Free Republic

Syrian forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad have fired Scud missiles at rebel fighters in recent days, Obama administration officials said on Wednesday. The move represents a significant escalation in the fighting, which has already killed more than 40,000 civilians in a nearly two-year-old conflict that has threatened to destabilize the Middle East. One American official, who asked not to be identified because he was discussing classified information, said that missiles had been fired from the Damascus area at targets in northern Syria. “The total is number is probably north of six now,” said another American official, and that the...

C. M. Glover for The New York TimesThe submarine base in Groton, Conn., is among 33 major bases the Pentagon is seeking to close. GROTON, Conn., Aug. 19 - In a report to Congress in March 2004, the Navy projected that it would need a fleet of 55 nuclear-powered attack submarines in 2024. A year later, the Navy lowered the projection to 45. By May, Admiral Vern Clark, who was then the chief of naval operations, said he wanted 41. Others now talk of a fleet in the 30's. It has been 16 years since the Berlin Wall fell,...

An academic researcher has found 11 passages in Senator Kerry's published writings that appear to have been taken from other works without attribution, though experts disagree about whether the copying should be considered plagiarism. Six of the passages come from Mr. Kerry's 1997 book, "The New War: The Web of Crime That Threatens America's National Security." All bear some similarity to news accounts that preceded publication of the book. In one instance, Mr. Kerry wrote, "Russian mobsters have been arrested in Germany for extortion, car theft, counterfeiting, prostitution, selling drugs and illegal weapons, and smuggling everything from icons to uranium."...

KERRY’S LATEST CAMPAIGN FICTIONKerry Claims His 1997 Book Actually Did Plan For War On Terror – Before It Didn’t___________________________________________________________________KERRY CAMPAIGN FACT SHEET: “Long Before Bush Became Governor or President, John Kerry … Warned the Nation About the Dangers Faced By … International Terrorism.”  (John Kerry For President, “Bush-Cheney Ad Fact Check,” Press Release, 7/1/04)YOU CALL THIS A WARNING?Kerry’s Book Did Not Mention Osama Bin Laden Or Al Qaeda Even Once.  “The book does not mention Osama bin Laden or Al Qaeda, and The New Republic wrote recently that it ‘was almost entirely focused on the threat of global crime, not...