Free Republic

Mazar-i-Sharif. Ring a bell? In 2001, a 32-year-old Marine captain and CIA officer named John Michael Spann was killed there in a prison riot, thus becoming the first American combat death in Afghanistan. Not incidentally, Spann, before violence broke out, had interrogated an uncooperative John Walker Lindh, the American Taliban. This all took place before the U.S. military completely toppled Afghanistan's Taliban oppressors. Nearly seven years later, American-liberated Mazar-i-Sharif has again made headlines — well, one or two — as the site of the prison where a 23-year-old Afghan journalist has been detained for three months (and counting) on blasphemy...

Election 2004: Our choices Oklahoman EditorialPresident: Republican George W. Bush The war on terror requires a leader with the courage and resolve to stay the course, even in the face of extreme adversity. The war and related security issues are the driving concerns in this year's presidential contest between George W. Bush and John Kerry. The United States is going through a different trial by fire in Iraq. News from the front is troubling, and terrorist tactics test modern Americans' will to see the mission through. We believe President Bush merits re-election because of his superior clarity on the task...

Thu September 2, 2004 Republicans cheer bipartisan critique of Kerry By Chris Casteel The Oklahoman NEW YORK -- A Democratic senator delivered a scathing attack on his own party's presidential nominee on Wednesday, telling Republicans gathered here for their national convention that Sen. John Kerry had been "more wrong, more weak and more wobbly than any other national figure" on national security issues. "George Bush wants to grab terrorists by the throat and not let go to get a better grip," said Sen. Zell Miller, of Georgia. "From John Kerry, they get a yes-no-maybe bowl of mush that can only...

Less than a year into his tenure as state commissioner of health, Dr. Leslie M. Beitsch is making enemies faster than he's making friends. He admits he is "brusque." His mannerism isn't conducive to coalition-building. He confesses that some people think he's a "health Nazi" and that "they may be right." They may indeed. Beitsch is the force behind the state Board of Health's attempt to ban smoking in public places. Handed the reins of the state Health Department last June, Beitsch faced an enormous challenge in restoring employee morale and institutional credibility at a scandal-tarred agency. The torch of...