causes predated the emergence of modern Palestinian militant...

Gerardo Hernandez, a spy for Communist Cuba and the man responsible for the murder of four humanitarian workers (three of whom were American citizens) over international waters, was freed from prison last year by the Obama administration, due in part to the Service Employees International Union (SEIU). This was revealed at a February 6, 2015, celebration of Hernandez’s release, along with two of his fellow Cuban agents (collectively known as the “Cuban 5.. At the beginning of the event, an IPS official thanked all who who took part in the 17-year campaign and singled out a number of organizations that...

Secretary of State Marco Rubio called out “incompetent communists” who are in charge of the Cuban government, as the United States is eyeing possible intervention regarding the island nation just off the coast of Florida. The country is facing nearly all-day electricity blackouts, as CIA Director John Ratcliffe traveled to Cuba earlier this month to meet with officials. There are also concerns about Cuba possibly wanting to act against the U.S. with military drones, according to Axios. “Cuba’s in a lot of trouble because, unfortunately for them, it’s run by a bunch of incompetent communists,” Rubio said. “Being a communist...

Former Cuban President Raúl Castro has been indicted in connection to his alleged role in the 1996 downing of two planes operated by the Miami-based exile group Brothers to the Rescue. The indictment was unsealed on Wednesday. Acting U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche, Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier and other officials are expected to make the announcement in Miami.

Five high-ranking military leaders died in the span of just 10 days, according to the Cuban government — though it’s remained mum on the causes. Brigadier General Armando Choy Rodriguez, 87, was the latest aging revolutionary to die, with Marta Abreu Central University announcing on Twitter that he passed away Monday. Rodriguez was the founder of the “July 26 Movement” in Las Villas, and an author and historian, WPLG-TV in Miami said. Also on Monday, Manuel Eduardo Lastres Pacheco, a former general who served under Argentine Ernesto “Che” Guevara during the revolution in the late 1950s, passed away, Cuban television...

The U.S. is taking steps to indict Raúl Castro, the 94-year-old former president of Cuba and brother of Fidel, in connection with the downing of planes 30 years ago, according to U.S. officials familiar with the matter. The potential indictment — which would need to be approved by a grand jury — is expected to focus on Cuba's deadly 1996 shootdown of planes operated by humanitarian group Brothers to the Rescue. A Justice Department spokesperson declined to comment. The plan comes as the U.S. heaps pressure on the Cuban government. The Trump administration has threatened heavy tariffs on any country...