Free Republic

A Pentagon official who publicly disclosed information showing Russian involvement in moving Iraqi weapons out of that country has been dismissed. John A. Shaw, the deputy undersecretary of defense for international technology security and formerly an aide to Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, was forced to leave his position Dec. 10 as the result of a "reorganization" that eliminated his job, defense officials said. Mr. Shaw said he had been asked to resign for "exceeding his authority" in disclosing the information, a charge he called "specious." In October, Mr. Shaw told The Washington Times that he had received foreign intelligence...

Violent, terror-connected gang threatens to confront civilian immigration patrols It looks like there is going to be a second "showdown at the OK Corral" in Tombstone, Ariz., April 1. A leader of the violent, terror-connected Latin American gang Mara Salvatruchas, Ebner Anivel Rivera-Paz, has reportedly issued orders from federal prison to members of his international criminal organization to teach a lesson to a group of Americans taking border control into their own hands. The American civilians, known as the "Minutemen," say they have some 750 volunteers ready to show up in Tombstone to start policing the border and dealing with...

WASHINGTON – Some 103 suspected members of a violent criminal street gang that has been linked to al-Qaida and other terrorist groups have been arrested in seven U.S. cities, the government announced today. The target of the massive sting operation was Mara Salvatruchas gang – also known as MS-13 – whose members have been known to behead victims and attack with grenades and machetes. The raids, which began in January, are part of the first nationwide crackdown on the Central America-based gang that boasts members throughout the United States, Mexico and Canada. The group specializes in cross-border drug-dealing, arms-running and...

Communism is not dead in Latin America. In fact, the dominoes are falling south of the border, but no one seems to be noticing. “It’s a new day. Communism is dead. It’s even dead in Cuba.” So declared Senator Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) at a Senate Commerce Committee hearing in May 2002. “I hate to say it,” she continued, “it’s dead.” The senator’s proclamation was a surprise, no doubt, to Fidel Castro, whose regime was (and is) alive and as Red as ever. It also must have come as welcome news to the people of Cuba, still suffering, after nearly half...

WARSAW, Poland -- Do unarmed protestors who risk their lives to replace murderous and corrupt regimes with law-based, liberal democracies deserve our support or not? For simple folk like you and me, this is not one of life's more demanding ethical conundrums. But then again, you and I are no match for some of the great brains at Britain's Guardian newspaper, who -- along with like minded members of the international left -- are currently mounting something approaching a hate campaign against the brave men and women fighting for democracy in Ukraine, and indeed against their predecessors across eastern Europe...

Letters sent to Gold Country Media newspapers claiming to be from the eco-terrorist Earth Liberation Front and declaring responsibility for the recent firebomb plantings in Lincoln and Auburn were reportedly sent by an Emma Goldman from Sacramento. Letters were received Jan. 18 by the Lincoln News Messenger and Auburn Journal and on Jan. 19 by the Roseville Press-Tribune. Only the letter sent to the Journal was opened and the others were turned over to the Federal Bureau of Investigations. "We appreciate the newspapers' cooperation," said Karen Ernst, spokeswoman for the Sacramento FBI office. "We are not going to comment on...

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Pet hamsters are a potential source of serious infection, U.S. health officials warned on Thursday. Researchers from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (news - web sites) (CDC) describe the case of a 3-year-old boy from Colorado who came down with tularemia after being bitten by a pet hamster. Tularemia is caused by the bug Francisella tularensis, which is one of the most infectious germs known and for that reason is considered a potential biologic terrorism agent. As outlined in the CDC's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, the boy's family purchased six hamsters...

Gary Webb, reporter who exposed CIA, dies THE ASSOCIATED PRESS SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- Gary Webb, a Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative reporter who wrote a controversial series of stories linking the CIA to crack cocaine trafficking in Los Angeles, has died at age 49. Webb was found Friday morning at his home in Sacramento County, dead of an apparent suicide. Moving-company workers called authorities after discovering a note posted on his front door that read, "Please do not enter. Call 911 and ask for an ambulance." Webb died of a gunshot wound to the head, according to the Sacramento County coroner's office....

WASHINGTON, September 19, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The White House has once again denied the controversial United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) financial backing – for the fourth year running, despite assurances from the UNFPA that it is not involved in coercive abortion in China. The UNFPA would normally receive $34 million; instead, $25 million will be redirected to the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). US law prohibits the country from contributing to any organization that participates in coercive abortion – a practice widely acknowledged in Communist-ruled China. Despite alleging that they have no participation in this practice – as a...

The Justice Department has launched a criminal investigation into whether Democratic Senators Dick Durbin, Jay Rockefeller and Ron Wyden leaked details about a secret "black ops" CIA satellite program last December in a move that may have seriously compromised national security, former Deputy Undersecretary of Defense Jed Babbin said on Saturday. "The CIA made a request to the Justice Department to investigate and possibly bring criminal charges against these three [senators]," Babbin told WABC Radio host Monica Crowley. "My information is that investigation is ongoing." Rockefeller is the vice chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee and Durbin is the No....

