Free Republic

NAVAL STATION GUANTANAMO BAY, Cuba, April 4, 2006 – Preliminary hearings began here today for an Afghan man accused of working as a translator and accountant for al Qaeda in Afghanistan and involvement in a grenade attack that injured three journalists in March 2002. Abdul Zahir appeared in court wearing a dress shirt and khaki pants and talked and laughed with his translator and military attorney before proceedings began. An issue arose immediately when the presiding officer found out that written charges had been submitted to Zahir in English, Arabic and Pashtu, but Zahir's native language is Farsi. Marine Col....

FORT SAM HOUSTON, Texas, April 4, 2006 – Deployed to Afghanistan for a year, Army Lt. Col. Timothy Newcomer will miss his son's prom, high school graduation and, a few months later, his departure to college. Army Sgt. 1st Class Eddie Mitchell shares a few minutes with his 6-year-old son, Desmond, April 4 at Desmond's school. Photo by Elaine Wilson  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. But his son, Matt, is not upset in the least. "He loves to be a soldier, and if it makes him happy, it makes me happy," said Matt, a high school senior. "How...

The Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) has created a website where it will post documents captured in postwar Afghanistan and Iraq. The website is hosted by the Foreign Military Studies Office Joint Reserve Intelligence Center at Fort Leavenworth and will be updated continuously with new documents. The first batch of materials, released late Wednesday, includes nine documents captured in connection with Operation Iraqi Freedom and 28 documents previously released on February 14, 2006, in conjunction with a study of those documents conducted by analysts at West Point. Sources on Capitol Hill and within the intelligence community tell...

OTTAWA (CP) - Prime Minister Stephen Harper is back home after his visit to Afghanistan. Harper left Ottawa on Saturday and spent two days with Canadian troops in the southwest Asian country. He had a lunch meeting with Afghani President Hamid Karzai in Kabul and also met Pakistani leaders on his way home. It was Harper's first trip outside the country since taking office. During his visit, Harper expressed strong support for the Canadian military and its mission in Afghanistan. He also rejected again suggestions that the mission be debated in the Commons, despite opposition complaints that Canadians don't understand...

Our troops bringing hope to hopeless By Licia Corbella Yesterday in Afghanistan, Prime Minister Stephen Harper left the relative safety of one of Canada's bases there and met with the elected governor of Kandahar. Harper's meeting with Gov. Assadullah Khalid came shortly after he gave a rousing speech to our troops, telling them "how proud" he is in the work they're doing. It was a good speech, but it was surpassed by what Khalid said and it's important that Canadians -- particularly those who are critical of our troops' role there -- need to heed. Despite what some ignorant protesters...

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (CP) - There was no mistaking Stephen Harper's flight into Afghanistan for an Air Canada shuttle, after embarking passengers aboard the Hercules were handed flak jackets and combat helmets. Twenty hours after Harper left Ottawa and began his clandestine journey he had set a new standard for adventure in prime ministerial travel. The trip was shrouded in secrecy. Only a small group of government staff and journalists were given last-minute notice of the visit. Advance word came with a warning that the trip would be cancelled if details leaked out ahead of departure. Passengers were told to pack...

BAGRAM AIRFIELD, Afghanistan – (Army News Service, March 7, 2006) – To an American Soldier, stepping into Mollai is like stepping back in time -- mud huts with no indoor plumbing or electricity, built into the side of a mountain across from their main source of water – a mountain stream. This is everyday life for the people of Mollai, a small village in the mountains of eastern Afghanistan. Mollai is made up of six small hamlets that are self-sustaining but life is still far from easy. While the villagers have their own water resources, agriculture, religion and educational system,...

3/7/2006 - MANAS AIR BASE, Kyrgyzstan (AFPN) -- The Spanish detachment here safely moved about a dozen U.S. Air Force officers to Kabul, Afghanistan, March 3. Manas is known as the “Gateway to Operation Enduring Freedom” because all troops moving in and out of Afghanistan stop here first to transfer to civilian or military aircraft. The Spanish detachment’s support helped expedite the effort to move an unusually large influx of troops to this base, said Lt. Suzan Whiting, personnel terminal chief here. It also saved the officers the risk and time of riding in a convoy from Bagram to Kabul...

WASHINGTON, March 1, 2006 – President Bush today thanked U.S. troops serving on the "frontier of freedom" at Bagram Air Base, Afghanistan. "I'm proud of our United States military," he said during a surprise visit to Afghanistan, his first trip to the country. "Many of you volunteered for service after Sept. 11, 2001. You saw that our nation was attacked, and when the country called upon you, you said, 'Let me serve.'" Bush told the troops they are accomplishing two important missions in Afghanistan. "One is finding an enemy and bringing them to justice so they don't hurt our fellow...

WASHINGTON, March 1, 2006 – The democratic process taking hold in Afghanistan is an inspiration to the cause of freedom, President Bush said in the country's capital, Kabul, today. "I hope the people of Afghanistan understand that as democracy takes hold, you're inspiring others," Bush said while visiting Afghanistan for the first time. "And that inspiration will cause others to demand their freedom." Bush said he was "enthralled" to see the progress being made in Afghanistan. As evidence of this progress, he pointed to the growth of an entrepreneurial spirit enabling Afghans to realize their dreams, to young girls going...

