Free Republic

In the wake of the dreaded tax day, April 15, Teresa Heinz Kerry is in a media fight, with calls for her to release tax returns. Mrs. John Kerry refuses to release them, despite her call for the release of rivals' tax returns. She remains firm, but most speculate it will damage the Kerry campaign to a degree. I understand the double standard, but I still say, who cares? We all know she's rolling in the dough. The image of John Kerry being the people's candidate has long faded, and any new investigations into the ridiculous wealth of the Kerrys...

In the next few days we’re going to hear a lot from both war opponents and a variety of nervous twits who are ostensibly on our side about how we’re “losing” Iraq. This will be patent nonsense, of course, but it will get very good play in the media. “Iraq is in chaos,” various correspondents will intone to the very concerned and proper nods of the anchor back in New York or Atlanta. The timid among the Congress (meaning: about eighty members of the Senate) will all suddenly become convinced of their own strategic genius, along with all of the...

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) - A man claiming to be a senior al-Qaida figure that the United States believes is operating in Iraq has released a tape calling for the country's Sunni Muslims to fight Shiites and claiming responsibility for high-profile attacks there. The 33-minute audiotape appeared Tuesday on a Web site known as a clearinghouse for militant Islamic messages. The speaker introduced himself as Musab al-Zarqawi, a Jordanian also known as Ahmed al-Khalayleh who is thought to be a close associate of Osama bin Laden. It was the first tape of any kind attributed to him to be...

<p>April 7, 2004 -- FALLUJAH, Iraq - In a narrow alley, Marines pinned down by a hail of guerrilla fire sent up red smoke in a cry for help. Tanks pounded shell after shell into houses, while troops on the city's edge crawled forward on their bellies, firing on guerrillas.</p>

Any seasoned reporter covering the Tet offensive in Vietnam 36 years ago is well over 60 and presumably retired or teaching journalism is one of America's 4,200 colleges and universities. Before plunging into an orgy of erroneous and invidious historical parallels between Iraq and Vietnam, a reminder about what led to the U.S. defeat in Southeast Asia is timely. Iraq will only be another Vietnam if the home front collapses, as it did following the Tet offensive, which began on the eve of the Chinese New Year, Jan. 31, 1968. The surprise attack was designed to overwhelm some 70 cities...

The Associated Press 4/7/04 8:01 AM BAQOUBA, Iraq (AP) -- A U.S. military helicopter crashed Wednesday and was seen burning on the ground in central Iraqi city of Baqouba, where Shiite militiamen and U.S. troops were battling, a witness said. There was no immediate word on casualties. The helicopter crashed immediately after an explosion was heard, according to an AP photographer at the site. He saw the helicopter on the ground in flames. U.S. troops closed off the site. It was not immediately known what caused the crash. U.S. troops and Shiite militiamen clashed Wednesday in Baqouba, 30 miles northeast...