Free Republic

100,000 Lebanese Christians - during 27 years of occupation CHRISTIANS UNDER MUSLIM RULE The Syrian Occupation of Lebanon By Mordechai Nisan   [...] Operating however transparently under the name and guise of the Arab Deterrent Force authorized by the Riyadh Summit in October 1976, Syrian troops acted to disarm some Lebanese militias at the same time that the national army of Lebanon disintegrated to the diminutive size of 3,000 troops. By 1977, the number of Syrian troops exceeded 30,000, with over 200 tanks. After fighting the Palestinian and other leftist forces, Druzes and Sunnis in particular, the Syrian army then...

On the eve of the eight year anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, an FBI informant who infiltrated alleged terrorist cells in the U.S. tells ABC News the FBI missed a chance to stop the al Qaeda plot because they focused more on undercover stings than on the man who would later become known as 9/11 ringleader Mohammed Atta. Brian Ross reports on the undercover agent in al Qaeda. In an exclusive interview to be broadcast tonight on ABC World News with Charles Gibson and Nightline, former undercover operative Elie Assaad says he spotted and became suspicious of Atta in early...

Nobody has been arrested for the anthrax mailings of 2001, but many people have paid for the crime. Five died and at least 17 others got sick. The Federal Bureau of Investigation has been frustrated. Careers have crumbled. Taxpayers have gotten socked for billions of dollars to shore up bioterror defenses that some experts say still fall short. Now, an analysis from the FBI itself, buried in a microbiology journal, is raising more questions about the investigation. In the August issue of Applied and Environmental Microbiology, FBI scientist Douglas Beecher sought to set the record straight. Anthrax spores mailed to...

<p>HAGERSTOWN, Md. (AP) — The FBI, revisiting an old lead in the anthrax investigation, recently interviewed a former Fort Detrick researcher and his co-workers about his whereabouts when the letters were mailed, he and his lawyer said Sunday.</p> <p>Ayaad Assaad, who now works for the federal Environmental Protection Agency, said the agents also quizzed him Tuesday about his knowledge of producing finely powdered anthrax like that used in the letters.</p>

<p>The FBI official in charge of the probe into the deadly 2001 anthrax mailings said the investigation still has top priority among the bureau's unsolved cases, but he acknowledged the anthrax sender may never be caught.</p> <p>"Despite our very, very, very best efforts, we still might not be able to bring it home," said Assistant Director Michael A. Mason, who heads the FBI's Washington field office, which is investigating the case.</p>

Hartford-(AP) -- F.B.I. agents are reportedly asking questions about an anonymous tip received during the deadly 2001 anthrax scare. According to a document obtained by The Hartford Courant, the F.B.I. summoned a scientist from the U.S. Department of Environmental Protection to the bureau's office in Washington D.C. last week. The newspaper did not name the scientist, but said investigators wanted to know whether he wrote a letter accusing a fellow E.P.A. scientist of being a potential terrorist. The scientist told federal investigators on Wednesday that he had nothing to do with the letter, but the document suggests he might be...