BAGRAM AIR BASE, Afghanistan (AP) - President Bush made a surprise visit to Afghanistan on Wednesday, flying here secretly to support its fledging government in the face of rising violence from al-Qaida and Taliban militants. Bush made a detour from a trip to India for a five-hour visit here that was not announced officially until Air Force One landed at this sprawling military base north of Kabul. The White House wanted to conceal Bush's presence to reduce the risk of any attempt on his life. But word of his visit leaked shortly before he landed. From Bagram, Bush was to...

Task Force Pacemaker engineer crews cut a path through a mountain pass to connect Tarin Kowt to Kandahar City, Aug. 26, 2005. U.S. Army photo by Sgt. 1st Class Stephen Lum U.S. Army Spc. David Ige Soldier Moves Afghan Mountains By Sgt. 1st Class Stephen Lum117th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment KANDAHAR AIRFIELD, Afghanistan, Feb. 24, 2006 — Spc. David S. Ige, a 298th Engineer Detachment heavy equipment operator, loves hard work. His Army National Guard horizontal engineer section joined active duty and Army Reserve soldiers to complete the 117-kilometer Tarin Kowt Road this past fall. Twelve to 14-hour workdays...

In addition to their graduation certificates, students leave with a starter kit of supplies or tools needed to work in their respective fields. QALAT, Afghanistan, Feb. 24, 2006 — More than 30 students graduated from a basic computer class at a new vocational school Jan. 18 at the Qalat Provincial Reconstruction Team base in Zabul Province. "The Qalat [Provincial Reconstruction Team] believes this vocational school is moving the Afghan work force forward. There is a … willingness from the youth of Zabul Province (to take) a substantial interest in the future of themselves as well as Afghanistan." U.S. Army Lt....

Afghan National Police Lt. Gen. Mohammed Haroon Asefi (third from left) meets with U.S. Army Maj. Gen. Robert Durbin (fourth from right) during Durbin’s visit to an Afghan National Police border-control point in Torkham, Afghanistan, Feb. 12, 2006. Asefi is chief of the Afghan National Police Border Patrol. Durbin is commander of the Office of Security Cooperation–Afghanistan. Office of Security Cooperation-Afghanistan photo by U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Matthew Bates Commander Meets With Afghan Army, Police Leaders During a visit with Afghan National Army and Afghan National Police leaders, U.S. Army Maj. Gen. Robert Durbin emphasized the importance of...

WASHINGTON, Feb. 17, 2006 – "The world is changing because freedom is on the march. And we shouldn't be discouraged about ... short-term setbacks," President Bush told an audience in Tampa, Fla., today. That march began with the removal of the Taliban from Afghanistan, Bush said. It continues as democracy emerges in Afghanistan as well as in Iraq. "We have an opportunity to lay the foundation of peace for generations to come," he said. "Democracy can yield the peace we all want." The president had arrived in town earlier in the day to meet with senior leaders at nearby headquarters...

WASHINGTON, Feb. 17, 2006 – Noting "incredible" strides for democracy in Afghanistan and pointing out continued progress in Iraq, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff today told a National Press Club audience here that U.S. efforts in those countries are bearing fruit. "The progress in Afghanistan has been incredible," Marine Gen. Peter Pace said. "They now have not only a freely elected president, but a parliament as well. They are going about the business of building their own country in a way that makes you proud." The chairman said he travels to Afghanistan about every six months, and...

BAGRAM AIRFIELD, Afghanistan, Feb. 13, 2006 — U.S. Army engineers with the 864th Engineer Combat Battalion worked with Afghan military and civilian engineers to sharpen their construction skills this week. "The attendees at this workshop were selected by 15 local contractors who each selected four of their workers based on experience and skill." U.S. Army Col. Mike Flanagan The training, conducted at Forward Operating Base Salerno in Khost Province, covered a variety of engineering skills, such as vertical construction, carpentry, masonry and basic job-site safety. "The attendees at this workshop were selected by 15 local contractors who each selected four...

Counter-terrorism police have arrested an Iraqi, an Iranian and three Pakistanis allegedly planning attacks in insurgency-hit southern Afghanistan, the interior ministry said on Wednesday. The men had entered Afghanistan's Nimroz province from neighboring Iran, ministry spokesman Yousuf Stanizai said. "They are all terrorists. They had crossed illegally into Nimroz from Iran and wanted to go to other provinces to carry out terrorist attacks," he said. "They all had documents proving their identities. The investigation is ongoing." Stanizai said that the Iraqi, whose name was not disclosed, was on his way to southern Kandahar province. The province is a hotbed of...

Facts vs. Fiction: A Report from the FrontBy Karl Zinsmeister Your editor has just returned from another month in Iraq—my fourth extended tour in the last two and a half years. During November and December I joined numerous American combat operations, including the largest air assault since the beginning of the war, walked miles of streets and roads, entered scores of homes, listened to hundreds of Iraqis, observed voting at a dozen different polling sites, and endured my third roadside ambush. With this latest firsthand experience, here are answers to some common queries about how the war is faring. Has...

Pakistani intelligence sources on Thursday identified three of four al Qaeda members believed to have been killed by a U.S. airstrike last week, though they have yet to recover the bodies. One of the dead was said to be Abdul Rehman Al-Misri al Maghribi, a son-in-law of al Qaeda second-in-command Ayman al-Zawahri. Another was Midhat Murfi al Sayid Omer, an expert in explosives and poisons who carried a $5 million U.S. reward on his head. The third man named was Abu Obaidah al Misri, al Qaeda's chief of operations