Free Republic

Senior Bush administration officials said publicly for the first time yesterday that the United States is set to shoot down any North Korean missile launch that threatens the United States. National Security Adviser Stephen J. Hadley, briefing reporters during President Bush's brief visit here, said the United States has a missile defense system with "limited operational capability" that could be used to try to shoot down an incoming North Korean missile, but he added that U.S. officials were vigorously pursuing a diplomatic push to head off a test launch by Pyongyang. "The purpose, of course, of that missile defense system...

NEWMARKET -- Two local taxi drivers, one with alleged terrorist links and the other facing outstanding charges in the U.S., were nabbed two weeks ago outside a modest townhome here, neighbours and co-workers say. But the secrecy and mystery surrounding the arrests of alleged al-Qaida captain Raja Ghulam Mustafa and his brother-in-law Syed Maqsood Aly continued last night when Syed's wife tried to distance herself from both men. Meanwhile, the Toronto Sun learned last night that Mustafa entered Canada about 18 months ago using the fake name of Raja Ghulam Murtaza and obtained refugee status. When first approached by the...

OTTAWA -- Contrary to claims by U.S. politicians and media commentators, Americans don't regard Canada as a safe haven for terrorists, a new federal study suggests. Some Canadians, however, erroneously believe that the 9/11, 2001 terrorists entered the United States through Canada. "While there was very limited awareness of what Canada has been doing on the national security front, participants did not share the same views as some American media . . . that Canada is a 'safe haven for terrorists,' " says a report based partly on focus groups in Washington, D.C. "In fact, for the most part, views...

We’re doomed Monday, 14 March 2005 Mark Steyn It’s in the nature of things that a conservative columnist in Trudeaupia spends much of his time lowering his readers into the abyss of despair. And, to be honest, I get a little disheartened by the amount of correspondence I get beginning, “Great piece on the Martin Liberals! Right on the money!! Do you have any information on emigrating to the U.S.? Or maybe one of those eastern European countries with the 16 per cent flat tax?” Which I suppose gets to the heart of the matter: is Canada doomed? A lot...

Peace activists have rebuilt an "underground railroad" into Canada, where thousands of Americans dodged the Vietnam war draft, to help United States soldiers flee duty in Iraq. While the number of fugitives fleeing from US duty to Canada has only been a trickle, at least two US deserters have been taken in by Quaker families in Ontario. Several other US soldiers are thought to be in Canada, after going absent without leave (AWOL) from their units. Sarah Bjorknas, 34, a library clerk from Vancouver, was recruited into the peace movement by a Utah academic worried the US Government may heed...

Paul Martin and Stephen Harper are a couple of leaders who have a lot going for them. Bright, policy-oriented, known to have interesting ideas on the key issues de jour. Free-minded thinkers who challenged conventional wisdom, reaching beyond the box to blow the odd cobweb from mustier corners of public policy. Both are fiscally responsible politicians who see balanced budgets as essential foundations of good governance, the absence of which compromises both economic and social progress. Normally, political leaders with such positive qualities might try to put them on public display in the days before an imminent election call. But,...

Estimates about the number of Muslims living in Canada range from 600,000 to about a million. Because of Canada's liberal immigration policy, many more Muslims arrive each year. Yet, just as in Europe, Muslims in Canada are not assimilating. Instead, they prefer their own culture and values to that of the West. The most recent example of this lack of assimilation is the institution of Muslim courts in the province of Ontario. The origin of these Islamic courts lies in a 1991 Ontario law that permits arbitration according to religious principles. Although these Islamic courts do not deal with criminal...