Free Republic

Weeks before the Iran nuclear deal was finalized last summer, a former U.S. ambassador reportedly told a senior Hillary Clinton campaign adviser he was struck by “the depth of antipathy and distrust of President Obama” he encountered among Israeli officials and former officials across the political spectrum, who viewed the president as “‘weak,’ ‘pro-Muslim,’ and ‘anti-Israel.’” The observation is contained in one of a series of emails purported sent by Ambassador Stuart Eizenstat to Clinton campaign adviser Jake Sullivan, among a batch of leaked Clinton campaign-related emails released by Wikileaks late last week and early this week. “I was struck...

By Guy Dinmore in Washington Published: October 31 2003 20:22 | Last Updated: October 31 2003 20:22 Confident of his ability to determine the character of a man, President George W. Bush struck up a close relationship with Russia's Vladimir Putin the first time they met more than two years ago, declaring afterwards: "I was able to get a sense of his soul." That bond was strengthened after the al-Qaeda attacks on the US mainland, when the Russian president gave strong backing to the "war on terror". But now there is deep concern among US business and political circles that...

Criminal investigations into the oil-and-banking empire of Russia's wealthiest tycoon have shocked the capital, sent the stock market into a nosedive and even stirred up worries about the fragility of the country's fledgling democracy. Heavy-handed raids in recent weeks by the tax police and security agencies have targeted Yukos, the conglomerate headed by Mikhail Khodorkovsky, a 40-year-old magnate whose personal fortune is estimated at $8 billion US. Some observers suggest the Yukos investigations could be the start of a serious Kremlin campaign against Russia's so-called oligarchs, the handful of young businessmen who schemed to take control of key industries and...