Free Republic

'We will cut them until Iran asks for mercy' By Massoud Ansari (Filed: 15/01/2006) Deep in the lawless triangle connecting Iran, Pakistan and Afghanistan, eight terrified Iranian soldiers are being held hostage by a Sunni group that is vowing to "slaughter" them if Teheran does not bow to its demands. "We will chop their heads once our deadline is over," Abdul Hameed Reeki, chief spokesman of the Jundallah or Brigade of God group, told the Sunday Telegraph, slowly drawing an index finger across his neck to demonstrate the seriousness of his intent. The deadline for the men is tomorrow. The...

AUSTIN, Texas - The state's highest criminal court has asked prosecutors to respond to former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay's request that the charges against him be dismissed. The all-Republican appeals court on Tuesday gave prosecutors a week to submit arguments regarding the request filed Friday by DeLay attorney Dick DeGuerin. The court will decide whether to take the case after the prosecutors' response is received. DeLay spokesman Kevin Madden issued a statement Tuesday night saying the court had agreed to hear the case. A court official said Wednesday that was incorrect. The court's order had noted DeLay has filed...

WASHINGTON - Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco asked Congress on Wednesday for help in rebuilding her devastated state, saying Hurricanes Katrina and Rita "knocked us down but they did not knock us out." Appearing before the Senate Finance Committee, Blanco in her opening statement did not mention former FEMA director Michael Brown, who on Tuesday had blamed state and local officials in Louisiana for not responding appropriately to the storm. "We are looking forward, not backward, " Blanco said. Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour and Alabama Gov. Bob Riley also were testifying before the committee via teleconference hookup from their state capitols....

LOS ANGELES (AP) - Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Wednesday asked the White House to declare disaster areas in eight Southern California counties ravaged earlier this month by a spate of deadly storms. If the request is approved, the move should help municipalities fund repairs to roads, bridges and other structures damaged by flooding and mudslides triggered by days of heavy rain in the counties of Kern, Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Diego, Santa Barbara and Ventura. Twenty-eight deaths were linked to the effects of the storms that began Jan. 7. "I have determined that this incident is of...

Murkowski asks her staff to quit NEW START: Senator says they can reapply, but some won't be rehired By RICHARD MAUER Anchorage Daily News (Published: November 25, 2004) Murkowski Lisa Murkowski said Wednesday that she will be returning to Washington in January for her first term as an elected senator with a revived confidence and such a strong desire to start anew that she has asked her entire 30-member staff to resign and reapply for their jobs. Some won't be rehired, she said. *SNIP* Murkowski said her decision to start fresh with her staff doesn't mean some of the same...

WASHINGTON - Iraq's interim prime minister has formally asked NATO to do more to help stabilize his violence-wracked country by training its nascent security forces. Interim Prime Minister Iyad Allawi's request comes in advance of the NATO summit Monday and Tuesday in Istanbul, Turkey, and could help President Bush in his efforts to win a greater NATO commitment in Iraq. The 26-member NATO alliance provides only logistical support to a Polish-commanded multinational division in south-central Iraq. Bush has sought a larger alliance role to help relieve the overstretched U.S. military. The administration has warned that it's in the world's interest...

WASHINGTON - President Bush (news - web sites)'s former counterterrorism adviser complained Wednesday about the use of his name and comments critical of Bush in a new broadcast advertisement from a political group supporting Democratic candidate John Kerry (news - web sites). Richard Clarke said he instructed his lawyer to ask the MoveOn.org Voter Fund to pull the ad, which Clarke said was created without his knowledge or permission. The group said it rejected the request. "I just don't want to be used," Clarke told The Associated Press. "I don't want to be part of what looks like a political...

WASHINGTON (AP) - Democratic Sen. Barbara Boxer sent a letter Monday to her re-election opponent, Republican Bill Jones, asking him to debate. "With such clear differences between us on the issues, I believe that debates will be a good opportunity for Californians to better understand the clear choice that they have in this election," wrote Boxer, who criticizes Jones on the campaign trail as too conservative for California. "I hope you will respond favorably to this request and that we can begin the process of working out the specifics," she wrote. Jones spokeswoman Valerie Walston said the former California secretary...

(Washington, DC) - The American Center for Law and Justice, an international public interest law firm specializing in constitutional law, announced today it has filed a brief with the U.S. Supreme Court asking the high court to uphold a lower court decision that struck down as unconstitutional a provision in the campaign finance law that prohibits persons aged 17 years and younger from donating to the campaigns of candidates. "The campaign finance law clearly targets minors in a fashion that is both discriminatory and unconstitutional," said Jay Sekulow, Chief Counsel of the ACLJ, which successfully challenged the provision barring political...

Barbara Curley stands next to photos of her son, Jeffrey Curley, at her home in Cambridge, Mass., in 1998. Jeffrey was kidnapped and killed in October 1997. BOSTON — A group that promotes sex between men and boys asked a federal judge yesterday to dismiss a lawsuit brought by the parents of 10-year-old Jeffrey Curley, who was murdered by one of the group's members. Curley was killed on Oct. 1, 1997. Salvatore Sicari, of Cambridge, was convicted of first-degree murder in the case, while Charles Jaynes, of Brockton and Manchester, N.H., was convicted of second-degree murder and kidnapping. Last...

COLUMBIA, SOUTH CAROLINA -- The Web site that accepted a personal ad from convicted child killer Susan Smith seeking pen pals from her prison cell has asked her to withdraw the ad because the result has been "kind of a freak show." "However, if Susan wants to keep the ad, we won't force her to get rid of it," Jason Roberts, a spokesman for writeaprisoner.com, said Friday.