Free Republic

The U.S. said it had delivered more than 54,000 pounds of humanitarian supplies to Gaza on Tuesday as a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas was extended amid prisoner releases. The ceasefire has provided a window for humanitarian efforts in the small territory, where people have been running out of fuel, water and food amid bombing by Israel. Gaza is controlled by Hamas, which is designated as a terrorist organization by the U.S. government. In a release, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) said it had airlifted “24.5 metric tons, more than 54,000 pounds, of UN humanitarian supplies to...

President Joe Biden delivered a Christmas address on Thursday but did not speak the name of “Jesus” or “Christ.” “How silently, how silently, the wondrous gift is given,” Biden began, as he delivered his address to reporters at the White House. The president spoke about a “child” born on Christmas but did not speak the child’s name.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Special counsel Robert Mueller on Friday turned over his long-awaited final report on the contentious Russia investigation that has cast a dark shadow over Donald Trump's presidency, entangled Trump's family and resulted in criminal charges against some of the president's closest associates.

French, it is said, is the language of love. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry flaunted his fluency in the language on Saturday to deliver something of a love letter to France, one of the few world powers that seems likely to join the United States in any military action against Syria. Following the British parliament's August 29 vote to reject any British use of force against Syria, which the United States accuses of gassing its own people with sarin, France has made no secret of its desire to play Washington's supporting partner.

BAGRAM AIRFIELD, Afghanistan, Oct. 20, 2008 – It was the middle of the night and pagers were going off inside Craig Joint Theater Hospital as staff scrambled to pull together the people and equipment needed for a successful procedure. Zahra became the first Afghan baby born in the Craig Joint Theater Hospital at Bagram Airfield, Afghanistan, on Oct. 4, 2008. U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Rachel Martinez   (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. The situation was not unusual except that this time it wasn't the life of a coalition servicemember they were trying to save. Instead,...

WASHINGTON, Aug. 28, 2008 – The Coast Guard Cutter Dallas has finished off-loading humanitarian relief supplies in the Georgian city of Batumi and has left port, a Defense Department official said here today. Since Russia invaded Georgia on Aug. 9, all of the U.S. aid that has gone to the nation has been humanitarian relief, Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman told reporters. Defense officials said that Russia still has troops in Georgia and is not living up to the terms of a cease-fire agreement. The Dallas unloaded 34 short tons of aid at the port, raising the U.S. total to 947...

WASHINGTON, Aug. 28, 2008 – The Defense Department and U.S. European Command stand ready to assist as required to save lives and alleviate human suffering during the humanitarian crisis in the former Soviet republic of Georgia, a senior EuCom official said yesterday. “Working side by side with the republic of Georgia and international organizations, U.S. European Command is providing immediate life-saving support and restoring essential life-support systems as part of a coordinated interagency effort,” Michael Ritchie, EuCom’s director of interagency engagement, said in a teleconference with bloggers and online journalists to discuss the relief effort dubbed Operation Assured Delivery. Operation...

MARTINEZ — Rep. George Miller, an outspoken critic of the Iraq war, has secured $4.6 million in federal funding for a Martinez firm that has earned millions selling equipment to the U.S. Army for use in the war effort and whose executives have contributed to his campaign and political action committees. Miller, a Martinez Democrat, secured $3 million in the 2006 defense appropriations bill and $1.6 million in the 2008 bill for SecuriMetrics, Inc., manufacturer of biometric identification devices that use iris, fingerprint and facial recognition technology. Current and former executives of SecuriMetrics have donated $16,090 to Miller and his...

TOULOUSE, France – Nearly two years late, Airbus finally delivered its first A380 superjumbo on Monday, a revolutionary behemoth that includes luxury suites equipped with comfy double beds. Customer Singapore Airlines says the passenger jet, the world's largest, was worth the wait, and the delivery marks a badly needed morale-boosting milestone for Airbus. Singapore Airlines Chief Executive Chew Choon Seng said his airline was inconvenienced by the late delivery, but added, “We are glad that Airbus took the time to make sure that the plane is fully tested and developed before it enters commercial service.” For Airbus, big challenges with...

Police Chief William Bratton said Tuesday that a breakdown in command at an immigration rally led officers to use force to disperse a crowd, swing batons and fire hundreds of rubber bullets at demonstrators and journalists. "It was quite apparent ... it all broke down," Bratton said after the city's civilian Police Commission was given a minute-by-minute account of the May 1 melee. Bratton previously has acknowledged that a breakdown in command and communication led to the clash at MacArthur Park. The confrontation was broadcast on television stations worldwide. Police said they moved on protesters after being pelted with rocks...

WASHINGTON, Nov. 20, 2006 -- Whether it’s an infantryman in Iraq needing a new firing pin for his rifle or a fighter pilot on a carrier in the Persian Gulf who needs to replace a cracked landing strut, the Defense Logistics Agency stands ready to support warfighters worldwide, the organization’s director said in a recent interview. Soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines deployed around the world supporting the global war against terrorism routinely make requests from their units for critically needed supplies, Army Lt. Gen. Robert T. Dail told the Pentagon Channel. “It may be a part that keeps an...

