Free Republic

Today’s Guardian article (“Military Chiefs Give US Six Months to Win Iraq War”) misrepresents the Baghdad advisers. So much so, it makes me doubt the reliability of the single, unidentified source responsible for much of the article’s reporting. ... There is a real country called Iraq, where a real war is going on, with real progress but very real challenges. We are not going to "win the war" in six months -- nor would anyone expect to. But the Guardian seems to be describing some completely different, (possibly mythical) country, and some imaginary group of harried and depressed advisers bearing...

Blow to Indonesia terror trials Friday, July 23, 2004 Posted: 1:35 AM EDT (0535 GMT)   JAKARTA, Indonesia -- Indonesia's highest court has ruled a tough new anti-terror law used to convict the Bali bombers is unconstitutional.The country's Constitutional Court on Friday said the law violated Indonesia's 1945 constitution, which states that laws cannot be applied retroactively.The ruling has thrown into uncertainty the convictions handed down to dozens of militants involved in the 2002 Bali bombings.Lawyers for Masykur Abdul Kadir, who last year was sentenced to 15 years in jail for his role in the blasts, successfully appealed that the...

Anger over cameraman killing From correspondents in Hebron, West BankAugust 19, 2003STEPPING on an American flag laid out as a doormat, mourners lashed out at the United States today at the wake for a Reuters cameraman killed by US soldiers in Iraq. Mazen Dana, a 43-year-old Palestinian, had spent much of his professional life covering another flashpoint, his hometown of Hebron. On the job, he was shot and beaten several times by Israeli troops, and acknowledged the risks of working in one of the most volatile areas of the West Bank. Dana, a father of four, was shot and killed...

WASHINGTON, June 2 (UPI) -- As the U.S. media still digests the shock and lessons of the Jayson Blair affair at The New York Times, a far older and far worse journalistic wrong may soon be posthumously righted. The Pulitzer Prize board is reviewing the award it gave to New York Times Moscow correspondent Walter Duranty more than 70 years ago for his shamefully -- and knowingly -- false coverage of the great Ukrainian famine."In response to an international campaign, the Pulitzer Prize board has begun an 'appropriate and serious review' of the 1932 award given to Walter Duranty of...

U.N. Searches for Personnel in CongoRODRIQUE NGOWIAssociated Press BUNIA, Congo - The United Nations appealed to church leaders in northeastern Congo on Saturday to help find two missing agency military observers, after a cease-fire aimed at ending several days of tribal fighting in the area took hold.There have been reports that the unarmed observers - one Jordanian, the other Nigerian - were killed in the fighting between the rival Lendu and Hema tribes, said Col. Daniel Vollot, commander of the U.N. forces in the region."But I don't want to believe that," he said.The clashes, which have killed at least 100...

North Korean official aboard heroin ship: Downer May 2 2003 An official of North Korea's governing party was aboard a ship accused of bringing $80 million worth of heroin into Australia, Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said today.Mr Downer today summoned North Korea's ambassador to Australia Chon Jae Hong to a meeting with government officials to express concern about the North Korean government's possible role in trafficking drugs.Mr Downer said intelligence agencies had told the federal government that the North Korean government had been involved in selling drugs to raise funds for the regime.Some 26 North Korean crew members of the...

Oil, Food and a Whole Lot of QuestionsBy CLAUDIA ROSETT resident Bush's call to lift economic sanctions against Iraq could mean the end of the United Nations oil-for-food program, which has overseen the country's oil sales since 1996. Not only are France and Russia likely to object, but they may well support efforts by Secretary General Kofi Annan to modify the oil-for-food system, which is due to expire on May 12, and give it a large role in rebuilding the country. Whatever Mr. Annan's reasons for wanting to reincarnate the operation, before he makes his case there's something he needs...

US wants Mugabe out - official15/04/2003 08:21  - (SA)Washington - The United States is urging Zimbabwe's neighbours to step up pressure on President Robert Mugabe to hand power to a transitional government to pave the way for new elections, said a senior state department official."What we're telling them is there has to be a transitional government in Zimbabwe that leads to a free and fair, internationally supervised election," the official said on Monday. "That is the goal. He stole the last one, we can't let that happen again," the official said, referring to a widely condemned election last March in which Mugabe...

<p>Marine Gunnery Sgt. Joseph Menusa, the former Tracy man killed in combat in Iraq, has been awarded U.S. citizenship.</p> <p>"We can bury him now," said his mother, Virginia Kenny of Tracy. "He's part of the U.S. now."</p> <p>She and other family members learned Friday that the government had granted posthumous citizenship to Menusa, who fought in both Persian Gulf wars.</p>

House leader sees Saddam 'double'Posted: 11:50 PM (Manila Time) | Mar. 22, 2003By Juliet Labog-Javellana Inquirer News Service'I am not the President' WHEN he was allowed an audience with Saddam Hussein nearly seven years ago, Speaker Jose de Venecia was ushered into one of the Iraqi President's elegant palaces in Baghdad -- and met a "double." "Hello, Mr. President," De Venecia said, extending his hand to the man with the moustache and wearing military fatigues. "I am not the President," the man said. The appearance of the Saddam look-alike was part of the elaborate security that surrounded the reclusive Iraqi...

