Free Republic

Clinton Cancels California Trip according to CNN

Map of Improved Security Factors in Iraq and where AQI operated in 2006 and now in 2007 You have read all about the significant improvements in secturity in iraq. The Map gives a stunning visual change in AQI operations in Iraq. It was nice of understandingwar.org and MNF to publish this.

Frederick McLean is one of the most-wanted fugitives in the United States, charged with 17 counts of child sexual abuse in California. Law enforcement sources say that when a victim’s family confronted McLean in 2004, he allegedly confessed. But before he could be arrested, McLean fled. Snip His role in the church also became a matter of legal controversy. Last year, some victims’ families filed suit against the Jehovah’s Witnesses, alleging that both McLean’s local congregation and the church’s national headquarters, the Watchtower Society, “knew, or should have known, that Frederick McLean was a pedophile.” Snip The Jehovah's Witnesses recently...

Many in the media and on this db use icasualties.org to provide statistics of wounded troops, total troop deaths, hostile deaths of troops and non hostile deaths of troops in Iraq. Some use the statistics as a metric for how the coalition is doing in the theatre of operations. Fair enough. The website lists the total troops killed and then you have to click on the monthly total to get the number on hon-hostile and hostile deaths. This month (November 2007) I have been surpised to find out that the website is counting two non-hostile deaths that occurred, not in...

Baghdad – Three months into the job, the top US military commander in Iraq, General David Petraeus, says it is difficult to predict how well the surge of troops in Baghdad will succeed before the full number of troops arrive and that he would not have a definitive answer about prospects for stability by September, when he is to report back to Congress. “I think generally is is still early days. We are literally still just setting the footprint if you will to do what we intend to achieve but until we get all those forces in and have really...

RICHMOND, Virginia (CNN) -- A bitter Senate campaign entering its final stretch turned uglier Friday, as a Republican incumbent pulled up sexual passages from novels written by his Democratic opponent, who called the move baseless character assassination. In a news release and list of quotes posted Friday on the Drudge Report Web site, Sen. George Allen, R-Virginia, accused his opponent, former Navy Secretary Jim Webb, of "demeaning women" and "dehumanizing women, men and even children" through his fiction writings. At least two of the listed passages include children in sexual situations.

Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid would be well advised to stop thundering about corruption in the Republican ranks or crying "cover-up" over the GOP's failure to promptly and appropriately deal with former Rep. Mark Foley (R-Fla.) and his sexually explicit e-mails to congressional pages. Reid faces too many questions about his own behavior to crusade against the misdeeds of others. SNIP Only after the Associated Press reported this summer that Reid got the expensive tickets did the senator decide he would no longer accept such gifts. Unfortunately, Reid's ethics meter only seems to work when it's too late.

QUESTION ONE: Why Did You Fail To Disclose Your Land Deal, Thus Violating Ethics Rules In The Process?: "Reid Did Not Disclose To Congress An Earlier Sale In Which He Transferred His Land To A Company Created By A Friend And Took A Financial Stake In That Company ..." (John Solomon and Kathleen Hennessey, "Reid Got $1 Million For Land He Hadn't Owned For 3 Years," The Associated Press, 10/11/06) "Senate Ethics Rules Require Lawmakers To Disclose On Their Annual Ethics Report All Transactions Involving Investment Properties Regardless Of Profit Or Loss And To Report Any Ownership Stake In Companies."...

Why is it that none of the major television networks or newspapers have managed to pay attention to the biggest real scandal of the 2006 campaign season, Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid's real estate shenanigans? According to yesterday's AP report, Reid pocketed a $1.1 million windfall on the sale of some Las Vegas property he didn't own at the time of the sale. This makes Hillary Clinton's futures trading venture look like amateur hour. And it's time for conservatives to act because the biggest scandal is that the media are burying the story. snip Just imagine if this were Bill...

Summary of Weekly Petroleum Data for the Week Ending October 6, 2006 U.S. crude oil refinery inputs averaged 15.3 million barrels per day during the week ending October 6, up 23,000 barrels per day from the previous week's average. Refineries operated at 89.2 percent of their operable capacity last week. Gasoline production dropped slightly last week compared to the previous week, averaging nearly 8.9 million barrels per day, while distillate fuel production declined significantly, averaging nearly 4.0 million barrels per day. U.S. crude oil imports averaged nearly 10.4 million barrels per day last week, down 149,000 from the previous week....

Summary of Weekly Petroleum Data for the Week Ending September 1, 2006 U.S. crude oil refinery inputs averaged 16.0 million barrels per day during the week ending September 1, up 192,000 barrels per day from the previous week's average. Refineries operated at 93.6 percent of their operable capacity last week. Gasoline production increased last week compared to the previous week, averaging over 9.2 million barrels per day, while distillate fuel production also increased, averaging nearly 4.3 million barrels per day. U.S. crude oil imports averaged nearly 10.4 million barrels per day last week, down 788,000 barrels per day from the...

