Free Republic

By Joel Mowbray In his speech announcing the selection of John Edwards as his VP pick, perhaps the most important news was what presidential wannabe John Kerry didn’t say. Not one mention of the enemy we are fighting, or how he plans to lead us in that fight. And not only did Kerry not mention Iraq, he didn’t even utter the words “al Qaeda” or “radical Islam.” Nor did “terror” or “terrorism” pass through his lips. His sole line relating to anything international suggests that Kerry would like to return to the failed foreign policy that helped create the world...

When the new Iraqi interim government took the formal reins of power this past week, there was another official transfer of authority: from the Defense to the State Department overseeing the U.S. presence. But while the new Iraqi government will almost surely make its own mark, the handover from the Pentagon to State will yield little, if any, change. Why? Because State had long ago taken control of the political arena in the now-disbanded Coalition Provisional Authority, despite public appearances that it was the Pentagon’s show. The State Department, of course, is not willing to own up to its role...

"The United Nations has become the leading global purveyor of anti-Semitism, intolerance, and inequality against the Jewish people and its state." U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan greeting Arafat at U.N. Those words were uttered by tenacious law professor Anne Bayefsky last week at, of all places, the United Nations. No, it wasn't outside the New York building as traffic whizzed by, but rather inside one of the auditoriums that more often plays host to anti-Semitic rants from U.N. member nations. Six decades after its founding, the United Nations apparently decided that anti-Semitism was an issue worth addressing. The irony, though, was...

To a “small number” of civilian employees at the Pentagon, a New York Times story on June 3 came as quite a jolt: some of them had apparently already been polygraphed as part of an investigation into Iraqi Governing Council member Ahmed Chalabi.Thing is, it never happened.  Three weeks later, it appears that the implicated civilian employees at the Pentagon have not been polygraphed.And the Times is unapologetic in the face of substantial evidence that it got the story wrong.Iraqi Governing Council member and longtime U.S. ally Ahmed Chalabi was all over the news late last and early this month...

Releasing a signed letter denouncing President Bush on the same day that the 9/11 Commission issued its much-publicized interim report last week, 26 former diplomats and retired military brass gained very little traction in their bid to knock the President. What people missed is a bunch of disgruntled ex-diplomats who amply demonstrate the deeply ingrained biases of the Foreign Service— or more to the point, the people who comprise the vast majority of Bush's current foreign policy team. Common sense would dictate that the President of the United States would have the ability to shape his entire administration, including his...

To a “small number” of civilian employees at the Pentagon, a New York Times story on June 3 came as quite a jolt: some of them had apparently already been polygraphed as part of an investigation into Iraqi Governing Council member Ahmed Chalabi.Thing is, it never happened.  Three weeks later, it appears that the implicated civilian employees at the Pentagon have not been polygraphed.And the Times is unapologetic in the face of substantial evidence that it got the story wrong. Iraqi Governing Council member and longtime U.S. ally Ahmed Chalabi was all over the news late last and early this month...

Releasing a signed letter denouncing President Bush on the same day that the 9/11 Commission issued its much-publicized interim report last week, 26 former diplomats and retired military brass gained very little traction in their bid to knock the President.What people missed is a bunch of disgruntled ex-diplomats who amply demonstrate the deeply ingrained biases of the Foreign Service—or more to the point, the people who comprise the vast majority of Bush’s current foreign policy team.Common sense would dictate that the President of the United States would have the ability to shape his entire administration, including his foreign policy team. But...

Even if the Saudi royal family’s latest pledge to cut off direct terror financing can be taken at its word—a huge if, to be sure—one of the major revelations of the 9/11 commission’s interim report issued around the same time demonstrates (albeit indirectly) that it won’t make much difference. Why?  Because the 9/11 commission’s best estimate of the plot’s total cost is roughly $500,000 – 600,000, reaffirming something we’ve long known: terrorist acts are cheap.  What the House of Saud will never stop funding, though, is the creation of the environment that produces fertile fields for terrorist recruiters: the religious...

Last Thursday’s New York Times headline told us that the 9/11 Commission found "no Qaeda-Iraq tie." The Washington Post insisted that the "Al Qaeda-Hussein link is dismissed." But what Wednesday's commission statement actually said was that the panel had discovered "no credible evidence that Iraq and al Qaeda cooperated on attacks against the United States." Explains 9/11 Commision spokesman Jonathan Stull, "The report doesn't close the book on connections between Iraq and al Qaeda." And both the co-chairs of the panel—one Republican, one Democrat—have stressed that the interim report did not dispute the White House’s argument about ties between Iraq...

Editor’s note: This is the second in a two-part series. (Part one can be read here.) BERLIN – In two days of closed-door meetings recently, an international bureaucracy of industrialized nations—whose membership is dominated by “old Europe”—was attempting to “persuade” low-tax nations to raise taxes and eviscerate financial privacy. The Paris-based Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), which receives some $50 million annually from U.S. taxpayers, has for six years pushed for eliminating what it calls “harmful tax competition”—which can be best described as any policy that undermines the ability of welfare states like France, Belgium, and Germany to...

