Free Republic

There is something surreal about the charges flying that President Bush lied when he said that Saddam Hussein was in possession of weapons of mass destruction. In Europe, and especially in Britain, where Tony Blair is also under fire, the idea has actually taken hold that the charge against Iraq was a complete fabrication

No Front-Runner, Democrats Plot Strategy 2 hours, 11 minutes ago By RON FOURNIER, AP Political Writer WASHINGTON - The campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination will pit the tortoises against the hares, three patient plodders hoping to overtake three confident sprinters after the race's first lap. Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts, Rep. Dick Gephardt of Missouri and former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean are the pacesetters. Following the traditional nomination path, they are seeking victories Jan. 19 in Iowa or eight days later in New Hampshire to build momentum for the first multistate showdown Feb. 3. Sens. Joe Lieberman of Connecticut,...

Revealed: Islamic extremists' plan to hit civilian targets Chilling details about the existence of a group of extremist Islamic militants, set on executing attacks on civilians in Britain, are revealed in intelligence documents obtained by The Observer. The cell, comprising at least six individuals and based in London and Luton, is part of the 'al-Tauhid group'. The group is independent of Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda organisation, but follow a similar hardline agenda and has been blamed for a series of attacks and plots over the last three years. According to German intelligence documents, it is believed that members of the...

Al-Qaida Crash Plot in Pakistan Uncovered By CURT ANDERSON, Associated Press Writer WASHINGTON - U.S. authorities say they have uncovered an al-Qaida plot to crash an explosives-laden small aircraft into the American consulate in Karachi, Pakistan. That prompted the Homeland Security Department to warn about possible attacks in the United States. AP Photo A department advisory said al-Qaida was in the late stages of planning an attack on the consulate using a small fixed-wing aircraft or helicopter. Such a plot, along with one uncovered last year in which al-Qaida hoped to fly a small plane into a U.S. warship in...

WASHINGTON -- A longtime Iraqi spy official, suspected of involvement in a plot to assassinate former President Bush and of having links to al-Qaida, was delivered to the Iraqi border by Syrian authorities Friday, U.S. officials said. Farouk Hijazi was taken into custody near the Syrian border, U.S. officials said, indicating new cooperation from a government that had been accused of harboring members of Saddam Hussein's deposed regime. Hijazi most recently served as Iraq's ambassador to Tunisia and was formerly ambassador to Turkey. But he is of particular interest to the CIA and the Pentagon because he was "a lifelong...

Well informed sources told the Jordanian Daily Al Dotsour yesterday that an operation of collective assassination was made by American-British forces on the Iraqi leadership and was carried out, according to an intelligence plan in the Al Mansour suburb of Baghdad. The sources said that two of the dissident Senior Iraqi Military Leaders coordinated with one of the Leaders of the Republican Guard in an operation to monitor the date and place of a meeting for the Iraqi leadership, noting that the Senior Member of the Republican Guard carried out this mission completely.The paper explained that he was informed by...

By defending sovereignty in the name of anti-imperialism, opponents of war undermine their claim to champion the oppressed. A large part of the British left - and the left elsewhere - has made a fundamental mistake. In opposing the invasion of Iraq, it has shown itself incapable of thinking through not only the nature of the world as it is today, but also its own claims to be the leading force in making the world better. The more vehement sections of the left have succumbed to the comfort of violently rhetorical attacks on the US and have led the world...

"Obviously, I would have been happier if Canada had not been conquered in the past by the English, if this part of North America had remained French, but you can't rewrite history." -- Jean Chretien ---- Le Monde, Dec. 1, 1994 Well, doesn't that give us some insight into the mind and machinations of one Prime Minister Jean Chretien. But, as we look at how Chretien has snubbed our American neighbours at a time when they need our support most, maybe Chretien is trying to rewrite history. Perhaps he's pretending he really is a man of some consequence in the...

<p>HERE WE COME: U.S. B-52 bombers arrive at Royal Air Force base Fairford in western England.</p> <p>March 4, 2003 -- Intelligence agents struck gold with Khalid Sheikh Mohammed's arrest - uncovering fresh leads on Osama bin Laden, a list of 200 al Qaeda operatives in the United States and elsewhere, and previously unknown terror plots, officials said yesterday. Solid evidence that Mohammed has been in "recent contact" with bin Laden was discovered during Friday's raid on Mohammed's hideout in Rawalpindi Pakistan, giving frustrated U.S. authorities their first scent of the al Qaeda leader in more than 14 months, sources said.</p>

The disgraced former figure skating champion, Tonya Harding, has lost her first ever bout in the professional boxing ring. Harding, 32, made her professional debut against another novice, Samantha Browning, as a show-opener for the equally controversial Mike Tyson bout in Memphis on Saturday. "This was much, much harder than I ever figured. But it only makes me want to work that much harder," Harding said. Harding was twice US national figure skating champion, but fell from grace after being involved in an attack on her Olympic Games rival Nancy Kerrigan in 1994. She was subsequently banned for life from...

