Free Republic

WASHINGTON - President Bush in recent days has recast the global war on terror into a "war against Islamic fascism." Fascism, in fact, seems to be the new buzz word for Republicans in an election season dominated by an unpopular war in Iraq. Bush used the term earlier this month in talking about the arrest of suspected terrorists in Britain, and spoke of "Islamic fascists" in a later speech in Green Bay, Wis. Spokesman Tony Snow has used variations on the phrase at White House press briefings. Sen. Rick Santorum (news, bio, voting record), R-Pa., in a tough re-election fight,...

Two days after August 10 – when British authorities broke up an alleged plot to blow up multiple aircraft over the Atlantic Ocean – the "moderate" Muslim establishment in Britain published an aggressive open letter to Prime Minister Tony Blair. It suggested that Blair could better fight terrorism if he recognized that current British government policy, especially with regard to "the debacle of Iraq," provides "ammunition to extremists." The letter writers demanded he change his foreign policy to "make us all safer." One prominent signatory, Labour MP Sadiq Khan, added that Blair's reluctance to criticize Israel increased the pool of...

A Pakistani teen who embraced Christianity has escaped death at the hands of her family, who unsuccessfully demanded she recant her faith, an international ministry group says. Voice of the Martyrs said the girl, identified only as Diana, now is in hiding for her life. She grew up in a strict Islamic family in Pakistan, the group said, and her life was "typical" until she met a girl named Mary who was a Christian, and Diana decided to embrace the faith. "When Diana's family learned that she had become a Christian, they repeatedly beat her and insisted she return to...

 On the website, Why Islam (www.whyislam.org), there are found many things that would shock even the least squeamish of individuals.  Anti-Semitism, homophobia, terrorism and misogyny abound.  At the Muslim Students Association (MSA) of the University of South Florida (USF), an advertisement for Why Islam has been placed prominently on the group’s office door.  The question must be posed to the MSA and the university – Why?Walking across the campus of USF, one finds a number of reminders of the school’s most storied professor, Sami Al-Arian – the ever-growing Computer Science and Engineering Department, where Al-Arian taught class; The Castor Building,...

In an urban nightmare that enveloped two sides of San Francisco Bay, a Fremont man on Tuesday allegedly killed a pedestrian near his home with his SUV before continuing his rampage on San Francisco streets. There, he mowed down at least 13 others, including a teen on a bike and an elderly man with a cane, police said. The San Francisco victims were expected to survive, but for a harrowing 14 minutes, a man driving a black Honda Pilot sport-utility vehicle veered onto sidewalks, over lawns and appeared to target pedestrians crossing popular shopping streets in several city neighborhoods. At...

SALT LAKE CITY - The United States is fighting "a new type of facism," US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld told a veterans' group here Tuesday. "We face similar challenges in efforts to confront the rising of a new type of fascism," he said. "And that is important in this 'long war' where any kind of moral and intellectual confusion about who and what is right or wrong can weaken the ability of free societies to persevere," he said, taking aim at detractors of the US "war on terror".

If only the Muslims in Europe -- with their hearts focused on the Islamic world and their carry-on liquids poised for destruction in the West -- could behave like the well-educated, secular and Americanizing Muslims in the United States, no one would have to worry. So runs the comforting media narrative that has developed around the approximately 6 million Muslims in the United States, who are often portrayed as well-assimilated and willing to leave their religion and culture behind in pursuit of American values and lifestyle. But over the past two years, I have traveled the country, visiting mosques, interviewing...

It happened again this week. I came out of the office to find a flyer under my windshield wipers inviting me to a special informational presentation on God and family values, and how to bring them back to the forefront in America. I'm a parent, so the flyer caught my interest. But as an analyst for the Northeast Intelligence Network, my eyes were riveted to the address on the flyer: The session was being held at a nearby mosque. Curiosity got the better of me, and I decided it would be a good time for some onsite investigations of the...

Islamic nations are ranked as among the world's most-corrupt and the fight to tackle the scourge could be tough due to poverty and poor governance, Malaysia's prime minister said on Monday. Taking his anti-corruption message to the rest of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC) nations, Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, who chairs the group, said there were no quick fixes to completely eradicate the problem. "I am deeply saddened to note that Muslim countries, as a group, do not rate very highly when it comes to perceptions of corruption," he said at the opening of the group's first forum on...

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — Two FOX News journalists were released by their kidnappers Sunday, nearly two weeks after they were taken hostage in the Gaza Strip. Steve Centanni, 60, and Olaf Wiig, 36, left Gaza and have since crossed into Israel after their release. The men left Gaza through the Erez border crossing. The freeing of Centanni, a correspondent, and Wiig, a cameraman, ends the longest-running drama involving foreign hostages in Gaza. The two journalists were dropped off at Gaza City's Beach Hotel by Palestinian security officials and appeared to be in good health. A tearful Centanni embraced a...