WASHINGTON, July 25, 2006 – The Defense Department evacuated 957 U.S. citizens from Lebanon to Cyprus yesterday aboard the contracted cruise ship Orient Queen, bringing the total to 12,870 since the crisis in Lebanon began July 16, DoD officials said today. Also, DoD airlifted the first humanitarian supplies promised to those in the war-torn country, Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said. Three helicopters delivered three kits of medical supplies to Red Cross personnel. Each of the three medical kits has enough medicine and supplies to meet the needs of 10,000 people for three months. Seven other kits have arrived in Cyprus...

7/13/2006 - SOUTHWEST ASIA (AFPN) -- A C-130 Hercules crew assigned to the 738th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron provided critical support to an Army operating location in Afghanistan on July 6 by airdropping essential supplies before a potential enemy attack. Aircraft commander Capt. Travis Sjostedt and his crew just completed their last sortie during their 30-day forward deployment to Bagram Air Base, Afghanistan. But as the crew was preparing the aircraft to return to its main operating base, leaders at Bagram received a message from the theater's combined air operations center that a forward operating base in Afghanistan was short of...

6/13/2006 - PANJSHIR PROVINCE, Afghanistan (AFPN) -- A multi-service supply convoy slowly crawled along a dusty, rock-strewn road winding up and around mountains, through tiny, remote villages, scenic wheat fields and pastures en route to a relief mission June 12. At approximately 8,000 feet above sea level, at the village of Dara, the Panjshir Provincial Reconstruction Team and volunteers from the 405th Civil Affairs Battalion offloaded beans, rice, cooking oil, salt, powdered milk and tea. “It was slow-going in a fully loaded five-ton truck that is as wide as the road in places,” said Army Reserve Sgt. 1st Class Brian...

U.S. Army soldiers from the 445th Civil Affairs Battalion hand out food items to families outside of Sadr City, Iraq. U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Russell Lee Klika More Photos Coalition Mission Delivers Meals to Sadr City Mission Delivers humanitarian assistance and good will. By U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Russell Lee Klika 133rd Mobile Public Affairs Detachment BAGHDAD, Iraq, June 2, 2006 — About 200 families outside of Baghdad will have one more meal in their bellies after a recent humanitarian mission conducted by Coalition Forces outside Sadr City, Iraq. U.S. Army Maj. Deborah Yarbrough of the 445th...

KABUL, Afghanistan, April 13, 2006 – The command surgeon of Combined Forces Command Afghanistan presented the renovated Rabia Balkhi Maternity Hospital to Afghanistan 's minister of public health in a ceremony here April 9. Lailuma, a midwife at the Rabia Balkhi Maternity Hospital in the Afghan capital of Kabul, prepares to weigh a baby in the hospital's renovated nursery here April 9. The U.S. departments of Defense and Health and Human Services invested a combined $10 million into renovations, then presented the hospital to Afghanistan's minister of public health in a formal ceremony April 9. Photo by Staff Sgt....

Iraq’s Baquba Maternity Hospital Now Delivers Hotel-turned-maternity-hospital, now delivers babies instead of room service. By Polli Barnes Keller Gulf Region North U.S. Army Corps of Engineers MOSUL, Iraq, Jan. 20, 2005 — Baquba Maternity hospital, a hotel-turned-maternity-hospital, now delivers babies instead of room service. The facility houses 229 beds and serves a local population of approximately 350,000. Workers completed the $700,000 transformation in Diyala Province on January 4, 2006. After the Iraqi government requested a change to the building’s function, a local construction company conducted the renovations. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) provided quality assurance and over-watch...

U.S. Army Doctor Delivers Iraqi Election-Day Baby Iraqi army soldiers helped transport an Iraqi mother, experiencing delivery complications, to a combat support hospital where she gave birth to a baby girl on Iraq's election day. By U.S. Army Spc. Rick Rzepka Scimitar Assistant Editor BAGHDAD, Iraq, Dec. 28, 2005 — During the early morning hours of parliamentary elections on Dec. 15, a birth took place at the 10th Combat Support Hospital here. "A beautiful baby like that can give us hope for the future in this troubled land." U.S. Army Col. (Dr.) Brian Crisp On the outskirts of Habbaniyah,...

LISLE, Ill. - Nedal Haddad of Chicago understood his new job as a cab driver entailed delivery — taking passengers from one point to another, that is. He couldn't have imagined it involved delivering babies. That's what happened Friday, about a week into his new job, when the 37-year-old picked up a pregnant woman in suburban Plainfield and began driving her to nearby Edward Hospital. Before they could arrive at the Naperville hospital, the woman — whose mother and sister were also in the cab — began giving birth. "She said, 'I think I'm going to have the baby,'" he...

CAMP FALLUJAH, Iraq, Nov. 8, 2005 — The mission of postal Marines in Iraq is vital to the morale of troops serving in operations, and one Marine here is helping in the fight, one package at a time. Cpl. Marcus D. Kibble, inspecting noncommissioned officer, Postal Detachment 6, Service Company, Headquarters and Service Battalion, 2nd Force Service Support Group (Forward), serves as a link between Marines here, and their families at home. The native of Columbus, Ga., became interested in the Marine Corps as an athlete in high school. “I was interested my freshman year,” he said. The sports enthusiast...