Free Republic

MOSCOW, May 6. (RIA Novosti) - U.S. and Russian approaches to the development of democracy on post-Soviet territory may not coincide, but that does not mean they should argue, says Dimitri Simes, an American political expert and president of the Nixon Center, in an interview with Komsomolskaya Pravda, a popular daily. In his opinion, when the U.S. president arrives in Moscow to attend the celebrations marking the end of WWII, the U.S. side will display its "great desire to achieve mutual understanding on a number of issues." The U.S. expert singles out Russian-U.S. interaction on the post-Soviet territory as a...

A former advisor to Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump claims his Virginia home was raided by FBI agents this week. Dimitri Simes, whose name came up over 130 times in former special counsel Robert Mueller’s 2019 report into Russian interference in the presidential election, told the Rappahannock News he was out of the U.S. and wasn’t notified ahead of Tuesday’s search. He also insisted he’s not aware of being the focus of any law-enforcement investigation. ... The raid “clearly is an attempt to intimidate, not only somebody from Russia, but just anyone who goes against official policies and particularly against...

Today is officially Dr. Anthony Fauci’s last day as the federal government’s highest-paid employee. Then it’ll be off to what is no doubt a cushy pension and possibly some other high-paying gigs with media outlets or perhaps a seat on the board of a Big Pharma company. Fauci’s retirement means there will be an extra helping of adoring media profiles, and the New York Times’ offering is now out: Saturday is Anthony Fauci's last day as a federal employee. The New York Times spoke to him at his home office in Washington about his career and plans for the future....

Gov. Tom Wolf and the Republican-controlled state legislature have found something to agree on: Pennsylvania’s corporate net income tax, the second-highest in the nation, costs the state more in lost business than it collects in revenue. The legislature should immediately pass the outgoing governor’s proposal to cut the corporate tax from 9.99% to 7.99% starting in 2023. That would move the state outside the top 10 highest CNI states, although it would still leave Pennsylvania at a disadvantage compared to nearby competitors like New York (6.5%) and Virginia (6%). After that, there are two ideas on the table for lowering...

Spanish intelligence wanted to destabilize Catalonia prior to independence referendum, says Jose Manuel Villarejo. The 2017 terror attacks in Spain were orchestrated by the National Intelligence Center (CNI), a former senior police officer said Thursday. The aim was to destabilize Catalonia before an independence referendum but the outcome that left 16 dead, was a miscalculation, said Jose Manuel Villarejo, according to the Catalanews agency. Quoting Villarejo’s testimony in court, the news outlet said the attacks, which included a truck plowing those pedestrians on Barcelona’s La Rambla, "were a serious mistake" on the part of former National Intelligence Center (CNI) Director...

A Republican and a Democratic senator have called on the Federal Reserve and the publisher of a foreign policy magazine to provide more details on 2015 meetings involving senior U.S. financial officials, a Russian central bank official, and Russian spy Maria Butina. Now, Senate Finance Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley R-Iowa, and the top Democrat on that panel, Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., want more information. The meetings involved Butina, now-former Russian Central Bank Deputy Governor Alexander Torshin, former Federal Reserve Vice Chairman Stanley Fischer, and former Treasury Undersecretary for International Affairs Nathan Sheets. They were reportedly arranged by the Center for...

by Bill Levinson We received a forwarded E-mail from the 501(c)(3) tax exempt Council for the National Interest FOUNDATION that says in part, Dear CNI Volunteer in Place, We know that you have probably received our email about the "Boat Brigade" from Lebanon to Gaza. Currently the boats are scheduled to leave on Friday, July 2nd. If you are interested in joining this new attempt to break the siege on Gaza all expenses will be paid. The boat will likely depart from the port of Tarabulus on Friday July 2nd. If proven, this could easily be cause for revocation of...

KEY WEST, Fla. (NNS) -- Naval Air Station (NAS) Key West Sailors returned home Oct. 30, after evacuating ahead of Hurricane Wilma, to flood-damaged homes but also to helping hands of a special hurricane recovery team from Commander, Navy Installations Command (CNI) and Commander, Navy Region Southeast (CNRSE). The CNI/CNRSE team gathered at Key West’s Morale, Welfare and Recreation (MWR) youth center and set up a Task Force Navy Family Community Support Center (CSC) for Navy families and a command center to coordinate with parent commands. Partnered with NAS Key West offices, insurance companies, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and...

Around 50 retired US diplomats have written to US President George Bush to complain about America's policy towards the Middle East. The letter is similar to one written by 52 former British diplomats to UK Prime Minister Tony Blair last week. The former US diplomats complained that President Bush's approach is losing the US "credibility, prestige and friends". They criticised what they say is Washington's unabashed support for Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. The American diplomats said they were deeply concerned by Mr Bush's endorsement last month of Mr Sharon's plan to withdraw unilaterally from Gaza. 'Great danger' They were...

