Free Republic

Princeton University continues to consider hiring embattled Columbia University professor Rashid Khalidi for its newly-endowed Robert Niehaus chair in Contemporary Middle East Studies. Khalidi, a specialist on Palestinian politics and history, has become controversial for his highly politicized mix of polemics and history. He has sought to rebut criticism, arguing that questioning his scholarship infringes on his first amendment rights. Speaking at Columbia University on April 4, 2005, for example, he said, “Freedom of speech and academic freedom are particularly necessary for unpopular and difficult ideas, for conventional ideas, for ideas that challenge reigning orthodoxy.” Khalidi is right about the...

According to a paper published in last month’s World Economics, there are four anomalies relating to the HIV/AIDS epidemic which make it unique and, crucially, question the policy approach in developing countries. The paper’s varied authors--an English professor of public accountability; an Austrian obstetrician; a Canadian professor of pathology; and a retired Scottish professor of public health--have provided a fascinating insight into why HIV/AIDS is different, not only between rich and poor countries, but between neighboring African countries. This is a brave and important paper, not least because anyone contradicting AIDS orthodoxy is seen not unlike a Holocaust denier. Crippling...

One of the enduring controversies of the American experience in Iraq has been the decision to disband Saddam's army after toppling his regime. Current conventional wisdom holds that this was a huge mistake which accelerated the breakdown of order in Iraq. The trouble we're experiencing building new and effective Iraqi forces is taken as obvious proof of this truth. Plus, a bonus of the conventional wisdom is that it conveniently places the blame on Ambassador Paul Bremer, who has stepped down from his post and departed the immediate scene. President Bush's frank assessment of the current state of Iraqi security...

It's never nice to wish someone a taste of his own medicine, but since it has already happened to Bill Clinton, here's hoping some good will come of it. The subject is his runaway hit memoir, "My Life," which according to reports in the New York Times has recently become the latest victim of copyright infringement in overseas markets. Despite official distribution of the work in Asia, many of the copies on the street are hastily pirated versions -- sold for a fraction of the price and without any of the royalties due its rightful author. And the chronic misspellings,...

When we elect a man to elected office, to represent us, he must weigh his duty to represent his constituents with doing what he perceives as what is right. What about when these two issues conflict? What if the people support passage of a bill, but he believes that it is detrimental to the area that he represents or to a larger area? What is his obligation – to do what is right, or to do what his constituents desire?

The military laments that its successes in Iraq and Afghanistan have gone unnoticed, while any bad news is immediately set on by a national media intent on painting every U.S. commitment as a quagmire. This might be true, but the military is not without responsibility for this state of affairs. Military-media relations have improved since General William Sherman announced, “I hate newspapermen. They come into camp and pick up their camp rumors and print them as facts. I regard them as spies, which, in truth, they are. If I killed them all there would be news from Hell before breakfast.”...

<p>What's the difference between the two major political parties? Some would say, "None." Third-party maven Ralph Nader claims they're all "Republicrats."</p> <p>Then there's the other view. The two major parties, says conventional wisdom, represent enduring and opposing philosophies of government--liberal and conservative--two currents that go back to the beginning of the republic.</p>

Back in 1976, I was Congressman Ron Paul’s research assistant. I had contacts with other Congressional staffers on Capitol Hill. One evening, I attended an informal get-together in the Georgetown area. The host was a retired diplomat whose daughter worked in Senator Jesse Helms’ office. I had been invited by Howard Segermark, also a Helms staffer. One moment in the evening’s chit-chat has stuck in my mind ever since. In discussing free trade, one man, whom I had never met before, expressed his view of free trade. "Free trade is when you stick a .45 automatic to the temple of...

One off the surest ways to get the phones ringing on any Massachusetts talk-radio show is to ask people to call in and tell their John Kerry stories. The phone lines are soon filled, and most of the stories have a common theme: our junior senator pulling rank on one of his constituents, breaking in line, demanding to pay less (or nothing) or ducking out before the bill arrives. The tales often have one other common thread. Most end with Sen. Kerry inquiring of the lesser mortal: "Do you know who I am?" And now he's running for president as...

Government recognition of marriage has largely removed all meaning from the institution. A couple that is legally married does not need to enter into a union of holy matrimony. They only need to get the government’s permission to marry and take the necessary steps to complete all formalities associated with the marriage. That there is greater outrage over the government recognition of “same-sex marriage” rather than over clergy members agreeing to conduct the ceremonies is an indication of how far the nation has sunk in its view of marriage as a union of holy matrimony versus a legal contract. The...