As newspaper headlines are sure to scream in page one, above-the-fold stories, the 9/11 commission found "no credible evidence" that Saddam played a role in the terrorist attack. But what you won't hear is that Saddam's possible role in 9/11 had little to do with the case for war in Iraq. Quite simply, war was waged in Iraq to prevent another 9/11.  Apparently, this is too much nuance for most of the media to handle. Did the administration make Iraq's substantial terrorist ties, including to al Qaeda, one of the primary reasons for going to war?  Of course.  But did...

Directly on the heels of news that the House of Saud has decided to crack down on one of its most notorious "charities" comes news that a freshly released poll shows that nearly half of Saudis support the views and propaganda of Osama bin Laden. Which means that even if the Saudi government does finally do something about the petrodollar pipeline that feeds Islamic terrorists -- because this time they "really mean it" -- Saudi cash will still be responsible for most terrorism around the world. Just look at the survey.

Directly on the heels of news that the House of Saud has decided to “crack down” on one of its most notorious “charities” comes news that a freshly released poll shows that nearly half of Saudis support the views and propaganda of Osama bin Laden.Which means that even if the Saudi government does finally do something about the petrodollar pipeline that feeds Islamic terrorists—because this time they “really mean it”—Saudi cash will still be responsible for most terrorism around the world.Just look at the survey released this week.From August to November of last year—within months of the May al Qaeda...

The State Department and the CIA seem to have grabbed the wheel at the New York Times, with successive front-page stories last week on Wednesday and Thursday, first smearing Iraqi Governing Council member and longtime U.S. ally Ahmed Chalabi, then his allies in the administration.Perhaps it sacrificed its journalistic integrity in exchange for the first pass at leaks from State and CIA, or perhaps the paper and the paper-pushers united because of a common goal: the defeat of George W. Bush this November.To appreciate how surreal the Times’ stories were last week, consider the underlying facts.  Chalabi is accused of...

Collin Levey / Seattle Times editorial columnistThe Moore you know, the less you blame DisneyRaise your voices and rejoice, Michael Moore is free. The "documentary" filmmaker has landed a North American distributor for his "Fahrenheit 9/11," which last month won top honors at the Cannes Film Festival for its portrayal of George Bush as a moron, American soldiers as brutes and the administration as a tool of the Saudi royal family. You'll recall his film made headlines earlier when it was orphaned by Disney, which balked at sponsoring the partisan politics in an election season, fearing boycotts and an offended...

Inside the halls of the State Department, career members of the Foreign Service have been buzzing about a prospect that excites them very much: President John Kerry. Never mind that their current boss is President George W. Bush. Bush administration officials are assumed by the public to be loyal to the president, but the fact is that Bush’s foreign policy team is dominated by people who were not appointed by him—and most of them desperately want Bush to lose come November. And if Bush doesn’t act soon, their wish might be granted. For proof, look at the “scandal” surrounding Iraqi...

Watching a Pentagon press conference in the run-up to the Iraq war typically felt like a star-studded wrestling tag-team event: in the midst of a sea of cameras, reporters ruthlessly assaulted Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Joint Chiefs Chairman Richard Myers with question after question. And that was fantastic. It was more than that, though. It was necessary for a functioning democracy. Citizens—voters—rely on the press to challenge the “official line” and dig for the truth. It’s not perfect, but it beats simply taking the government’s word. But where is that same tenacity in challenging the spin machine of the...

<p>Inside the halls of the State Department, career members of the Foreign Service have been buzzing about a prospect that excites them very much: President John Kerry. Never mind that their current boss is President George W. Bush.</p> <p>To what extent this impacts day-to-day job performance or leaks to the press is unclear, but it is clear that Mr. Bush presides not over an administration divided on philosophy, but over an administration whose foreign policy team is dominated by those who desperately want him to lose come November.</p>

Back in the mid-1990’s, Chalabi and his group, the Iraqi National Congress, were still on speaking terms with the Central Intelligence Agency. When a coup attempt was being cooked up against Saddam, Chalabi warned the CIA that it would fail. It did, and Chalabi was not bashful about defending his prediction-slash-warning. He has been deemed an enemy of the CIA ever since. The administration hawks are just as hated, though for different reasons (explained below). The New York Times on Monday ran a story, seemingly based solely on “intelligence officials,” with the headline: “U.S. Steps Up Hunt in Leaks to...

To the casual observer, the situation in Iraq is bleak, the Iraqi people don't really want democracy, and the only worthwhile story is the brutality and intimidation of Iraqi prisoners. To the "casual observer" of the mainstream media, that is. Although common sense and a semi-continuous pulse would be enough to notice the media's pack mentality in its Iraq coverage, the numbers paint a compelling - and disturbing - picture. On any given day, Americans are treated to maybe a dozen stories highlighting the good deeds being done by coalition forces - building bridges, literally and figuratively, and generally improving...