Free Republic

I was never fan of the Iraqi war, but even the most wild-eyed critic has to acknowledge now that Gen. David Petraeus’ “surge” worked. Violence has dramatically declined and political tranquility in the region is improving. In time we can put that war behind us. But what is more disconcerting is Barack Obama’s disastrous war plan. During the primaries the stealth candidate wore an “anti-war” façade. The public was not listening closely enough. Obama has been pressing for a time table to withdraw U.S. troops from Iraq, but then goes on to say we should shift our efforts to Afghanistan,...

Russia is no longer a functioning democracy, it has no independent media or political opposition, while its courts are fully controlled by the regime, U.S. billionaire George Soros told the Austrian newspaper Die Presse. Russia has taken a step backwards, Soros maintains. The U.S. and the European Union should respond to the changes taking place in Russia, Soros said in an exclusive interview for Die Presse. “They should take all that into consideration. To qualify for G-8 membership a country must be a democracy. Therefore, Russia should be stripped of its G-8 membership,” he said. However, European nations are...