Free Republic

Islamic countries distrust the United States under the leadership of President Obama about as much as they did under President George W. Bush. What's going on? Throughout the Bush presidency, opinion polling from the Pew Research Center trumpeted America’s “abysmal” approval ratings across the globe. The problem, pollsters suggested with numbing regularity, was that a “cowboy president” had inflamed the Muslim world—and America’s European allies—with his “unilateral” war on terrorism. The remedy, of course, was a new administration with a fresh approach: a president committed to multilateralism, smart diplomacy, and American soft power. Right on cue, a Pew report hailed...

“FBI raids Denver home in suspect Al-Qaeda plot: ABC” (AFP) – 1 hour ago WASHINGTON — SNIPPET: “About a dozen agents arrived at the home of Najibullah Zazi, 24, and one confirmed to ABC a search warrant was being executed. “Zazi’s travels to New York last weekend triggered a round of highly publicized raids in the New York area,” the ABC report said adding that “authorities told members of Congress the raids had helped to disrupt a plot to carry out a major attack on New York.” Authorities said they found 14 new black backpacks in the New York raids,...

RESTON, Va. (AP) - On Friday afternoons, the people coming to pray at this building take off their shoes, unfurl rugs to kneel on and pray in Arabic. The ones that come Friday evenings put on yarmulkes, light candles and pray in Hebrew. The building is a synagogue on a tree-lined street in suburban Virginia, but for the past few weeks—during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan—it has also been doubling daily as a mosque. Synagogue members suggested their building after hearing the Muslim congregation was looking to rent a place for overflow crowds. "People look to the Jewish-Muslim relationship...

Israel opposes Kosovo recognition, urges talks Sep 16, 2009 Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman and Serbia Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremic have agreed that new negotiations between Belgrade and Pristina is the only way to achieve a long-term and stable solution for the future status of Kosovo. Lieberman said that direct talks is the only way that a comprehensive peace in the region can be achieved. Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman, left, and Serbia Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremic meet in Serbia September 16, 2009. Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman, left, and Serbia Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremic meet in Serbia September 16,...

Just imagine if after the post-September 11th US attack on Afghanistan, the UN interviewed Taliban and al-Qaida supporters who told lots of lies about the US just to de-legitimize America and to make us look like a war criminal and the terrorists as the victims. And Imagine if the UN published a report based on those tall tales, and called for the US to be punished as a war criminal. That is just what happened to Israel. After suffering years of terrorist attacks at the hands of Hamas terrorists,the United Nations sent South African Judge Richard Goldstone on a fact-finding...

The Report of the United Nations Fact Finding Mission on the Gaza ConflictThe title of the so-called "Goldstone Report" tells you what the UN "fact finders" were looking for. They couldn't completely ignore the years of increasingly long-range and accurate Hamas rockets and mortars terrorizing nearly a million Israelis and couldn't completely ignore Hamas's use of civilians as shields, so next best was to equate aggressor and defender, arsonist and fireman. With excruciating evenhandedness, "the mission concluded that actions amounting to war crimes and possibly in some respect crimes against humanity were committed by the Israel Defense Forces." At the...

An explosion and gunfire rocked a besieged village house in Solo, Central Java where counterterrorism forces hunted Thursday for suspects in twin suicide bombings in the capital in July, witnesses and officials said. Police cordoned off a neighborhood late Wednesday in a suburb of Solo, a stronghold for hardline Islamist groups, and shots rang out through the night, an Associated Press reporter at the scene said. An explosion went off around daybreak Thursday and an ambulance was seen driving away. Police had said a special forces operation was unfolding, but declined to give details. They could not be reached to...

Iran's opposition leaders have said they will attend protest meetings at the nationwide Jerusalem Day anti-Israel prayer event on September 18th. Opposition leaders have said they will attend to protest the last election poll, which they say was rigged to secure President Ahmadinejad's re-election. The June presidential election was followed by huge opposition protests, which the government is keen to avoid again. Iranian authorities, including Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, have already warned opposition members they should not use any protest to turn attendees against the clerical establishment. With some opposition websites calling for new antigovernment protests on Qods Day,...

Iran's Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki says there would be no “direct Iran-US talks” during the upcoming talks between Iran and the major world powers. Iran and the five permanent members of the UN Security Council--the US, Britain, Russia, France and China--plus Germany (P5+1) will hold the latest round of talks on Tehran's nuclear program on October 1. The Iranian top diplomat noted that the venue of the talks has not been determined yet. EU Foreign Policy Chief Javier Solana had earlier said that the talks will probably be held in Turkey. Asked if there would be any Iran-US talks during...

ike all "peace activists", the former president engages in revilement against Israel, which feeds Palestinian rejectionism Israel has become a permanent stop in the travels of the former president of USA Jimmy Carter. It transpires that his approach to Israel is special. Two weeks ago he visited in Israel, this time in a special delegation of the Elders - the Elders of the world's tribe. As soon as he returned to the United States, he published an anti-Israel article in the Washington Post. In this article, Carter mentions the Hanun family, "who were evicted from the house when they had...

