Free Republic

"Moderate" Palestinian Authority (PA) leader Dr. Mustafa Barghouti accused Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu himself of being responsible for the murder of teens Naftali Frenkel (16), Gilad Sha'ar (16), and Eyal Yifrah (19) on Tuesday. Barghouti went on to justify the murders, claiming Palestinian Arabs cannot be held responsible for their actions. "First of all, let me tell you, I am sorry for the deaths of anybody - including these three people and also for the ten Palestinians, who were killed by the Israeli Army this week," Barghouti began, in an interview with CNN. He then accused Prime Minister Netanyahu...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The government has authorized the killing of American citizens as part of its controversial drone campaign against al Qaeda even without intelligence that such Americans are actively plotting to attack a U.S. target, according to a Justice Department memo. The unclassified memo, first obtained by NBC News, argues that drone strikes are justified under American law if a targeted U.S. citizen had "recently" been involved in "activities" posing a possible threat and provided that there is no evidence suggesting the individual "renounced or abandoned" such activities. The document was disclosed as a bipartisan group of U.S. senators...

If Iran became a nuclear power, would it risk its own regime survival to strike at Israel? Such questions remain at the heart of the current debate. Those who argue either President Obama should try diplomacy again or that containment can work argue that Iran would not launch their weapons in a first strike against Israel, never mind what Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani said during his term as president. A recent article in the Iranian press written by Ali Reza Forqani, an ally of the Supreme Leader, however, should re-inject concern about what Iran’s true intentions are.

WASHINGTON (AFP) – The US government for the first time has offered a legal justification of its drone strikes against Al-Qaeda and Taliban militants, citing the right to "self-defense" under international law. The CIA attacks by unmanned aircraft in Pakistan, Somalia and elsewhere have sharply increased under President Barack Obama's administration but have remained shrouded in secrecy, with some human rights groups charging the bombing raids amount to illegal assassinations. Broaching a subject that has been off-limits for official comment, State Department legal advisor Harold Koh laid out the legal argument for the strikes in a speech late Thursday, referring...

Bin Laden justifies attacks on westerners in new tape By Anton La Guardia, Diplomatic Editor (Filed: 24/04/2006) Osama Bin Laden accused the West yesterday of waging a war against Islam and justified attacks on western civilians because they had elected governments that are fighting in Muslim countries. Bin Laden's threats came as John Reid, the Defence Secretary, confirmed that the 3,500 British troops in Afghanistan would launch pre-emptive strikes against Taliban and al-Qa'eda forces if it was necessary to safeguard soldiers' lives. Bin Laden: new threats In a latest tape recording attributed to the al-Qa'eda leader, who is believed to...