Free Republic

WOULDN'T IT BE GREAT TO TURN ON THE TV AND HEAR A U.S. PRESIDENT, WHETHER HE BE A DEMOCRAT OR REPUBLICAN, GIVE THE FOLLOWING SPEECH AT A TIME LIKE THIS? My Fellow Americans: As you all know, the defeat of Iraq regime has been completed. Since congress does not want to spend any more money on this war, our mission in Iraq is complete. This morning I gave the order for a complete removal of all American forces from Iraq. This action will be complete within 30 days. It is now time to begin the reckoning. Before me, I have...

5/8/2006 - BALAD AIR BASE, Iraq (AFPN) -- To say the staff at Balad’s Air Force Theater Hospital has seen everything may be an understatement. The doctors, nurses and medics here, some from McChord Air Force Base and Madigan Army Medical Center in the state of Washington, save the lives of servicemembers who are wounded while supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom. From injured Soldiers rushed in by helicopter to wounded insurgents, the patients they see run the gamut. The patients are Iraqi police, military, civilians and insurgents, in-country nationals, coalition civilians and military, American civilians and, of course, American servicemembers. “We...

BAGHDAD, Iraq (Army News Service, May 5, 2006) – Members of Hillah Special Weapons and Tactics team and a U.S. Special Forces Medic saved the life of a four-year-old Sunni boy during an operation south of Baghdad on April 29. The Hillah SWAT was operating in the Yusafiyah area south of Baghdad as part of a larger operation meant to capture suspect terrorists in the city of Hillah. During a sweep through one of the houses, U.S. Army Special Forces advisers accompanying Hillah SWAT team members noticed a boy who was lethargic and looked ill. Upon seeing the young boy,...

EU ready to release Palestinian aid package Document Actions 05/05/2006 The European Commission said Friday that it was ready to offer 34 million euros (43 million dollars) in humanitarian aid to the Palestinian territories, whose government is on the verge of bankruptcy. Humanitarian Aid Commissioner Louis Michel will make the offer to the EU's 25-member states "in the next few days", his spokesman said, adding that the new money would be used for food aid, sanitation, water and health projects. The European Union is the biggest donor to the Palestinians, many of whom live in poverty, but it suspended direct...

The Global Education Conference held at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. last month was used to teach educators how to bring global issues into the classroom. But, when it came time to practice the logistics of coordinating a debate the political opinions of the teachers could not be suppressed. The organization that put together the conference, Americans for Informed Democracy (AID), claimed to be a non-partisan group established to “educate and engage Americans in global issues….[in order to] create a generation of Americans that will support a U.S. role in the world that is appropriate….” But what is appropriate? AID...

AdvertisementTHE suffering of at least 2 million refugees in Sudan's Darfur region - where a brutal ethnic and political conflict has raged since 2003 - has worsened with the announcement that the United Nations will halve their food rations because of a severe lack of funding, especially from the wealthy nations of Europe and the Middle East. "This is going to become genocide by famine," said Ruth Messinger, president of American Jewish Relief Services, which is a leader of efforts in the United States to increase aid to victims in Darfur. The UN's World Food Program announced on Friday it...

What horrors will be visited on Darfur next? On Friday the United Nations' food agency said it was being forced to cut rations to the more than 3 million people in this war-ravaged western region of the Sudan who rely daily on the cereals, the oil and the legumes from the U.N.'s World Food Program. Starting next week, the rations will drop by half from 2,100 calories a person to 1,050. That's less than half the daily amount required for a sedentary man of average weight. The U.N. had to cut its food supplies both because it is so difficult...

Two million Darfur refugees face food ration cut as aid cash runs out By David Blair, Africa Correspondent (Filed: 29/04/2006) The suffering of at least two million refugees in Darfur worsened still further yesterday when the United Nations said their food rations will be halved. The UN's World Food Programme explained that a 50 per cent cut was necessary because donors had failed to provide enough money. Over two million refugees in Darfur depend on the WFP "This is one of the hardest decisions I have ever made," said James Morris, director of the WFP. "Haven't the people of Darfur...

CAMP TAJI, Iraq, April 20, 2006 – While the fight against enemy insurgents continues, Iraqi and Multinational Division Baghdad soldiers provided medical and humanitarian relief to local nationals caught in the middle and those without means to provide care for themselves. Army Sgt. Allen Hill, a civil affairs specialist with Company A, 490th Civil Affairs Battalion, hands out humanitarian supplies to local residents. An Iraqi translator and members of the Iraqi army assisted the soldiers during a medical operation at the Taji soccer stadium April 11. Photo by Spc. C. Terrell Turner, USA  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available....

Moscow 'must end Iran atomic aid' Russia says it has imposed strict safeguards at Bushehr A senior US official has called on Russia to stop helping Iran build its first civilian nuclear power station. After talks in Moscow to discuss Iran's nuclear programme, US envoy Nicholas Burns said other nations should not help Iran, even on civilian projects. The tension between the US and Russia comes despite attempts to present a united front to Iran. Tehran has defied UN calls to stop nuclear activity, saying last week it had successfully enriched uranium. Enriched uranium can be used as fuel in...

