Free Republic

Abubakar Shekau, the leader of Nigerian Islamist militant group Boko Haram, has claimed responsibility for the more than 200 schoolgirls that were abducted two weeks ago and vowed to “sell them in the market.” After pressure from the international community for the Nigerian government to act, the country’s president has reached out to the U.S., among other countries, for help finding and ensuring the release of the girls. Secretary of State John Kerry said on a trip to Africa that the U.S. will do all it can to help, and also took the opportunity to slam the jihadists for…not offering...

Washington believes that Egypt’s latest crackdown on the Muslim Brotherhood is a bit too much but won’t take action against the interim government in Cairo, a United States official said Thursday. The official, who was quoted by the Reuters news agency, said the administration believed the Egyptian government was going “way too far” in its current crackdown on the Brotherhood and its supporters. …

There are only two words to describe the New York Times’ explanation of Barack Obama’s red-line dance – smart power.  According to anonymous “senior officials” at the White House, Obama’s advisors now claim that they had a precise calculation of what to say about Bashar al-Assad and the potential use of chemical weapons in Syria.  As soon as Obama went off the TelePrompter, though, that’s when he crossed them up and drew a red line the White House had not even contemplated. Or so they claim now: The origins of this dilemma can be traced in large part to a weekend last...

This is a superior article in The American Conservative by an ex-CIA officer who lays out in stark terms the difficulties facing Israel if they were to go it alone and bomb Iran's nuclear infrastructure. Basically, it comes down to geography, technology, and the cold calculations for success. A couple of excerpts: ***** Let's assume that the Israelis opt for an attacking force of 50 fighters, one third of which would be designated for suppression of ground fire. The planes would be equipped with conformal fuel tanks built into the fuselages for extended range. They would also have auxiliary tanks...

The Plesner Committee for Equality in National Service may only discuss ways of making hareidim serve in the IDF – but not Arab citizens, MK David Rotem (Yisrael Beytenu) disclosed Thursday. "The Attorney General and Legal Advisor to the Government informed the committee uner MK Yohanan Plesner that deals with enlisting everyone, that enlistment of Arabs is not within its purview," Rotem told reservist protesters in the "Suckers' Tent," which is currently visiting Efrat. The Legal Advisor's decision was communicated to the committee by his deputy, Attorney Mike Blass, who explained that the Tal Law that was struck down by...

State Department legal adviser nominee Harold Koh believes that notwithstanding congressional authorization, the Iraq war “violate[s] international law” because the United States did not receive “explicit United Nations authorization” for the war. I’d be interested to learn how (apart from crass political considerations) Koh reconciles his position on the Iraq war with his support for President Clinton’s war in Kosovo.  The Kosovo war had a much weaker basis in international law than the war in Iraq (which, among other things, had at the very least a strong claim of having implicit United Nations authorization).  And, as a matter of domestic law,...

THE PRESIDENT: Thank you all very much. (Applause.) General Metcalf, thanks, thanks for welcoming me back here. I am really pleased to be back to Wright-Patt, and it's great to be on the inside of the National Museum of the United States Air Force, which is a fabulous place. I hope our fellow citizens come and see it. It is a great tribute to the airmen who've flown the missions and secured the skies, and defended America's freedom. I want to thank the folks who maintain this shrine. I thank you for giving me a place to park Air Force...

MoveOn.org is drawing fire (no pun intended) for its attack of Gen. David Petraeus, commander of the military forces in Iraq, who recently gave a report and congressional testimony about the conditions in Iraq. The George Soros-funded, left-wing, pro-Democratic Party organization ran an expensive full-page ad in the New York Times excoriating Petraeus. The title was "General Petraeus or General Betray-Us? Cooking the Books for the White House." The first sentence was "General Petraeus is a military man constantly at war with the facts." The ad went on to claim, "Every independent report on the ground situation in Iraq shows...

Hizbollah is buying up large tracts of land owned by Christians and other non-Shias in southern Lebanon as the militant group rebuilds its defences in preparation for a new war with Israel, The Sunday Telegraph has been told. The land grab is thought to be driven by the Iranian-backed guerrillas' efforts to rearm themselves and fortify the strategically important ravines north of the Litani River, just north of the front line in last year's 34-day conflict with its Jewish neighbour. Here, Hizbollah has been free to press forward without harassment from the 13,000 United Nations peacekeepers and 20,000 Lebanese army...

