Free Republic

DEFEAT IS NEVER pleasant, but often it is better to lose than to win. Defeat in the Second World War was the best thing that ever happened to Germany and Japan in their thousand years of recorded history. For America, losing in Vietnam was also a blessing in disguise. While defeat seemed to shatter the illusion of an “American century” of global dominance, it was followed by 30 years of almost uninterrupted prosperity, a political renaissance for conservative values and America’s total victory over communism in the Cold War. Such thoughts may not offer much consolation to George Bush, Tony...

U.S. Says Banned Nuclear Technology Went to Pakistan and India By DAVID S. CLOUD WASHINGTON, April 8 - Federal prosecutors investigating the smuggling of nuclear technology disclosed Friday that a South African businessman had pleaded guilty to arranging illegal exports of American-made equipment both to Pakistan and its regional rival, India. Asher Karni, an Israeli who lives in South Africa, entered the guilty plea last September and has been cooperating with investigators, prosecutors said. The prosecutors, however, kept the proceeding secret until Friday, when they unsealed the plea agreement and charges brought against Humayun Khan, an Islamabad businessman with longstanding...