Terrorism: At a time when the public is losing heart on the war in Afghanistan, a decisive strike on Somalia's al-Qaida chief Monday reminds us that victory is possible and President Obama is an able leader on this front.Ten days ago, Obama signed an executive order authorizing U.S. special forces to hunt down and blow away Saleh Ali Saleh Nabhan, a ruthless Kenyan-born terrorist operating out of Somalia. In 1998, Nabhan had a role in the bombing of the U.S. Embassy in Nairobi, Kenya, which left 212 dead, including 12 Americans. The attack was so vicious, it put Osama bin...

Washington, D.C. (AHN) - A judge in Virginia on Wednesday set the date of execution of Washington sniper John Allen Muhammad to Nov. 10. The decision of Prince William County Circuit Court Judge Mary Grace O'Brien will send Muhammad to the Greensville Correctional Center in Jarratt for lethal injection. Muhammad's lawyer said he plans to appeal the ruling before the U.S. Supreme Court or seek clemency from Gov. Timothy M. Kaine (D).Muhammad was sentenced to death in 2003 for the killing of Dean H. Meyers in 2002. He and accomplice Lee Boyd Malvo sniped 13 victims in the Maryland, the...

US special envoy to the Middle East George Mitchell met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu twice on Wednesday. Senior Palestinian officials who met with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas after his meeting with the American statesman Tuesday told Ynet that the US commitment to reach a peace deal within two years was clarified during the meeting.   The Palestinians estimate the Americans are adopting de facto the plan presented by Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad.  The meeting between Mitchell and Netanyahu started about an hour late on Wednesday. The two discussed the possibility of holding three-way talks between Netanyahu, Abbas,...

Getting morality lessons from Pakistan is shameful, says Israel Jerusalem, September 16: Israel has said that it does not need lessons in morality from a committee established by Syria, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Malaysia and Somalia. Responding to the findings of the Goldstone Commission Report with regard to the Israel Defence Force (IDF) aggression in the Gaza Strip earlier in 2009, Foreign Ministry spokesman Yossi Levy said: "Israel has examined itself in the light of day in innumerable investigations and a robust system of independent courts." "We have nothing to be ashamed of, and don't need lessons in morality from a committee...

The Land of Israel is divided. The question is how it will be divided in the future,” Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu told the Hebrew-language daily Israel HaYom (Israel Today) in an interview published Wednesday. He emphasized the security aspect concerning the future borders of Israel and of a “Palestinian entity,” a phrase he used before conceding in the face of pressure from U.S. President Barack Obama that he would acknowledge a Palestinian Authority state under certain conditions.

Former IDF commandos secretly entered a Palestinian Authority village on Monday and rescued an American woman and her 2 1/2-year-old son from her Muslim husband, who had beaten and and held her captive for three years. The woman and child flew to the United States Wednesday night and are en route to her family’s home in Ohio. The Arab met the woman during a visit to the United States and enticed her to return with him to Israel and to the house where he lives with his first wife and several childre.

AURORA, Colo. (AP) - FBI agents are searching the home of a Colorado man identified by law enforcement as having a possible al-Qaida link. FBI agents and sheriff's deputies entered the home of Najibullah (NAH-gee-bull-ah) Zazi (ZAH-zee) in suburban Denver on Wednesday. FBI special agent Kathleen Wright confirms they are executing a search warrant.

A Moore High School graduate who attended the University of Oklahoma on a track scholarship before joining the military has died in Afghanistan. Featured Gallery Advertisement Army 1st Lt. David Timothy Wright II, 26, died Monday. Details of his death were not available from the Department of Defense. His parents, Tim and Michele Wright, issued a statement through Primrose Funeral Service. "We want to say how much we appreciate the prayers and support that has been shown to our family during this very difficult time. David was a true soldier, who cherished the opportunity to fight for his country. "We...

Sweden’s Aftonbladet started it. The fact that both the article’s author and the paper’s editor already admitted they had no corroborating evidence meant little to “antiZionists”. Now the libel is spreading, like wildfire, throughout Islamic lands. The Bangladeshi Weekly Blitz reports: The anti-Semitic blogosphere as well as many Arab and Muslim media outlets are abuzz these days with accusations of an international Jewish conspiracy to kidnap Algerian children and harvest their organs. Unlike the multiple conspiracy theories about Jews circulating among radical fringe organizations online, this one seems to be gaining momentum on mainstream Arab and Muslim Web sites. According...

Court sets execution date for Washington, DC sniper mastermind A Virginia judge has ruled that the mastermind behind the 2002 sniper attacks in Washington, DC that left 10 people dead will be executed on November 10. John Allen Muhammad is expected to appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court and ask Governor Timothy M. Kaine for clemency. Muhammad was sentenced to death for the slaying of Dean Meyers, one of 10 people shot to death during a 2002 rampage that terrorized the Washington, D.C., area. uhammad and teenage accomplice Lee Boyd Malvo killed six people in Alabama and Louisiana before moving...