Free Republic

... A few months ago ABC Radio in New York held a proverbial gun to our heads by insisting that we reduce the amount of local programming that we carry in order to continue as a Sean Hannity affiliate...

I was privileged to serve as one of the “expert” advisors to the Iraq Study Group (ISG), along with former ambassadors and CIA operatives, retired military officers and distinguished academics. It was a stimulating, edifying and -- ultimately -- disappointing experience. We were divided from the start: A minority thought the mission was to find a way forward in Iraq; a majority thought the mission was to find a way out of Iraq, a way to manage what they view as America’s inevitable defeat. The ISG principals, chaired by James Baker and Lee Hamilton, ended up splitting the difference. They...

New Delhi, Dec 09: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Saturday said plans for minorities, particularly Muslims, must have the "first claim" on resources so that benefits of development reach them equitably. "We will have to devise innovative plans to ensure that minorities, particularly the Muslim minority, are empowered to share equitably the fruits of development. These must have the first claim on resources," he said in his address at the 52nd meeting of the National Development Council (NDC) here. The Centre`s resources, he added, will be stretched with greater responsibility given to states in this regard. "The Centre has a...

The Democrats must be feeling pretty good about things right now. They have waged a one-note campaign about the stupidity of George W. Bush since he won the 2000 election and their victory in the 2006 midterms finally, to them, validated their most passionate “position.” To the victors go the spoils so let’s see what the Democrats have reaped: Donald Rumsfeld is gone and Robert Gates has replaced him. This will result in not an iota of change in policy, as the secretary of defense is there to carry out the president’s vision, and the president is in no mood--thank...

The students of William and Mary were given a unique opportunity recently with the visit of high-profile counter-terrorism expert Dr. Walid Phares. Hosted by Students Defending Democracy, Dr. Phares gave a lecture in the UC Commonwealth auditorium on the development of the jihadist movement and the future of radical Islamic terrorism. Dr. Phares, a world-renown expert in his field, is a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, a non-partisan think tank. Born in Lebanon, Dr. Phares is fluent in Arabic, French and English, and has studied jihadist terrorism for 25 years. He moved to the United States...

In a forthcoming study for the Institute for Counter-Terrorism at Israel's Interdisciplinary Center in Herzliya, senior researcher Ely Karmon raises the alarming prospect of Hezbollah affiliated groups bringing the Lebanese terrorists' brand of violence to the Americas. While acknowledging that it is too soon to draw clear conclusions about the nature and objectives of these Hezbollah "franchisees," Karmon nonetheless notes that "successful campaigns of proselytism in the heart of poor indigene Indian tribes and populations by both Shi'a and Sunni preachers and activists" have contributed to the growing attraction of Islamist terrorist groups in Latin America. Karmon also observes that...

“Well you’re the obvious guy, uh, spirit, to ask about this stuff, because you spent most of your career watching the KGB didn’t you?” It was rhetorical, needless to say. I had finally connected with the shade of the late James Jesus Angleton after several dropped communications via the ouija board, and now that I had him I wanted to find out what he thought about the melodramatic death of former KGB agent (or FSB…whatever) Alexander Litvinenko in London. Ian Fleming couldn’t have invented a wilder story.....

Iraq is a mess. We have come to that conclusion because virtually every day we see innocent Iraqis slaughtered by suicide-bombers. Of all the possible responses, the most perverse may be this: To propose that Americans pull out of Iraq, abandoning innocent Iraqis to the tender mercies of those dispatching the terrorists. Yet that is what many Americans now favor, perhaps because they have been persuaded that when Sunnis and Shites kill one another, Americans must be to blame. With apologies to Carly Simon: We’re so vain, we probably think this sectarian strife is about us. An insurgency led by...

Writing in the Los Angeles Times, Laura Rozen has a disturbing scoop about a possible shift in U.S. strategy in Iraq. As sectarian violence rises in Iraq and the White House comes under increasing pressure to revamp its strategy there, a debate is emerging inside the Bush administration: Should the U.S. abandon its efforts to act as a neutral referee in the ongoing civil war and, instead, throw its lot in with the Shiites? The article does not explain what "throw its lot with the Shiites" actually means in terms of concrete policy. Shiites already have a plurality in the...

"It's a done deal," said the smiling Arizona senator, John McCain, after he met with the President George W. Bush and got what he wanted: a ban on interrogation techniques that he and other liberals believe are inhumane or degrading. Earlier this year, President Bush and Senator McCain finally agreed that CIA interrogators will possess the same legal rights as enjoyed by members of the military who are accused of breaking interrogation guidelines. Those rights say accused people can defend themselves by claiming they were obeying an order and did not know the actions were unlawful. The government also would...

And oddly enough, he was not a Lutheran from Norway. "Dinssa" is a common surname among Muslims in Nigeria. From Associated Press, with thanks to Joe Washburn: DETROIT -- A man was arrested at Detroit Metropolitan Airport after officials say they found him carrying $78,883 in cash and a laptop computer containing information about nuclear materials and cyanide. He will be held in custody at least until Monday, a U.S. magistrate ruled Wednesday. Assistant U.S. Attorney Leonid Feller said Sisayehiticha Dinssa is a potential risk to the community and federal agents want to get a warrant to search his computer...

On September 14 last year, Ruth Kelly addressed a conference of university leaders from Universities UK (UUK) at their headquarters in Tavistock Square. Kelly then was speaking in her capicity as education secretary. Only nine weeks earlier, on July 7, Hasib Hussain had detonated a rucksack full of triacetone triperoxide on board a Number 30 bus in the road outside, killing 13 people. Kelly said to the university heads: "Following the London bomb attacks in July, we are all having to re-examine certain policies. I believe that higher education institutions need to identify and confront unacceptable behaviour on their premises...

No sooner had congressional Republicans lost the midterm elections, making them the opposition party in Congress, than President Bush called a press conference and made several statements that raised the question of whether these Republicans would also need to become the opposition party to his administration. It will come as no surprise to readers of HUMAN EVENTS that President Bush?s position on immigration is closer to the position of congressional Democrats than to congressional Republicans. But it was a little unsettling when Bush happily made this point himself last week when prodded by a reporter. Making Deals ?On immigration, many...

Election Day is over, the votes have been counted, and it's clear that conservatives took a beating. I have always maintained that Christian leaders should not make partisan endorsements ? and I never have. But I am unashamed to say that I am a conservative. In one sense, I think, all Bible-believers are conservative, because we believe in governing our lives by revealed truth rather than by man-made, utopian ideologies. Modern liberalism wants to remove all restraints on people's behavior. Conservatives believe in the moral law. So Bible - believers might be liberal on a lot of issues, at least...

Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi is in line to make history as the first female Speaker — and second in line of succession for the presidency — when the new Congress convenes in January. As with any election, a wide variety of issues factored into the dynamics of this year's midterms. For us, however, the just-concluded campaign, like every federal election, was fundamentally about national security. The federal government's principal task is providing for the defense of the nation, without which justice, welfare, and all the other blessings of liberty enjoyed inside the various states are, at best, aspirations. With majority...