Free Republic

It just wasn't my day for smooth traveling—not what I was hoping for when I had to fly nearly halfway around the world. Flying El Al—Israel’s official airline—is an unparalleled experience. Everyone is subjected to what other airlines consider "strict" scrutiny—and some lucky travelers really go through the ringer. Count me as one of the “lucky” ones. Going through El Al’s security, it is easy to see why it is the safest airline on earth. You probably couldn’t sneak a toothpick past their attention. But where their system excels is in the personal touch. (And no, don’t snicker—I don’t mean...

Thursday’s massive power outages exposed our vulnerabilities in all of three minutes—the amount of time it took for 21 power plants to shut down. But over the next several hours, the whole messy affair demonstrated Americans’ resilience. It struck like a bolt of lightning—ironically, the original excuse given—leaving two nations simultaneously stunned and searching for instant answers. A lot of theories were advanced—the aforementioned lightning, a power plant fire, simple overusage—but the only answer embraced by one and all was: “this is not, repeat not, an act of terrorism.” If no one knew the actual cause, how could the authorities...

Visas that Should Have Been Denied A look at 9/11 terrorists’ visa applications. The cover story in National Review's October 28th issue (out Friday) details how at least 15 of the 19 September 11 hijackers should have been denied visas — an assessment based on expert analyses of 15 of the terrorists' visa-application forms, obtained exclusively by NR. In the year after 9/11, the hand-wringing mostly centered on the FBI and CIA's failure to "connect the dots." But that would not have been a fatal blow if the "dots" had not been here in the first place. If the U.S....

While most of the attention paid to the recent 9/11 report has focused on the 28 blanked-out pages detailing the actions of the House of Saud, a far more important player has escaped necessary scrutiny: the U.S. State Department. Not because the diplomats at Foggy Bottom did anything overt (aside from issuing visas to the terrorists that never should have been issued under the law), but because they believe “stability”—even stability of tyrants—is always in America’s interests. What that has wrought, though, is a world more amenable to tyranny and terrorism. History shows that the State Department has had an...

While most of the attention paid to the recent 9/11 report has focused on the 28 blanked-out pages detailing the actions of the House of Saud, a far more important player has escaped necessary scrutiny: the U.S. State Department. Not because the diplomats at Foggy Bottom did anything overt (aside from issuing visas to the terrorists that never should have been issued under the law), but because they believe “stability”—even stability of tyrants—is always in America’s interests. What that has wrought, though, is a world more amenable to tyranny and terrorism. History shows that the State Department has had an...

After five nights of courageous demonstrations in Iran—where protesters faced the prospects of beatings, torture, or worse—Iranians seeking freedom from an oppressive regime once again found an ally in President Bush.  Unfortunately, the same cannot be said of the President’s own State Department.  Speaking to reporters from the Bush family vacation home in Kennebunkport, Maine, the President said that the protests are “the beginnings of people expressing themselves toward a free Iran, which I think is positive.”  This is in keeping with past statements, where Bush has expressed solidarity with the majority of the Iranian population that wants the very freedoms...

Hitting at what may be a new low in the "neocon" code-word game, Business Week magazine recently ran a "news" story that practically screamed "Jew" — without saying the word at all. In an article titled "Where do the neocons go from here?" Richard Dunham attempts to explain to a lay audience what a neocon is and where the "movement" is headed. As anyone who's participated in various political and policy struggles inside the Beltway over the past few years can attest, this is no small feat, as the word neocon has meant many things to many people at many...

Speaking to a group of Palestinians and left-wing Israelis in Israel recently, a high-ranking State Department official took the time to disparage the "conservative" and "Christian" supporters of President Bush, his ultimate superior. The incident is revealing not just in showing the contempt members of the Foreign Service have for Bush, but how urgent the need is for the White House to push for reform at Foggy Bottom. At a May 4 meeting attended by several Labor Party officials, activists from left-wing Peace Now and several officials from the Palestinian Authority, Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs William...

Speaking to a group of Palestinians and left-wing Israelis in Israel recently, a high-ranking State Department official took the time to disparage the “conservative” and “Christian” supporters of President Bush, his ultimate superior.  The incident is revealing not just in showing the contempt members of the Foreign Service have for Bush, but how urgent the need is for the White House to push for reform at Foggy Bottom.  At a May 4 meeting attended by several Labor Party officials, activists from left-wing Peace Now, and several officials from the Palestinian Authority, Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs William Burns...

A few days ago, a group of students from Baghdad's Hurriyyah (Freedom) neighborhood complained to their parents about Ismail Shahade Meshadai, much-hated school principal at the Nahr el-Khalid high school. An activist in Saddam Hussein's Baath party, Meshadai, along with his wife (a teacher), has not only been terrorizing the neighborhood for some years, but was also known to regularly report to Iraqi mukhabarat on "suspect" students and families. Still, the principal did not make it to the top of anybody's agenda until last week, soon after schools reopened. When a teacher removed a picture of Saddam, the principal burst...

In two different speeches after the start of the war, Saddam Hussein promised that there would be "chaos" if the United States were to control Iraq, warning Iraqis to expect something akin to the Mongolian invasion of Baghdad in 1258. Though what has happened of late is nothing on the scale of 750 years ago, there has been a significant level of disorder and unrest. Hyperbole aside, Saddam was either remarkably prescient — or simply accurate in predicting what his henchmen would be able to carry out in the aftermath of the war. The psyche of the Iraqi people,...

A Foggy Bottom official wants to sit down with Iranian mullahs and Pyongyang's Dear Leader. If Richard Haass, an outgoing State Department official, has his way, President Bush's policy of isolating Iran and North Korea will be undermined. And if top-ranking officials at State have their way, Haass's successor will continue the Haass efforts.Between now and the end of June, two events will be unfolding side-by-side: Haass is going to attempt to find ways to "engage" the Iranian mullahs and Kim Jong-Il, and Foggy Bottom will be trying to replace him with someone who favors the same strategy — even...