<p>WASHINGTON — A surge in Iraqi sectarian violence and insurgent attacks — fueled by Syria and Iran — has combined to make the security situation in the country the most complex since the U.S.-led invasion more than three years ago, according to a Pentagon report released Friday.</p>

General: Iraqi security needs 12-18 mos. By ELENA BECATOROS, Associated Press Writer 4 minutes ago BAGHDAD, Iraq - The top U.S. general in Iraq said Wednesday he believes Iraqi forces can take over security with little coalition support within a year to 18 months. "I don't have a date, but I can see over the next 12 to 18 months, the Iraqi security forces progressing to a point where they can take on the security responsibilities for the country, with very little coalition support," Gen. George Casey said in Baghdad. That takeover would not mean U.S. troops leaving immediately. It...

Summary of Weekly Petroleum Data for the Week Ending August 25, 2006 U.S. crude oil refinery inputs averaged 15.8 million barrels per day during the week ending August 25, up 54,000 barrels per day from the previous week's average. Refineries operated at 92.9 percent of their operable capacity last week. Gasoline production declined last week compared to the previous week, averaging over 9.1 million barrels per day, while distillate fuel production increased, averaging 4.2 million barrels per day. U.S. crude oil imports averaged nearly 11.2 million barrels per day last week, up 956,000 barrels per day from the previous week,...

August 22, 2006 The Ongoing Battle for Baghdad By Bill Roggio The city of Baghdad, as well as Baghdad Province has become the epicenter of violence in Iraq. In a recent press briefing, Major General Bill Caldwell stated an estimated eighty percent of the violence in Iraq is occurring in Baghdad province. The Iraqi government must establish some semblance of control over the city. Baghdad is the political center of Iraq, as well as the focal point for the foreign media, which plays a large roll in influencing international opinion on Iraq. The legitimacy of the Iraqi government is at...

RAMADI, Iraq (AP) - The hole in the ceiling is just a way to let out steam for the soldiers showering inside a damaged trailer in Ramadi, one of Iraq's most dangerous cities. But each knows how that hole was created. A mortar round came through the trailer roof a few weeks ago and could have killed everyone inside had it detonated. Most mortars are not so benign, and there are many here. The Iraq war for most troops is fleeting; brief ambushes or sudden, powerful roadside bombings. But in this troubled city, the capital of deadly Anbar province, the...

RAMADI, Iraq — Hundreds of American and Iraqi troops backed by a U.S. gunship pushed into an insurgent-infested section of eastern Ramadi, expanding their campaign to bolster their presence in one of Iraq's most violent cities. No U.S. casualties were reported but six insurgents were thought to have been killed by fire from the AC-130 Spectre gunship in the initial hours of the operation, U.S. commanders on the ground said. Sporadic gunfire between U.S. troops and insurgent snipers echoed throughout the neighborhood. The troops were trying to establish a new outpost in Ramadi's eastern Mulaab neighborhood that would allow U.S....

Canadian military in Iraq since day one By Judi McLeod Friday, March 24, 2006 There's more than a little irony in yesterday's dramatic rescue of two Canadians who were being held hostage in Iraq since November. Even though Canada's former Liberal government downplayed it, small numbers of Canadian military personnel have been serving side by side with their American counterparts in Iraq. And the Canadians have been serving there since day one in the war in Iraq. In the words of Prime Minister Stephen Harper, it's no secret that small numbers of Canadian military personnel are embedded with U.S. forces...

BAGHDAD, Nov 23 (Reuters) - U.S. and Iraqi forces have killed more than 700 suspected insurgents in less than two months during operations in western Iraq, the U.S. military said on Wednesday, calling the result "very successful". Major General Rick Lynch, a spokesman for U.S. forces in Iraq, said that as well as those killed, 1,500 suspects had been detained, including an undisclosed number of foreign fighters, and more than 200 weapons caches discovered. "It's been very successful," Lynch told a briefing in Baghdad, referring to a series of security offensives conducted by U.S. and Iraq forces in Anbar province...

OPERATION LION[S] BEGINS IN SOUTHERN RAMADI CAMP BLUE DIAMOND, AR RAMADI, Iraq — Approximately 200 Iraqi Army Soldiers and 250 Soldiers from the 2nd Brigade Combat Team (2-BCT) attached to the 2nd Marine Division, kicked off Operation Asad (Lions) Nov. 22, in the Tammim area of southern ar Ramadi. Operation Lions follows Operations Panthers and Bruins, both of which were conducted in different parts of Ramadi. These operations involved Iraqi Army and Coalition Forces clearing sections of the city in order to disrupt the insurgency and set conditions for successful elections on Dec 15. Terrorists operating in Ramadi continue to...