Free Republic

From the hijackings and massacres of the '60s and '70s through the close of the Cold War and the decade of locust years that followed, the United States did virtually nothing to fight terrorism. No match for the perils of a Soviet-American nuclear exchange or a conventional war in Europe, and hardly a distraction from either the proxy wars in the Third World with their casualties in the millions, or the years of the "Peace Dividend" with their enrichments by the trillion, terrorism was something that merely had to be managed. Though the acts of terror themselves were lurid and...

I recently did a column exposing the Israel bashing in Patrick J. Buchanan’s new book, Where The Right Went Wrong: How Neoconservatives Subverted the Reagan Revolution and Hijacked the Bush Presidency – the Michael Moore Book Club’s selection of the month. Fortunately, only a small segment of the right has been infected with Buchanan’s neo-isolationism and anti-Zionism. Still, Pat’s fulminations spur the following reflections on why I support Israel as an American patriot. First, a bit of personal history – not to boast, but to let you know that, for me, patriotism transcends election-year rhetoric. I’ve been fighting for America...

All thoughts of pacifying Islam by assimilating it into the global democratic system must fall down before a simple, terrible fact: Jihad—holy war against all non-Muslims—does not represent a mere excess or defect of Islam, but its timeless core. According to Muslim scholar Bassam Tibi (quoted recently at FrontPage Magazine), "Muslims are religiously obliged to disseminate the Islamic faith throughout the world.... If non-Muslims submit to conversion or subjugation, this call can be pursued peacefully. If they do not, Muslims are obliged to wage war against them." World peace, according to Islamic teaching, "is reached only with the conversion or...

FEW government offi cials have invited more scorn than Transportation Secretary Norm Mineta. It's long past time for the Bush administration to send him out to pasture. And it is time for America to purge itself of the addled, anti-profiling mindset of Mineta. He has turned his personal World War II experience into an excuse to do nothing to fight our enemies today.

Here is a passage from "The River War",written by Sir Winston Churchill in 1899 after he had participated in the Sudanese campaign: "How dreadful are the curses which Mohammedanism lays on its votaries! Besides the fanatical frenzy, which is as dangerous in a man as hydrophobia in a dog, there is this fearful fatalistic apathy. Improvident habits, slovenly systems of agriculture, sluggish methods of commerce, and insecurity of property exist wherever the followers of the Prophet rule or live. A degraded sensualism deprives this life of its grace and refinement; the next of its dignity and sanctity. The fact that...

John Miano's career course is the sort of thing to make tech industry leaders wince and worry about their future work force. Miano was a programmer who tried for years to get into computer science doctoral programs. Despite earning a "B" average in college and publishing two technical books, he never was accepted. So he took the law school admission test and promptly won a full scholarship to Seton Hall. The result: one less computer scientist, one more lawyer. Discussion about technology's future in the United States often centers on problems that eighth graders have in algebra. But there also...

Academic conferences showcase a field’s cutting-edge scholarship, which the professors in attendance can then incorporate into their classes. The agenda at the 2004 Global Studies Association conference speaks volumes at what’s occurring in classes in the faddish field of “Global Studies.” Participants at this year’s “Global Studies” event heard a paper from Carl Davidson offering “perspective on how progressives can independently intervene in the election to defeat Bush in spite of the poor tactics from the Democratic leadership” in light of the fact that “the U.S. Government, at least over the past 50 years, has been the chief terrorist and...

If this or the next administration heeds the advice of the 9/11 Commission, we'll see an intelligence czar in the president's cabinet. While this may do no harm — as long as it doesn't further stifle dissenting opinions — it's like trying to save the horse-and-buggy trade by adding another boss to the livery stable.

July 19 issue - American counter-terrorism officials, citing what they call "alarming" intelligence about a possible Qaeda strike inside the United States this fall, are reviewing a proposal that could allow for the postponement of the November presidential election in the event of such an attack, NEWSWEEK has learned.

In exactly three weeks, like a swarm of locusts, the national Democratic Party will descend on Boston. As a long-time resident of the Commonwealth, I say: What better place than Massachusetts for the party of plunder, perversion and patriot-bashing to hold its 2004 nominating convention, and not just because our junior Senator – John Fraud Kerry – is its putative nominee. High taxes, gargantuan government, extravagant spending, an imperial judiciary and weird social experiments are the Democrats’ weapons of Mass destruction. All were field-tested in the Bay State. During the Reagan years, then-Secretary of State James Baker was preparing for...