Just a reminder - today is May Day. Be sure to send your warmest wishes to the prominent communists in your area. For those of you who are represented in congress by communists, be sure to visit that particular piece of scum's congressional website, so that you can get its email address and send your best regards, via the web.

Almost one year after major combat operation in Iraq began, 3rd Infantry Division's soldiers are home now. The road that brought Staff Sgt. Ray Robinson home had a land mine buried under it. For most of the 3rd Infantry Division, the war is over. Robinson may not be a soldier much longer, but he's still fighting a battle of his own. "Staff Sgt. Rob's" road home began with a shortcut. His unit, Alpha Company, 2/7 Infantry, was looking for civilians planting explosives along Highway 8, and [his squad was sent] to bridge No. 2 to check it out. Five minutes...

There seems to be a disagreement, regarding just what exactly limited government is. The recent expansion under the current administration has not helped. I just want to make sure that we are all on the same sheet of music. Below is my understanding of what would need to happen, for our government to be limited. If there is anything wrong with this, please let me know. Disassociate our federal government from all boards, commissions and committees. Eliminate the following departments of the federal government: - Department of Agriculture - Department of Commerce - Department of Education - Department of Energy...

Western observers, both among the general public and the media, commonly make the mistake of thinking that Islamism1 is the same as traditional Islam. Even Western researchers describe Islamism as a resurgence of traditional Islam. One researcher describes Islamists as people of the "anthropological tradition";2 in contrast, moderate Sunni Muslims are characterized as those whose faith is mitigated, influenced by syncretism, or diluted by a certain amount of secularization and Westernization.3 But this turns reality upside-down. In fact, Islamists depart in important ways from the Islamic tradition. This is especially apparent in what concerns divine attributes, Islamic law, and Sufism....

Army officers are devoting a lot of thoughtful consideration to the subject of ethics. The purpose of this article is to present a firsthand appreciation of various ethical tensions that confront senior Army officers. To accomplish this I will briefly explore the foundations of our ethical system, offer some thoughts about how this ethical system should apply specifically to the military profession, and finally take an empirical look at the tensions in the military society that provide fertile grounds for ethical abuses. The term ethics is used to mean the study of human actions in respect to their being right...

Two email vignettes written by an insider interviewing troops from the 3rd ID. First Email I spent all day yesterday interviewing the members of the 3-15 Infantry. They fought a two-day battle to hold objectives CURLEY, LARRY and MOE. These were each main east-west road intersections along the north-south MSR into the center of Baghdad. The two tank-heavy TFs of the 2nd BCT had attacked north along the main road to seize the heart of Baghdad. It was TF 3-15's mission to seize the intersections (large cloverleaf complexes) and retain them in order to allow movement of the ammunition and...

Many people disapprove of the U.S. war against terror, or of how it is being conducted. But what is the alternative, other than changes in U.S. foreign policy? One alternative to U.S. military action against terrorists who have attacked the U.S. and other countries, and are threatening further attacks, is to enact Letters of Marque and Reprisal. Article I, Section 8, paragraph 11 of the U.S. Constitution authorizes Congress to "grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal, and make rules concerning captures on land and water." A "reprisal" means an action taken in return for some injury. A reprisal could be...

There is a popular disposition to regard ethics as absolute and enduring, yet they are neither. That which is considered ethical alters with time and varies between civilizations and even families. At some impalpable level, the impulse to ethics does appear to arise from within and may be a collective survival strategy conditioned by biological and cultural evolution. Yet the specific content of a civilization's or a society's ethics is generally determined by accumulative tradition, epochal convenience, and local habit. The ethics of war and conflict are especially fluid. We live in a stage of Western civilization in which nameless...

Let’s say you own a small trucking company with 20 drivers, but six of your operators are dysfunctional in one way or another. In the real world – to stay in business – you'd have to sack ‘em to survive. But, apparently, the U.S. Army’s Ready Reserve Force doesn’t need to be concerned about the bottom line as long as we taxpayers have deep pockets. An estimated 60,000 of the 205,000 soldiers on their books can’t deploy to combat zones because of medical problems – and an alarming number of these non-deployables are either wacko, overweight or otherwise physically not...

Throughout the previous decade, strategists and statesmen asserted that we were about to enter the “Pacific Century.” Global power and wealth would shift to East Asia. American interests, power, and investments would follow. The Atlantic would become a dead sea strategically, its littoral states and their continents declining to marginal status. Economic opportunities, crucial alliances, and the gravest threats would rise in the east, as surely as the morning sun. An alternative view of the evidence suggests that the experts were wrong. Although the United States will remain engaged in the Far East—as well as in the Middle East, Europe,...