A Usually Windy U.N., Calm Before the Storm NEW YORK, March 16 – A few days ago, when the world's eyes still were focused on the United Nations, a jostling scrum of international media formed around any Security Council member who wafted past their encampment. The Chinese ambassador was engulfed, even if all he had to say was, "I have to consult with my government, but we are not for war."...But it's hard to ignore the artwork installed recently outside the council chambers, a gift from the African island nation of Mauritius. About 18 inches high, it's a gleaming, glass-encased...

Suicide fanatics are no novelty in MindanaoBY THE WAY by Max V. Soliven The Philippine Star 03/07/2003 According to Defense Spokesman Lt. Col. Danilo Servando, a 23-year-old rebel belonging to the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) was the man, carrying explosives in his backpack, who triggered off the terrible Davao airport blast which killed 21 persons and wounded more than a hundred. Did Muntazer Sudang intend to be a "suicide-bomber", or did the explosives he had detonate ahead of schedule, taking him to Allah or wherever, ahead of his expectations, along with his hapless victims? He need not have blown...

Feb 1, 2003COALITION FORCES DROP OVER ONE MILLION LEAFLETS IN SOUTHERN IRAQ 1 Feb 2003 -- Coalition aircraft dropped 360,000 informational leaflets over southern Iraq today at approximately 1:10 p.m. EST.Feb 2, 2003COALITION FORCES DROP LEAFLETS IN SOUTHERN IRAQ 2 Feb 2003 -- Coalition aircraft dropped 420,000 informational leaflets over southern Iraq today at approximately 2:00 a.m. EST.Feb 3, 200332 AOG deploys to support GWOT USAFE 03 Feb 2003 -- More than 40 airmen from the 32nd Air Operations Group here left Feb. 2 for the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility to support the global war on terrorism.Feb 4,...

<p>BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- Iraqi President Saddam Hussein gave a defiant speech on the 12th anniversary of the Gulf War, warning the United States that his country is ready for war.</p> <p>Saddam called on his country and the Arab world to "mobilise" and defeat the enemy at the gates of Baghdad.</p>

Imam facing charges after row with police By Linda Morris January 7 2003 Sheik Taj el-Din Al Hilaly emerges with his family from Canterbury Hospital after tests on his heart. Photo: Peter Morris   It began as a routine traffic check but ended with the spiritual leader of Australia's 300,000 Muslims in hospital and facing charges of resisting arrest and police assault.What happened in between is a matter of hot dispute, with conflicting versions of events, allegations of police harassment and threats to sue the force for unlawful detention.And the resulting rift is likely to threaten the tenuous accord between the...

Pentagon Contractor Loses Thousands Of Computer Records   Dec. 31, 2002 By Elizabeth Wolfe, Associated PressWASHINGTON (AP) -- The Defense Department is computerizing the medical records of all military personnel and their families, but just as the project gets past the experimental phase officials are grappling with the theft of thousands of records from a Pentagon health-care contractor.The theft earlier this month of computer hard drives containing more than 500,000 records with Social Security numbers, medical claims histories, and other private information from an Arizona company could become one of the largest identity thefts on record if the information is...

British flock may defect to wild colonial cleric By Peter Fray in London and Kelly Burke January 4 2003 Influential opponents of the new Archbishop of Canterbury and his "heretical" views on homosexuality are developing plans to bring up to 150 English parishes under the spiritual leadership of the Anglican Archbishop of Sydney, Peter Jensen.The radical bid for "alternative episcopal oversight" is being considered by two leading conservative evangelical groups, Reform and Church Society, and will be discussed with Dr Jensen when he visits Britain later this month.The groups say they have been driven to consider such an unorthodox option -...

Handcuffed Jimenez brought to Saipan in surprise detourPosted: 1:01 PM (Manila Time) | Dec. 27, 2002By Lira Dalangin INQ7.net THE AMERICAN plane taking a handcuffed Manila Representative Mark Jimenez to Miami, Florida to face charges of fraud, tax evasion, and illegal campaign contributions made an unexpected stopover in Saipan on Friday, a remote US Pacific territory, after landing in Guam, an official told dzBB radio. "Congressman Mark Jimenez was brought from Guam to Saipan. He's here at the US Marshall Service office," said Philippine Consul to Saipan Marcos Punzalan. US justice procedure compels extraditees to appear before the nearest district...

... "And the strangest thing -- but I must ask you to indulge a fairly wild generalization. It is a commonplace today that Christians in the West have lost their faith, whereas Muslims in the East are still believers; that what we now have is a confrontation between decadent post-Christian secularists, and sincere if possibly misguided Muslims. The first part of this proposition often seems true enough, especially of contemporary Europe. But I really think the second proposition is false. I think one of the reasons Islamism has erupted with such gale force in the Muslim world is indeed the...

A rootin, tootin, fresh 'n rootin..:      ...root cause.. Well, actually, Aziz Poonawallah is searching for a conspiracy, not root causes, while trying to understand the all too frequent and bloody Hindu-Muslim civil wars in India. He finds quiet absolution in a slew of precisely unbiased and precariously balanced set of reports from the B.B.. C (with a Bee and a Bee and a BeeBee..Cee.. hip hip..hooray! .. cough!) The BBC had excellent coverage of the riots in Gujarat early this year. You can access it by searching the BBC archives. There are 12 pages of search results! The Gujarat...