Russia breaks from West with Hamas aid offer By Vera Kalian 47 minutes ago Russia said on Saturday it had promised emergency aid to the Hamas-led Palestinian Authority, breaking with fellow mediators the EU and Washington which have stopped funding to try to force Hamas to recognize Israel. A Foreign Ministry statement said the offer came in a telephone conversation on Friday between Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. "Mahmoud Abbas highly appreciated the intention of Russia, confirmed by Lavrov, to grant the Hamas-led Palestinian Authority urgent financial aid in the nearest time," it said. Russia...

U.S. Army Sgt. Eli Coman hands out candy to a group of students at the Sheragha Shahed Secondary School in the town of Ja Farkhel, Afghanistan. Coman is assigned to the 492nd Civil Affairs Battalion. U.S. Army photo by Sgt. 1st Class Kenneth McCooey Task Force Tiger Soldiers Aid Afghan School The civil affairs soldiers brought the secondary school children 200 book bags jammed with school supplies, teaching aids, pens, volleyballs and candy. By Army Sgt. 1st Class Kenneth L. McCooey19th Public Affairs Detachment BAGRAM AIRFIELD, Afghanistan, April 14, 2006 — Children with happy, gleaming eyes and eager hands...

U.S. Army Capt. Kathlen Stornelli (left), physician’s assistant, Company C, 204th Support Battalion, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, wraps a bandage over the ankle of Spc. Silas Brown, a combat medic assigned to Company C, at Forward Operating Base Duke, Iraq. U.S. Army photo by Pfc. Edgar Reyes Company C Aid Station Soldiers On Call 24/7 Despite long workdays and details at Forward Operating Base Duke, Company C personnel stand ready to treat injured soldiers. By U.S. Army Pfc. Edgar Reyes2nd Brigade Combat Team4th Infantry Division FORWARD OPERATING BASE DUKE, Iraq, April 12, 2006 — When U.S....

OSLO, April 9 (Reuters) - Norway has frozen aid to the Palestinian Authority, officials said on Sunday, joining a growing list of countries halting assistance to pressure the new Hamas government to restart negotiations with Israel. Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Stoere said that Norway wanted to help bring Israel and the Palestinians back to the negotiating table "so that we can achieve our goal and the international community's goal -- namely two states that can live side by side in peace." "It is worrisome that we now see that both Israel and the Palestinian side are turning inward and disregarding...

A Saudi philanthropist is attempting to improve his country's tarnished image by arranging the kingdom's first official aid to a non-Muslim country.Abdul Aziz Arrukban, whose family runs an oil transportation and storage business, said he was inspired to lobby for change after witnessing the devastation caused by the Asian tsunami. "I saw that the world needs more help. I don't know much about things such as politics, race and such, but I do know about hunger and crisis," he said, surrounded by Cambodian children being fed rice bought with a £250,000 Saudi government donation. Mr Arrukban admitted that he was...

Last update - 03:48 25/03/2006 EU waiting for elections before deciding on Palestinian aid The European Union is expected to wait until the outcome of next week's Israeli election and expected formation of a Hamas government, before announcing any new developments on its aid to the Palestinians, officials said Friday. The two-day summit of EU leaders that wrapped up Friday did not deal with the Middle East. Instead it focused on efforts to boost Europe's economy, improveenergy security and the situation in Belarus. Diplomats, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the EU would likely hold more talks - at a...

TALLAHASSEE - The Florida House passed Gov. Jeb Bush's "A-plus-plus" plan Thursday despite questions from opponents about its constitutionality. The bill, which passed 85-35, substantially revises Bush's 1999 A-plus education plan, adding subject majors for high-school students and enforcing performance-based pay for teachers. The bill now heads to the Senate... The House also approved a bill denying financial aid to foreign college students on temporary visas from all but Caribbean and Latin American countries. Amid Democrats' accusations of xenophobia, the House voted 96-23 Thursday for the proposal from Rep. Dick Kravitz, R-Orange Park, which would deny state-funded financial assistance to...

NYC Kindergarteners To Be Taught About AIDS Image Kerri Lyon Reporting Save It Email this Article Email It Print this Article Print It (CBS) GLENDALE HIV and AIDS have been taught in New York City classrooms since 1987 with the lessons mandated by the state. But this year, the city has revamped the curriculum, and parents said that it was without their input. Parents have now seen what their kids will be learning, and they have a lot of questions about whether its appropriate in the classroom. Susan Petschauer's third grade son Andrew is getting his first lesson in the...

Nairobi - Xhu is using his arms more than his rudimentary English to haggle with two determined African women who want a discount on the hair extensions he sells in his busy but grimy shop in a suburb of Nairobi. After his customers leave with their purchases, Xhu confides that his plastic extensions used by African women for braiding their hair are particularly popular, as is his Malaika (Kiswahili for angel) range of cosmetics for African women. Xhu's African customers see nothing wrong in buying African products made in China. 'I prefer the Chinese to the Indian shops here because...

Since last fall, the United States has halted military assistance to Mexico because of a dispute over whether U.S. citizens should be exempt from prosecution by the International Criminal Court. The sanctions were imposed in October after Mexico became a signatory to the Hague-based ICC, which was set up in 2002 to hunt down perpetrators of genocide and other crimes against humanity. Mexico was the 12th country from the Latin America-Caribbean area to be sanctioned by the U.S. under a law approved by Congress four years ago. In each case, the sanctions have been imposed without an official announcement. Jan...