THE seizure of eight British servicemen by Iran's Revolutionary Guards isn't about a border violation. It's meant to test the Coalition in Iraq, punish Britain for criticizing Tehran's nuclear quest — and recharge domestic support for Iran's hardliners. Those eight hostages are pawns in a great strategic game for stakes far beyond the minor scale of the incident itself. Iran's hardliners are gambling. If the West — with London in the lead this time — fails to call their bluff, our weakness will virtually guarantee future conflict in the Persian Gulf.

The Defense Department's control of the source of weapons software came under fire today in a report issued by the General Accounting Office, which said overseas production of software creates an unacceptable security environment. "DOD acquisition and software security policies do not fully address the risk of using foreign suppliers to develop weapon system software," auditors wrote in the report. "The current acquisition guidance allows program officials discretion in managing foreign involvement in software development, without requiring them to identify and mitigate such risks. Moreover, other policies intended to mitigate information system vulnerabilities focus mostly on operational software security threats,...

<p>The televised hearings convened last week by the September 11 Commission proved to be one of the most interesting and valuable civics lessons of all time. In particular, they made a point Americans cannot hear too often: The world is generally a dangerous place for the United States, its people and its interests — whether we think so or not, and most especially when we don't. After all, at such times, we frequently squander opportunities to bring to bear the leadership and popular attention, military might and other national resources that could nip in the bud problems that will prove very costly to address later.</p>

RALEIGH, N.C. -- John Edwards returned to a hometown hero's welcome last Wednesday after losing 29 out of 30 contests, good enough for runner-up to John Kerry for the Democratic presidential nomination. While Sen. Edwards was given up for dead politically little more than a month ago, one public poll shows that today he would carry North Carolina against President Bush. More troubling to the Republicans than a transitory survey is what ails George W. Bush here. It is not the war in Iraq, strongly supported in a state known for patriots and warriors. The GOP worries about the sea...

As corporate America becomes increasingly comfortable with offshore development, it's sending substantially more sophisticated IT work overseas. Companies such as Google Inc. are turning to foreign workers not for their willingness to work for lower wages but for their technological prowess. Google is advertising for highly skilled IT help at its recently opened research and development facility in Bangalore, India. These employees will be involved in all aspects of Google's computer engineering work: conception, research, implementation and deployment. "Bangalore is the so-called Silicon Valley of India, and there is a large pool of talented software engineers there," said Krishna Bharat,...

<p>The dollar keeps going down, and the trade deficit keeps going up. Economists and reporters explain this in terms of American appetite for foreign goods outstripping overseas demand for U.S. goods.</p> <p>There is another explanation, one perhaps closer to the truth. Americans are buying the same goods as in the past made by the same U.S. multinational corporations — only the goods are no longer made in the United States. Their production has been outsourced or offshored to Asia. The same goods now count as imports, because they are produced offshore.</p>

PARIS, 31 January 2004 — The Paris suburb of Evry, which has one of France’s largest Muslim populations, has decided to install video screens to enable the local faithful to watch some 3,300 sheep being slaughtered for Eid this year. The televised ritual slaughter which will take place in a large mobile abattoir is the idea of a local meat wholesaler. “If the idea succeeds this year then it’s likely to become a permanent fixture of Eids in future,” a local municipal spokesman said. Meanwhile, at Le Mans, west of Paris, the local authorities have decided to build a “hard”...

MEMRI's President Yigal Carmon presented the following paper to the 2004 Stockholm International Forum on Preventing Genocide: [1] IntroductionJews, Christians, and Sabians [2] are, according to Islam, 'Ahl Al-Kitab,' or 'People of the Book,' and thus have special status. Their lives are protected, although their status is inferior to that of Muslims. However, non-Muslims who are neither Jews nor Christians are defined as infidels belonging to 'Dar Al-Harb,' the camp which Muslims must fight until Islam dominates. Although these definitions are clearly set out by Islamic law, they are disregarded by extremist Islamist circles, which brand both Jews and...

<p>SYDNEY, Australia (CNN) -- An Australian-led team of scientists has discovered a new string of galaxies which they say challenges existing theories about the evolution of the universe.</p> <p>The team, using telescopes in Chile and in Australia, detected the galaxies about 10.8 billion light years away in a remote region of the universe, the Australian National University's Research School of Astronomy & Astrophysics said in a statement Thursday.</p>

More than a decade ago the nation was in a stir over the birth of a fictional boy. The boy was Avery, son of Murphy Brown. Television's Murphy Brown, played by Candice Bergen, was a successful news commentator who, after an unsuccessful relationship with a man that left her alone and pregnant, bore a son out of wedlock. The event, popular enough in its own right, became the center of political controversy when then Vice President Dan Quayle in a speech to the Commonwealth Club of California lamented that the show was "mocking the importance of a father." Suddenly the...