Editor's note: Seldom I disregard the editorial policy of dealing exclusively with issues of my country. The recent escalation of violence in the Middle East against Israel however merits our attention for the issue goes far beyond a dispute between the Islamofundamentalists of Hezbollah and Israel; it isn't about Israel's future and safety anymore, rather a 'holy war' between deranged people and freedom; between terror and the values and liberties the civilised and rational inhabitants of this world hold dear. Someone sent the following speech -originally published March 03, 2006, which I have decided to post for it couldn't have...

LET WEYNE, Somalia (AP) - An Islamic militia that controls most of southern Somalia is now expanding into the center of this Horn of Africa country, imposing order after years of anarchy but also sparking worries of an emerging Taliban-style regime. One of its Islamic courts has been governing this central town for less than a week, operating out of a crumbling stone building furnished with green plastic chairs, but already its leader is envisioning greater things. ''The world better learn who we are,'' Sheik Farah Moalim told The Associated Press in an interview this week at his headquarters in...

An Arab nation with ties to 9-11 has pledged a major endowment to the Council on American-Islamic Relations, even as the Washington-based nonprofit group insists it receives no foreign support. The United Arab Emirates recently announced on its official government website that it has set up an endowment serving as a source of income for CAIR. The amount of the funding is undisclosed, but sources say it will be enough to help CAIR finance the construction of a new $24 million office building and a planned $50 million public-relations campaign aimed at repairing Islam's -- and the UAE's -- image...

America's Truth Forum, along with The Basics Project, is producing the second in a nationwide series of symposiums on the threat of radical Islamist terrorism. This event is scheduled to take place on November 10 & 11, 2006 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Our first event took place, to critical acclaim, in Washington DC this past April and featured speakers such as; former CIA Director James Woolsey, Dr. Paul Williams, Dr. Harvey Kushner, former CIA station chief Dr. Bruce Tefft, former PLO terrorist Walid Shoebat, Brigette Gabriel, Robert Spencer of JihadWatch, Kenneth Timmerman, and Dr. Whalid Phares, to name just some...

Most Britons now believe the Muslim faith is a threat to Western democracy, a new survey has revealed. A YouGov poll shows that increasing numbers think "a large proportion" of British Muslims feel no loyalty to the UK and are ready to condone or even carry out terrorist atrocities, while far more people feel threatened by Islam itself than was the case five years ago. Dividing the nation Muslim leaders responded yesterday by warning of the dangers that terrorists would succeed in their goal of dividing the nation, and fostering mutual fear and suspicion. They urged all Britons to show...

From the recent Israel-Hezbollah war in southern Lebanon to the jihadists in Iraq's Sunni Triangle to the repeated efforts by Islamists across the globe to trump Sept. 11, what old lessons about terrorism are we in the West finding ourselves having to relearn? First, death is the mantra of terrorists. In urban landscapes, they hide among apartment buildings, use human shields and welcome all fatalities - friendly or hostile, combatant or civilian. Death of any kind, they think, makes the liberal West recoil, but allows them to pose as oppressed victims. Their nihilistic hatred intimidates, rather than repels, third parties...

Lately I have heard Leftists ask "what if there was no Israel?" They imply by this question that if there was no Israel the Muslims would just happily live together in peace. Israel is responsible for all the ills in the "House of Peace." As a student of Arab history, I shake my head and smile at these Liberals who act as if YOU'RE dumb for not buying what they're selling. My answer to this question is a few questions of my own- Do Muslim terrorists kill Hindus in Kashmir and India because of Israel? How quickly we forget the...

Round table: Representatives of county's Muslim and Jewish communities discuss whether there is common ground to bridge the gap between the two communities here and in mid-east. Are "Muslim fanatics" at the root of Middle East unrest? Is Israel racist in its policy toward refugees who want to return there? Are there areas of common ground that could lead to better understanding between Jews and Muslims in Orange County? Events in the Middle East resonate here as increasing discomfort – even animosity – between some. Just days ago the Register asked self-described moderate leaders in those two communities – Hussam...

Lina Joy converted from Islam to Christianity eight years ago and since then has endured extraordinary hurdles in her desire to marry the man in her life. Her name is a household word in this majority Muslim country. But she is now in hiding after death threats from Islamic extremists, who accuse her of being an apostate. Five years ago she started proceedings in the civil courts to seek the right to marry her Christian fiancé and have children. Because she had renounced her Muslim faith, Joy, 42, argued, Malaysia's Islamic Shariah courts, which control matters like marriage, property and...

Islamist Al-Hesbah Website Plan of Action for the Jihad Fighter: How to Kill a Westerner in the Arabian Peninsula On August 4, 2006, the Al-Hesbah website published instructions on "How to Kill a Crusader in the Arabian Peninsula." The document was signed by Amer Al-Najdi, and dated June 15, 2006. Al-Najdi instructs his readers in some possible ways to kill a Westerner, from choosing the victim through following him through the stage of the actual killing. The following are excerpts from the document: [1] "Before Carrying Out the Operation, Pray for Guidance" "Below I will explain the jihadist way of...