Three jailed in Morocco for al-Qaida plot Three Saudi Arabians have been jailed for 10 years by a Moroccan court for leading an al-Qaida plot to attack British and American warships. They were arrested on May 12 last year for what prosecutors contend was a plot to sail a dinghy loaded with explosives from Morocco into the Strait of Gibraltar to attack US and British warships. The alleged plan was similar to one carried out in October 2000, when two suicide bombers in a small boat rammed the USS Cole destroyer in a port in Yemen, killing 17 sailors. A...

Plot to kill British forces chief foiled By Peter Popham and Jo Dillon 02 February 2003 Terrorists in Italy may have been plotting to assassinate Britain's head of the armed forces, Admiral Sir Michael Boyce, police confirmed yesterday. A newspaper photograph of Sir Michael, the Chief of the Defence Staff and Tony Blair's key war adviser, was among the objects found on Thursday when 28 Pakistanis were arrested during a raid on a Naples apartment. The photograph, in an Urdu-language Pakistani newspaper, had been ringed in ink. The find has been linked to a visit by the admiral to Nato's...

Terrorists in Italy may have been plotting to assassinate Britain's head of the armed forces, Admiral Sir Michael Boyce, according to reports. A photograph of the Chief of Defence Staff, circled in red, along with explosives were discovered during a raid on a suspected al-Qaida cell in Naples. The items were seized as Italian police arrested 28 Pakistanis after a dawn raid on an apartment in the city when 1.5 kilos of explosives were discovered, Italian news agency Ansa said. It is understood that Sir Michael, the most senior military adviser to Prime Minister Tony Blair, is due to visit...

BANJUL, Gambia: Authorities in the West African nation of Gambia have arrested two people in a suspected plot against the US ambassador there, a US State Department official has said. The plot concerned "a possible threat" to Ambassador Jackson McDonald, the State Department official said in Washington, speaking on condition of anonymity. Neither the US embassy officials in the capital, Banjul, nor Gambian military or government officials could immediately be reached for comment. News of Thursday's arrests emerged only late on Sunday. US authorities gave no details. Gambia, a former British colony that won independence in 1965, is a predominantly...

Plot Reported Against Plane Carrying Gulf Troops Sun Jan 12,11:41 PM ET WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States, stepping up mobilization for possible war with Iraq, has evidence of a plot to blow up an aircraft carrying troops and cargo to the Gulf region, The New York Times reported Sunday. Citing military and intelligence officials, the report on the newspaper's Web site said the evidence identified a specific civilian airline, a specific airport in the United States and a specific date and time for the planned attack. Officials learned of the plot within the past three weeks, the Times said....

A former Iraqi military intelligence chief awaits the fall of US bombs. Anton La Guardia met him in a south London flat Inside an anonymous block of flats in south London, Saddam Hussein's former head of military intelligence is plotting the downfall of his erstwhile master. General Wafiq al-Samarrai's office in Sutton has the feel of a military operations room. There he sits for hours at a computer screen, surrounded by maps and rows of yellow post-it notes, working his contacts "inside" by telephone and email, hoping to bring forward the fateful day. Yet while he has long been an...

Londoners have long been stoical about public transport. The half-snatched headline claiming “plot to release poison-gas on the Tube” is likely to be received with either the response “how would we be able to tell?” or “will the RMT executive stop at nothing?” As I travelled on the District Line yesterday I noticed a man reading intensely of the alleged conspiracy on the front of a Sunday newspaper. His attention obviously captured by the story, he looked up and stared at a man of Middle Eastern origin at the other end of the carriage. He then returned to his newspaper...

Terrorist Tube gas plot foiled By Jo Dillon, Andrew Clennell, and Raymond Whitaker 17 November 2002 Three men have been charged over an alleged plot to carry out a terrorist attack on the London Underground as fears over a direct threat to Britain's security mounted. Though Scotland Yard confirmed that three men had appeared before Bow Street magistrates, they were not charged with plotting a specific outrage. But reports today claimed that the men had been planning to bring the ingredients for a gas bomb into Britain, most probably to release cyanide into the Tube network. No chemical or bomb-making...

Researchers plot course of ancient American tsunami Researchers have calculated the scale of a giant wave that devastated the north west coast of America 1,100 years ago. Japanese scientists used computer modelling to recreate the devastation from the ancient tsunami. The team from the Disaster Reduction and Human Renovation Institution in Kobe say the work will help planners minimise the impact of any future wave. The researchers took clues from silt deposits found in the Puget Sound, a Pacific inlet above earthquake fault lines in the Seattle area. Experts say the tsunami could have reached up to seven metres in...

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla., Oct. 17 (UPI) -- A federal judge sentenced a 19-year-old Pakistani immigrant to 140 months in prison Thursday for plotting to blow up electrical power substations and a National Guard armory in south Florida. Imran Mandhai had pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge William Dimitrouleas to one count of conspiracy to damage and destroy property with fire and explosives. Co-defendant Shueb Mossa Jokhan, 24, was sentenced Oct. 4 to 58 months for his role in the plot. "This case shows we will not tire or rest until we weed out and bring to justice those who would...