Free Republic

Is the U.S. Failing in Afghanistan? It was malice in wonderland at the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Thursday as Bush Administration envoys insisted things are getting better in Afghanistan, while angry lawmakers from both parties cited facts and figures showing just the opposite. Even the senior Republican on the panel, Senator Richard Lugar, found the Administration's claims wanting. "I'm not sure that we have a plan for Afghanistan," he said. Long seen as the "forgotten war" eclipsed by Iraq in U.S. priorities, Afghanistan is in the Washington spotlight this week with the release of three independent reports concluding...

SAN`A, Yemen - A Yemeni-American who is among the FBI's most wanted terrorism suspects appeared in a Yemeni court Saturday and then walked free, an eyewitness said. Jaber Elbaneh, 41, attended a session of the trial for him and 22 others charged in connection with a series of attacks on oil facilities. "He entered the courtroom surrounded by four bodyguards, introduced himself to the judge then he left," an eyewitness said speaking on condition of anonymity because of security concerns. Footage of Elbaneh entering and leaving the court unimpeded also appeared on the Dubai-based pan-Arab satellite channel, al-Arabiya. Security authorities...