Free Republic

Vice President Dick Cheney predicted Wednesday that thousands of boxes of documents captured from Saddam's Hussein's former regime will show that the Iraqi dictator had a much closer relationship with Osama bin Laden than was previously known. "I think what we'll find as we get a chance to go through and analyze these documents -- there's some 50,000 boxes of them that are now being made available here over the next few months -- that we'll see a pretty complete picture that Saddam Hussein did, in fact, deal with some pretty nefarious characters out there," Cheney told Fox News Radio's...

U.S. forces in Saudi Arabia were attacked by al Qaeda twice in the months following Saddam Hussein's decision to approve Osama bin Laden's request for help in attacking "foreign forces" in Saudi Arabia. An Iraqi intelligence document released last week states that bin Laden met in Sudan with senior Iraqi intelligence agents on Feb. 19, 1995, where he requested help in conducting "joint operations against foreign forces" in Saudi Arabia. Saddam "was informed of the details of the meeting in our letter 370 on March 4, 1995," the Iraqi intelligence memo explains. The document goes on to state: "The approval...

An Iraqi intelligence document released last week indicates that Osama bin Laden sought to conduct "joint operations" with Saddam Hussein's regime six years before the 9/11 attacks - and was given the green light by the Iraqi dictator. The document, detailed in the March 27 issue of the Weekly Standard, describes a Feb. 1995 meeting between bin Laden and Iraqi intelligence that was personally approved by "the Honorable Presidency" - an apparent reference to Saddam. "We discussed with [bin Laden] his organization. He requested the broadcast of the speeches of Sheikh Sulayman al-Uda [who has influence within Saudi Arabia and...

Russia and China hope to sign a massive arms deal after staging joint exercises for the first time RUSSIA will show off its most modern bombers to its best military customer and China will have a chance to demonstrate that it is a force to be reckoned with when the giant neighbours hold their first joint military exercises this month. The decision to hold the drills off the east China coast in the Yellow Sea came after a disagreement over Beijing’s initial desire for the games to take place further south, opposite the island of Taiwan — which it hopes...

From July 18 to 24, Russia is holding large-scale military maneuvers aimed at countering potential terrorist attacks in its Far East region. However, since terrorists have not yet really targeted Russia's Far East, the drill is understood to have other purposes as well. The drill, code named "Vostok 2005," aims at preparing for "the fight against international terrorism in all its aspects," according to the Russian Ministry of Defense. The military exercise is designed to boost security in order to confront "separatists, radical religious-nationalist movements, and international radical groups," according to a Ministry statement. Furthermore, the maneuvers aim at training...

Nothing can take the place of meeting foreign military leaders in their countries as the United States seeks to build military-to-military ties, said Air Force Gen. Richard B. Myers. The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff finished a five-day visit to South America and Haiti March 13. In South America, the chairman spoke with military and civilian leaders on bilateral and multilateral relations. The chairman visited Brazil, Paraguay, Argentina and Chile before stopping in Haiti. The United States has long-standing close relationships with each country. The trip had been planned for months, long before the situation in Haiti became...

Thanks to joint operations, the insurgency in Iraq is less organized and more fearful than it was month ago, the commander of the 1st Armored Division said in a Baghdad news conference today. Brig. Gen. Martin E. Dempsey said that U.S. soldiers operating jointly with Iraqi security forces against insurgents have become much more precise and effective in bringing in "exactly the right people on our terms." . Dempsey credited the Iraqi Civil Defense Corps with helping to defeat the insurgency and helping to shut down several terrorist cells. The division has trained some 4,000 new soldiers for the ICDC,...