MEXICO CITY (AP) - Enrique Salinas, the youngest brother of former Mexican president Carlos Salinas de Gortari, was found dead in a car on the outskirts of Mexico City on Monday, with a plastic bag tied over his head in an apparent murder, officials said. Authorities said there indications that Salinas had been killed as part of an attempt to extort him or get information out of him. "Generally, if you put a bag over someone's head, you're often not trying to kill them, but rather extort them or get some information out of them," said Alfonso Navarrete Prida, the...

A U.N. Security Council committee is removing Saudi dissident Saad al-Faqih from the United Nations' al Qaeda sanctions list, despite strong objections from Saudi Arabia, a U.N. diplomat said on Sunday. The London-based Faqih was added to the list in December 2004, days after the U.S. Treasury Department hit him with sanctions for suspected links to the late Osama bin Laden's militant network, which was responsible for the September 11 attacks on the United States in 2001. The decision to de-list Faqih came after the 15-nation Security Council's sanctions committee failed to reach a consensus to override the U.N.'s al...

AAAN has long been tied to President Obama. In 2001 and 2002, the Woods Fund of Chicago, with Obama on its board, made grants totaling $75,000 to the AAAN—about a fifth of AAAN’s overall budget. Obama served in that role alongside Bill Ayers and received $6,000 a year from 1999-2002. AAAN’s founder Rashid Khalidi and his wife Mona hosted Obama in their home on at least one occasion. Obama praised Khalidi’s insights, which had been “consistent reminders to me of my own blind spots and my own biases.” Khalidi returned the compliment, telling a mostly Arab audience, that Obama is...

...Any serious evaluation of the war on terror must gauge the balance of power between the U.S. and its enemies, not the level of American popularity with the Arab public. It is a fatal miscalculation to treat the war as a zero-sum game, with every mistake by the Bush administration somehow translating into a victory for Osama bin Laden. In order to win the war, America need not be popular. In fact, it can afford to be hated. What it cannot tolerate is a global balance of power that favors al Qaeda, kindred groups, and rogue regimes that might be...

A concerned Blue Star Mother was told by a spokeswoman for Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA) that Waxman “did not intend to assist insurgents” in Iraq when he provided a diplomatic letter in December 2004 to Code Pink’s parent organization Global Exchange. However, Waxman apparently made no effort to ensure the reported $100,000 in cash and $500,000 in humanitarian aid was not delivered to terrorists, even after Code Pink and Global Exchange co-founder Medea Benjamin bragged at the time that the aid was intended for families of the “other side” in Fallujah. (Top Democrat fundraiser and Code Pink co-founder Jodie Evans...

Two top California legislators are coming under fire after new evidence has emerged that they helped a group of radical antiwar activists cross the Iraqi-Jordanian border in order to deliver aid to families of enemy insurgents in the war-ridden Iraqi city of Fallujah. In December 2004, Sen. Barbara Boxer (D) and Rep. Henry Waxman (D) each sent letters of diplomatic courtesy to the U.S. Embassy in Amman, Jordan, requesting assistance for members of the radical group Global Exchange and the antiwar group Palisadians for Peace. The letters, according to a January 4, 2005 article written by Islam Online correspondent Adam...

Randi Rhodes just "interviewed" Bevvie on her show and basically tore her apart for not showing up at any of the recount hearings.Hung up on her and went to commercial.First line on returning was, "Bev, are you making a movie with our money???"The reaction on DU is sweet too:Randi vs Bev

Gary Webb's Final Days Tue Jan 25, 6:34 PM ET NEW YORK As with nearly every suicide, there is far more to the death of Gary Webb than meets the eye. Although his downward spiral following his departure from the San Jose (Calif.) Mercury News provides a pat story line, the devil is really in the details -- and extends to a wide range of family and health issues, as well as a stolen motorcycle. In fact, after spending several years away from full-time journalism, Webb was beginning to stage a comeback in late 2004. But then a series of...

Gary Webb, a prize-winning investigative journalist whose star-crossed career was capped with a controversial newspaper series linking the CIA to the crack cocaine epidemic in Los Angeles, died Friday of self-inflicted gunshot wounds, officials said. Mr. Webb, 49, was found dead in his Carmichael home Friday morning of gunshot wounds to the head, the Sacramento County Coroner's Office said Saturday. He left a note, but officials would not disclose its contents.

Mzoudi was a liaison to al Qaeda, witness said. A man claiming to be a former Iranian spy testified Friday that Abdelghani Mzoudi, the second man to be tried for an alleged role in the Sept. 11 attacks, was involved in the preparations to hit the World Trade Center. The witness, who goes by the alias Hamid Reza Zakeri, took the stand at the Hanseatic Higher Regional Court in Hamburg and claimed that Mzoudi, was "responsible for part of the organization" of the suicide attacks that destroyed the twin towers in New York and damaged the Pentagon. Zakeri testified Mzoudi...