NEWS RELEASEHEADQUARTERS UNITED STATES CENTRAL COMMAND7115 South Boundary BoulevardMacDill AFB, Fla. 33621-5101Phone: (813) 827-5894; FAX: (813) 827-2211; DSN 651-5894 December 10, 2003Release Number: 03-12-24 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE TASK FORCE “ALL AMERICAN” CAPTURES SPANISH ATTACKERS LUTAFIYAH, Iraq – At 2:00 am this morning, paratroopers from 3rd Brigade, 82d Airborne Division with the assistance of Iraqi police conducted Operation Panther Squeeze, a series of 18 raids in Lutafiyah to kill or capture individuals believed to be responsible for the attack against Spanish forces on November 29th. The cooperation efforts between the coalition forces and Iraqi police contributed to the great success...

US paratroopers and Iraqi police detained 41 suspects in connection with the killings of seven Spanish intelligence agents in an ambush last month, the US military said. Among those detained during 18 raids in Latifiyah, just south of Baghdad, were the "actual attackers" and the cell leader, the 82nd Airborne Division said in a statement. Seven Spanish intelligence agents were killed in a mortar and grenade attack on their convoy in Latifiyah on November 29. An eighth officer from Spain's national intelligence service, CNI, was slightly wounded. The attack brought to 10 the number of Spanish personnel killed in Iraq...

Under intense pressure from political rivals and an equally hostile public, Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar vowed that Spain would stay in Iraq despite the killing of seven intelligence agents. In an address to the nation made as Defence Minister Federico Trillo was bringing the bodies of the seven home to Madrid, Aznar said Spain would not alter course after committing 1,300 troops to Iraqi reconstruction in August. "Freedom is under threat from the terrorists," said Aznar, speaking of Spain's "deep pain" over the death of its nationals with the country's toll of fatalities in Iraq now standing at 10....

Spain pledges to stay on in Iraq Only one Spanish officer survived the ambush Spain's prime minister has vowed to keep troops in Iraq despite "great pain" at the killing of seven intelligence agents in an ambush. "Freedom is under threat from the terrorists," said Jose Maria Aznar, whose country is a key European member of the US-led coalition in Iraq. Unknown attackers have also killed two Japanese diplomats, two South Koreans, a Colombian and two US soldiers. Responding to its losses, Japan also pledged "not to give in to terrorism". In the latest attack, South Korea confirmed that two...

<p>BAGHDAD, Iraq  — Attackers killed two members of a Spanish intelligence team as it returned from a mission, the Spanish defense ministry said.</p> <p>The attack occurred in Najaf, 100 miles south of Baghdad (search), said Capt. Ivan Morgan, a spokesman for a multinational division in southern Iraq. The eight-member team was from Spain's National Intelligence Center (search), an official with the Spanish defense ministry said in Madrid (search).</p>

LONDON (Reuters) - At least four and possibly as many as eight members of a Spanish intelligence team were killed on Saturday in an attack on their convoy south of Baghdad, a reporter from Britain's Sky News television said. David Bowden said in a report from Baghdad after returning from the scene that he saw four bodies and that locals said eight were killed in total and another two people taken prisoner. Spanish officials said in Madrid an eight-strong team had been attacked and it was unclear how many were hurt. "We were actually driving from the town of Hilla,...

LATIFIYA, Iraq, Nov. 29 -- More than a dozen insurgents ambushed and killed seven Spanish intelligence officers on Saturday on a highway near this town south of Baghdad, according to witnesses and Spanish officials. The closely coordinated attack, in which gunmen fired from moving cars and behind a concrete wall, was the latest in a series against European troops taking part in the U.S.-led occupation. Witnesses said the ambush was carried out by loyalists of former president Saddam Hussein using automatic rifles and rocket-propelled grenades. In a separate attack north of Baghdad, two Japanese diplomats were killed in an ambush...

<p>MADRID ? Authorities suspect that the killers of seven Spanish intelligence agents slain in Iraq last week were tipped off by Iraqi contacts working with the agents, reports said yesterday.</p> <p>A nationally televised funeral was held yesterday for the seven agents, with Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar vowing not to withdraw Spain's 1,300 troops from Iraq.</p>

“A rumor, a leak or betrayal” coming from people close to the CNI members in Iraq may have caused the attack that cost the lives of seven members of the Spanish secret service. This is the theory of the Minister of Defense, Federico Trillo, who blamed the ambush on a possible betrayal and even asserted that it may be linked to the attack on José Antonio Blanco. The Spaniards carried on a half-hour fire-fight with the criminals, according to José Manuel Sánchez Riera, the sole survivor. Sánchez Riera traveled to Madrid from Kuwait in the same plane that repatriated the...

The Head of the CNI in Iraq, Alberto Martinez, Was Among the [Spanish] Dead… Trillo [Spanish Sec. of Defense], who traveled with Dezcallar [Spanish Intelligence Services head] to bring the bodies home declared that “terrorism has once again attacked Spaniards who were working for peace.” MADRID. The attack upon the eight agents of the National Intelligence Center (CNI) took place about 30 km south of Baghdad, in the area under United States control. The attack was carried out with rocket propelled grenades (RPGs) and guns, probably Kalashnikovs, according to the statement of the Defense Minister, Federico Trillo, yesterday evening. Seven...