Free Republic

On the 60th anniversary of VJ-Day in 2005, Marine Capt. Randy Stone, a military lawyer serving in Iraq, became a presidential poster boy. Capt. Stone's two grandfathers fought at Iwo Jima, so President Bush, in a celebratory speech, turned the whole family into a gold-braided rhetorical flourish to depict the continuity of American character and courage from one war to another. "Captain Stone proudly wears the uniform just as his grandfathers did at Iwo Jima," said Mr. Bush. "He's guided by the same convictions they carried into battle. He shares the same willingness to serve a cause greater than himself......

Montenegro: "US Pressure" Led to Offshore Bank Blow Foreign investors and financial institutions are stunned by the authorities' decision to strip the country's offshore banking network of its privileges By Boris Darmanovic in Podgorica The Montenegrin government appears to have come under pressure from its most generous benefactor, America, to crack down on its secretive offshore banks. The move seems to have been prompted by Washington's concerns that they might be used by terrorist organisations to launder money. LOL! A six-year-old law guaranteeing the banks certain privileges until 2011 was revoked by the Montenegrin constitutional court in June, effectively outlawing...