Free Republic

In an astonishing stroke of irony, the New York Times has outed the name of the CIA operative who interrogated 9/11 mastermind Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, over the objections of CIA Director Michael V. Hayden and a lawyer representing the operative. Agency officials and legal counsel told the Times that publishing the agent's name would "invade his privacy and put him at risk of retaliation from terrorists or harassment from critics of the agency." In an Editor's Note linked from the story on KSM's interrogation, the Times defended its decision by stating that "other government employees" had been "named publicly in...

Here’s our jaw-droppingly sick 2-minute leftist hate of the day, at the Guardian’s “Comment is free” pseudo-blog, where journalist Neil Clark argues that Iraqi translators working for UK forces are “traitors,” and should not be allowed asylum in Britain. Instead, Clark hopes they’ll be slaughtered by the “true heroes” of Iraq. Yes, really. Comment is free: Keep these quislings out. The interpreters did not work for “us”, the British people, but for themselves - they are paid around £16 a day, an excellent wage in Iraq - and for an illegal occupying force. Let’s not cast them as heroes. The...

Like watching a blood-drunk barbarian on a rampage, 300, like its title, drops the pretense of history—it purports to dramatize the ancient battle of Thermopylae between Spartans and Persians—and offers what can only be described as a mongrel mix of audio-visual fury. 300 is History hijacked by Horror. A band of Spartan men go to war led by a king (Gerard Butler) married to a queen (Lena Headey) who insulted the enemy that marches upon their civilization, which is depicted as a haven for hateful half-savages. It's easier to follow who's who and what's what than one might expect, yet...

WASHINGTON — Former military generals are criticizing anti-war groups for helping to organize active-duty soldiers to urge Congress to end the war in Iraq. In interviews yesterday, the generals were careful to say they have no objection to enlisted soldiers petitioning Congress as private citizens. It is a different matter, however, to coordinate this drive so close to the midterm elections and publicize it with the aid of anti-war organizations, they said. Yesterday, a company that does public relations for the liberal activist political action committee MoveOn.org, Fenton Communications, organized a conference call for reporters and three active-duty soldiers to...

The victor of the war on terror is far from clear, the historian Bernard Lewis told a Hudson Institute conference. The British-born professor of Near Eastern studies at Princeton said Monday that he was "more optimistic about the future of our struggle" in the early 1940s — when the French had capitulated to the Germans, when Stalin was Hitler's ally, and when America was still neutral — than he is today. "Hitler would have won under these conditions," Mr. Lewis said, citing America's inability to clearly define the war on terror and exactly who its enemy is. The professor, whose...

TEHRAN, July 22 (MNA) -- Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez is due to visit Tehran and take part in President-Elect Mahmud Ahmadinejad’s inauguration ceremony, the FARS News Agency reported on Friday. Chavez, who visited Iran three times during President Khatami’s tenure, will travel to Tehran on 30 July, for the fourth time. The presence of Chavez in Tehran can strengthen friendly ties between Iran and Venezuela, which have developed closer relations over the past several years. Ahmadinejad will be sworn as Iran’s next president on August 4.

The Senate is bracing for its first fight for illegal immigrants in nearly 10 years after the chambers' parliamentarian ruled that a debate over granting legal status to illegal agriculture workers will be allowed on the pending emergency spending bill.The $81 billion spending bill covers cost associated with the war on terror, and the House already passed a version with provisions restricting asylum claims and cracking down on illegal immigrants' ability to use driver's licenses. The parliamentarian said those provisions open the door for Sen. Larry E. Craig, Idaho republican, to offer as an amendment his bill, coomonly called "Ag-jobs"...

"The greatest irony of the post-911 world is that so many Democrats hate the Bush Doctrine. Liberation, anti-proliferation, and nation-building are activist and liberal, not defensive and conservative. The perceived immorality of our actions may weigh heavily on their souls. But it's nothing compared to what we might have to face if our goal of limited war for democracy fails. If the Middle East gets nukes before it gets freedom, it will be extraordinarily difficult, if not impossible, to wage a war on liberal grounds. We'll be back where we were during the Cold War. The only difference is that...