Free Republic

DEAR readers, the orderly way the parliamentary and provincial assembly elections were held in Afghanistan yesterday is reassurance that the system of democracy has come to stay in the landlocked nation, despite the many threats it faced. The good news from Afghanistan is also that the warlords and others who tried to thwart the election process have failed miserably. All what they could do was to close down a few polling stations for a few hours, or kill some candidates in the run-up to the polls, or take the lives of a few people in stray cases of violence. That...

Using enemy body counts as a benchmark, the U.S. military claimed gains against Abu Musab Zarqawi's foreign-led fighters But by many standards, including increasingly high death tolls in insurgent strikes, Zarqawi's group, al Qaeda in Iraq, could claim to be the side that's gaining after 2 years of war. August was the third-deadliest month of the war for U.S. troops. Zarqawi's guerrillas this spring and summer showed themselves to be capable of mounting waves of suicide bombings and car bombings that could kill scores at a time and paralyze the Iraqi capital. The same morning, scores of al Qaeda fighters...

KABUL, Afghanistan -- Afghans chose a legislature for the first time in decades Sunday, embracing their newly recovered democratic rights and braving threats of Taliban attacks to cast votes in schools, tents and mosques. --- snip ---- With nearly three-quarters of the populace illiterate, voting was slow as people spent as much as 10 minutes wading through ballots up to seven pages long to find pictures of candidates or symbols that represent them. Each voter dipped a finger in indelible purple ink to prevent repeat voting.

There is no body of text, just a nice map and dates and battle reports. Notice the various areas of population density verse areas where one would assume rightly there is nothing but barren desert landscape. Do take note of the areas along the Syrian border that are not fit for easy foot travel. Some of those roads may not even be roads in the conventional sense, where they are always passable by cars for instance. So why do I point this out? Well for those that have not been given an opportunity to see a more detailed map, that...

WASHINGTON, Sept. 15, 2005 – Because "democracy means failure for the insurgency" in Iraq, terrorists are employing violence across Iraq in an effort to derail the democratic process, a senior military Multinational Force Iraq spokesman told reporters today during a Baghdad news conference. Terrorists in Iraq are known to ratchet up their activities, like the recent spate of deadly car bombings in Baghdad, when specific progress is being made in remaking Iraq into a free and democratic nation, Army Maj. Gen. Rick Lynch explained. "These spikes of violence are predictable around the times that highlight progress towards democracy," Lynch said....

UNITED NATIONS, Sept 15 (Reuters) - Home-grown units could replace some of the foreign troops in Iraq by the end of this month but no timetable exists for a pullout of U.S.-led forces, Iraqi President Jalal Talabani said on Thursday. Talabani caused controversy last week when he first told the Washington Post the United States could withdraw as many as 50,000 troops by the end of the year and then aligned himself with President George W. Bush's view that a withdrawal deadline would only fan the insurgency. Talabani repeated that Iraq did not want to set a timetable on any...

WASHINGTON, Sept. 14, 2005 – Eighty percent of al Qaeda's network in northern Iraq "has been devastated" since January due to the capture or killing of key leaders and the outrage of Iraqi citizens, a U.S. troop commander told Pentagon reporters today. Army Col. Robert B. Brown, commander of the 1st Brigade, 25th Infantry Division's Stryker Brigade Combat Team, reported from Mosul, Iraq, during a videoteleconference that things are looking up in northern Iraq, where "the Iraqi army is being rebuilt" and citizens clearly "want freedom." The situation in Mosul is "improving on a daily basis," Brown said. "Normalcy has...

NEW ORLEANS, Sept. 15, 2005 – The Crescent City will be dry long before originally thought, the commander of Task Force Unwatering said here Sept. 14. "All I'm thinking about is water," said Army Col. Duane Gapinski, commander of the Army Corps of Engineers task force that is draining the floodwaters from New Orleans. The corps has made incredible progress, officials said. Since Hurricane Katrina flooded the city Aug. 30, engineers and workers have been feverishly damming up breached levees, strengthening canal walls and getting huge pumps on line. The results are plain to see. "Right now in the metropolitan...

The excellent Gateway Pundit has updates on the successful--in fact, utterly one-sided--Tal Afar battle, as well as President Talabani's visit to the White House today. President Talabani said: In the name of Iraqi people, I say to you, Mr. President, and to the glorious American people, thank you, thank you. Thank you, because you liberated us from the worst kind of dictatorship. Our people suffered too much from this worst kind of dictatorship... Thank you, and thanks to the United States, there are now 15 million Muslims in Afghanistan and Iraq liberated by your courageous leadership and decision to liberate...

MNF-I COALITION • Multi-National Force – Iraq was established 15 May 2004 and on the one year anniversary there were 26 countries participating in the Coalition. Also in May 2005, the force consisted of more than 160,000 troops from all the coalition nations. More than 37 countries have participated in the coalition since its inception. • Security Council Resolution 1546 outlines the framework for international involvement in Iraq. The aim of this involvement is to prepare for a democratically elected government and to ensure full Iraqi control of the country and its resources. The only way to achieve this is...