Today's CNN poll question: Do you agree with describing the war on terror as a war on "fascism"? Currently answers are at: Yes 32% 7863 votes No 68% 16983 votes

thanx to Ladycalif for photo READ MORE HEAR HILLARY HILLARY VOTE FRAUDmissus clinton uses Jesusby Mia T, 03.27.06       SENATORS FOR VOTE FRAUD By ARNOLD ALHERT   October 19, 2002 -- IT'S more than a little ironic. On the same day it was announced that Saddam Hussein has been "unanimously" re-elected, the only two senators preventing a unanimous vote in the Senate on the election-reform bill were New York's own Chuck Schumer and Hillary Clinton. Why? "This would make it more difficult to vote in New York. It's designed to suppress minority voting participation," said Sen. Clinton....

WASHINGTON - President Bush tried to steady his presidency yesterday by urging Americans to support the Iraq war for the long haul, but a bigger boost for a limping White House may have come from a rogue Democrat. As promised, Bush launched another political offensive aimed at resurrecting his slumping agenda and rebuilding support for an increasingly unpopular war. The four-week strategy, which he previously tried with some temporary success in December, began with a speech aimed at linking the war on terrorism to Iraq - this time without Bush uttering unfounded optimism. "I wish I could tell you that...

School textbooks should be reviewed for intolerant depictions of Islam and other faiths by experts overseen by the European Union and Islamic leaders, the European Parliament was told yesterday. The call for a special committee to examine religious education in schools came from Hans-Gert Pöttering, the German Christian Democrat, who heads the largest group of MEPs. But the proposal was immediately condemned as "appeasement" by Charles Tannock, a British Conservative MEP. Mr Pöttering, the head of the centre-Right, but largely federalist European People's Party, said the work of building bridges between Islam and the West had to "begin with young...

EVANSTON, Ill.: The difficulty of detecting the presence of explosives and chemical warfare agents (CWAs) is once again all too apparent in the news about the London bombings. In a significant breakthrough, researchers at Northwestern University's Center for Quantum Devices have demonstrated a specialized diode laser that holds promise as a weapon of defense in both civilian and military applications. Once optimized, the tiny laser could quickly detect explosives and CWAs early and warn against possible threats. The Northwestern team, led by center director Manijeh Razeghi, became the first to create a quantum cascade laser (QCL) that can operate continuously...

<p>BEIJING, July 9 - After more than a year of stalemate, North Korea agreed Saturday evening to return to disarmament talks late this month and pledged to discuss eliminating its nuclear-weapons program, according to senior Bush administration officials.</p> <p>The agreement was reached during a dinner meeting, with the Chinese as the hosts, that included Christopher Hill, a former American ambassador to South Korea who has recently become the lead United States negotiator to the talks, and Kim Kye Gwan, North Korea's deputy foreign minister, according to a senior administration official traveling here with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.</p>

KORASUV, Uzbekistan May 18, 2005 — A Muslim rebel group claimed Wednesday it had seized control of a small Uzbek town on the border of Kyrgyzstan and vowed to build an Islamic state. Diplomats and U.N. officials toured a nearby city where government troops fired on demonstrators, reportedly killing hundreds. The leader of the rebel group, Bakhtiyor Rakhimov, said his forces controlled Korasuv, a town of 20,000, and were ready to fight any government troops that came to crush his rebellion. An AP reporter in Korasuv saw no sign of government officials in the town. "The town is in the...

Now the question becomes Iran. But the Iran question is not the simplistic "next target" issue that has been framed by the media -- or the Bush administration for that matter. The Iran question is far more complex, subtle and defining. It divides into two questions. First, once Iraq holds elections, what will Iran's policy be toward Iraq's new Shiite government? Second, since the Shiite-Sunni split is fundamental to the Islamic world, how will the United States manage and manipulate that divide? To approach these questions, we need to look at the world through Iran's eyes. Iran has a single,...

Dear Senator Kerry: Since beginning your campaign for President, you have consistently highlighted your military service as one reason why voters should support your candidacy. You have consistently implied that your military service has prepared you to serve in our country’s highest office. However, we have grave concerns about positions you have taken that affect our men and women in uniform. You voted in favor of going to war with Iraq. In fact, your speeches in the Senate clearly expressed support for not only military action in Iraq, but also the removal of Saddam Hussein. However, as your campaign for...

There's an article in conspiracy planet blames freepers for Nick Berg being detained and thereafter executed.