Free Republic

A Liverpool fan wouldn't have missed last night's match, 'no matter where in the world they were', so even the desert and rogue militias in Iraq weren't going to stop the club's fans from the Duke of Lancaster's Regiment. The 2nd Battalion, The Duke of Lancaster's Regiment are currently based in Basra. And last night, 23 May 2007, the Liverpool fans in the Regiment gathered together in a specially decorated welfare tent to watch the final of the Champion's League, being held in Athens, Greece. Liverpool shirts were worn and Reds towels and flags hung from the walls as about...

BAGHDAD — Senior U.S. officials in Iraq are calling a four-point plan released Oct. 3 by Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki to halt sectarian violence “a significant step in the right direction.” Maliki’s plan, released Oct. 3, aims at uniting Shiite and Sunni parties to reduce and ultimately stop growing sectarian violence that threatens Iraq. “This … shows that the Iraqi leaders want their country to succeed and are responding to the wishes of their people for security,” said U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Zalmay Khalilzad and Gen. George W. Casey, commander of Multinational Force Iraq, in a statement released yesterday....

CIA combats terror with 'bin Laden' video game CIA agents are to become make-believe terror chiefs by playing a new video game devised to make them think more like Osama bin Laden. The CIA's Counter Terrorist Centre is developing the computer game which will help agents adopt the mindset of a terrorist. With other agents cast as themselves, or law enforcement officials, they will compete with each other on the multi-million pound simulation. The CIA said the idea is to help its agents "think outside the box". A spokesman said: "For out-of-the-box thinking, we are reaching out to academics, think...