An interview with Richard Miniter on the War on Terror, the media's role in promoting terrorism, and the role of Pakistan and Saudi Arabia. According to Richard Miniter, an American investigative journalist who is an expert on Islamic terrorism, the West is capable of winning the war on terror. In fact, he thinks it is winning. Miniter, who is a weekly guest on Fox News, has traveled extensively all over the globe and was in Brussels last month on his way to Afghanistan. The Brussels Journal interviewed him. Paul Belien: Rich, you have written two bestselling books about terrorism so...

Two Days in Iraq By Rep. Mike Pence Our two days in Iraq began with a prayer and a brief reading from Psalm 91. After a short delay caused by an engine failure, we lifted off in the cargo hold of a C-130 aircraft filled with soldiers and materials returning to Operation Iraqi Freedom. On the faces of the soldiers we met aboard the aircraft, most of whom were returning from leave, was the evident anxiety of men returning to battle and sober determination. I overheard one soldier tell a colleague, “I’m here for my family, my kids and my...

WASHINGTON, Sept. 9 (UPI) -- The news from Iraq this past week was overshadowed by the flood catastrophe in New Orleans and Louisiana, and that was ironic: Because for the first time in months, trends across the board were largely positive. Compared with the previous week when almost a thousand people were crushed or drowned in a panic stampede on the Aimma Bridge over the Tigris River in Baghdad, almost any news would have sounded good by comparison. But the figures for U.S. troops killed and wounded -- the latter figure in many respects a more statistically broad and revealing...

The voter registration period for Iraqi citizens officially ended Sept. 7. And while final results have not been compiled, estimates so far indicate a willingness by the Iraqi people to participate in the political process, a military spokesman in Baghdad, Iraq, said today. In Samarra alone, more new voters registered this past month than voted in the January elections, said Army Maj. Gen. Rick Lynch, a Multinational Force Iraq spokesman. Another example of the Iraqi people's enthusiasm was in Mosul, where more than 500,000 people double-checked to ensure they were registered, he said. "They want to be engaged in the...

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 07, 2005 Welcome signs of Iraqi confidence Progress in stabilizing Iraq is being achieved in small steps, as witnessed Tuesday by the withdrawal of U.S. troops from the once embattled holy city of Najaf. As Brig. Gen. Augustus L. Collins, commander of the 155th Brigade Combat Team, said in remarks reported by The Associated Press: "This is indeed a very important day for the province of Najaf. It gives me great pleasure to say the Iraqi army in Najaf can control the area." His words were echoed by Col. Sa'adi, the commander of the Iraqi forces who will...

BAGHDAD (AFX) - Iraqi Prime Minister Ibrahim Jaafari said the draft of the country's constitution has been finalised after weeks of tortuous negotiations and will be available to the public in a few days. 'We consider it finalised. It is a matter of days and then Iraq and the world will see the birth of the constitution draft,' he told reporters. But a UN official said the international body had still not received a final copy for printing, although he expected the document to be delivered within 24 hours. President Jalal Talabani said the draft had been amended to satisfy...

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. A well-known Florida newspaper says one of its reporters was shot and wounded while covering the hurricane aftermath in Baton Rouge. The St. Petersburg Times says Marcus Franklin was shot Monday night while on his way back to a motel. The newspaper says the reporter was at a stop sign in a dimly-lit area when a man with a revolver walked up to the car and asked for his money. Franklin says he heard a pop but didn't realize he'd been shot in the stomach until he started driving off. The 34-year-old journalist called 9-1-1 and was...

Across Afghanistan, good news for farmers, and for the rest of the population: The country's farms are alive again. Seven years of drought had left fields monochrome plains of brown dust. But good snows and rains have many Afghans seeing color again--seas of golden wheat undulate in the breeze, green apricot trees are plump with yellow fruit, melons of every hue dot fields. It is much-needed relief for impoverished farmers as well as the estimated 3.4 million Afghans who have been relying on food handouts from overburdened international aid groups. One wheat farmer sees the end of the drought as...

After a week of lawlessness in the city, National Guard and police arrive in force, outnumbering remaining residents 10 to 1. NEW ORLEANS - It wasn't exactly the cavalry that finally arrived. But for stranded French Quarter resident Joe Campiere, it was close enough. After seven lawless days and nights following hurricane Katrina's punch to the nation's Gulf Coast, a time when exclusive Rue Dauphin in the French Quarter turned into an outlaw camp, Mr. Campiere called 911 - and finally got through. Soon after, three Texas lawmen rode down Rue Dauphin on horseback to inspect a reported break-in, a...

NAJAF, Iraq - The U.S. Army handed over its base in Najaf on Tuesday, giving Iraqis full control of the city as a first step in transferring security across the country so multinational forces can begin to go home someday. Lt. Col. James Oliver, the U.S. commander of Forward Operating Base Hotel, handed the ceremonial keys to the installation to the new Iraqi commander, Col. Saadi Salih al-Maliky. About 1,500 Iraqi soldiers from the 2nd Battalion, 1st Brigade, 8th Division marched by. Before the ceremony, the Iraqi soldiers, all Shiites, chanted "long live Sistani," referring to top cleric Grand Ayatollah...