Free Republic

Islamist militants shot down an Egyptian military helicopter in the Sinai Peninsula with a surface-to-air missile over the weekend, raising new alarms about the terrorist insurgency that developed there in response to the military takeover last summer. The attack — described by witnesses, documented in a video released by the militants, and confirmed by three people briefed on the Egyptian government’s investigation — validated longstanding fears that such weapons would spill into Egypt and beyond after the Libyan civil war tore open Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi’s fearsome arsenals. Known as manpads, for man-portable air defense systems, the missiles can bring down...

In a televised interview on Wednesday, Jan. 22, Iran’s foreign minister said that a fact sheet distributed by the White House mischaracterized what Iran agreed to do in the Interim Nuclear Agreement. Mohammad Javad Zarif, Iran’s foreign minister, told CNN’s chief national security correspondent that the Obama administration “tried to create a false impression” by claiming that Iran had agreed to “dismantle” the machinery that enabled it to enrich uranium above five percent. The Iranian diplomat said that he was “not interested” in playing verbal games, while the White House was engaged in “underplaying its concessions and overplaying Iranian commitments.”...

Two Iranian warships set sail Tuesday for the Atlantic Ocean on their navy's first-ever mission there, state TV reported. The voyage comes amid an ongoing push by Iran to demonstrate the ability to project power across the Middle East and beyond. The report said that the destroyer Sabalan and the logistic helicopter carrier Khark will be dispatched on a three-month voyage. "The warships will have task of securing shipping routes as well as training new personnel," the semi-official Fars news agency quoted Iran's navy chief Admiral Habibollah Sayyari as saying.

Iranians honor man who killed hundreds of Americans and say full steam ahead on nuclear weapons despite Obama claim! So, Obama's bragging about the deal with Iran on Tuesday and said "give peace a chance." Perhaps Obama remembers the John Lennon song of the same name during his pot smoking days in that stoner choom gang he belonged to in Hawaii. But as details emerge, it now appears that the deal with Iran is even worse than first thought. It now appears that Obama, who claimed that his Administration would be the most transparent in history, inked a secret side...

Thursday, Jan. 16, Iran’s Javad Zarif and Syria’s Walid Moallem flew together to Moscow aboard the same flight and went straight into a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Zarif caught the flight in Damascus after a consultation with Syrian President Bashar Assad and a government-building exercise in Beirut. debkafile’s Middle East sources and intelligence sources report that this spurt of diplomatic motion came after Assad gave the nod to the plan Tehran had prepared to put on the table of the Geneva 2 conference, which opens in Switzerland on Jan. 20 for a political solution of the Syrian conflict....

The hospital that had been treating Ariel Sharon says the former Israeli Prime Minister has died. Hospital spokesman Dr. Shlomo Noy said Saturday: "The Sheba Medical Center at Tel Hashomer announces with sorrow the death of Mr. Ariel Sharon who passed about an hour ago." He said that during the years Sharon had been treated his condition was defined as "minimal consciousness" and he had had "ups and downs."

Up to 600,000 of Syria’s 2.2 million Christians have fled their homes and are now either refugees or internally displaced persons, according to Aid to the Church in Need. In all, 1.8 million Syrians have left their homes, the charity reported. “The number of Christians killed because they are targeted for their faith is growing,” said Father Andrzej Halemba, the charity’s Middle East projects coordinator. Referring to an October massacre, the priest said that “Sadad is a very clear case. They were slaughtered like animals.”

BEIRUT—Spiraling violence and advances by al Qaeda-linked fighters in Iraq, Syria and Lebanon are underscoring the cost of Syria's civil war as it increasingly spills over the country's borders. The rise of the Islamist forces in Iraq is particularly worrisome to the Obama administration. In response, U.S. officials said Sunday they were seeking to boost military support—though they emphasized no troops—for Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki to help in his campaign to push back al Qaeda. U.S. officials are also considering new military aid for Lebanon, which is plagued by rising sectarian violence. Resurgent al Qaeda-allied forces battled Sunday in...

A spokesman for Tel Hashomer hospital said Sharon's condition had deteriorated in the past few days, while refusing to elaborate further. Reports from Israeli media, including the broadcasters Channel 10 TV and Israel Radio, said that the former prime minister was in a "life threatening" condition after suffering kidney malfunction. The website of the Haaretz newspaper quoted an unnamed source as saying that Sharon could die in "a matter of days," should his condition continue to decline. The television station Channel 2 said that Sharon's sons were at his bedside.

According to a recent report by World Net Daily, expected 2016 presidential candidate Hillary Clinton is embroiled in yet another international scandal. Still reeling from what many perceive as a botched response to the 2012 terrorist attack in Benghazi, Libya, reports indicate the former secretary of state is being investigated by Egypt’s attorney general. Hisham Barakat’s criminal complaint against Clinton alleges she conspired with the wife of former Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi – and the Muslim Brotherhood – to encourage rebels in the nation. According to a translator, Morsi’s wife, Naglaa Mahmoud, reportedly claims to have a “treasure trove of...

United States Secretary of State John Kerry has offered Israel the release of Jonathan Pollard, Channel 10 News reported on Friday. According to the report, Kerry’s offer was made as part of the discussions surrounding the upcoming planned release of 26 terrorists from Israeli jails as a “gesture” to Palestinian Authority chairman Mahmoud Abbas. Kol Yisrael radio, which also reported about Kerry’s offer, said it relates to the fourth stage of the terrorist release and is conditional upon Israel agreeing to release Israeli Arabs who have committed acts of terrorism. Israeli officials were quoted by both outlets as having said...

Once again Barack Obama is going to push Israel to hand over half of Jerusalem, the Wailing Wall, The Temple Mount, Old Jerusalem, and the tomb of Jesus Christ to the Hamas-Fatah terrorists. Barack Obama believes giving the terrorists more land will result in peace. It’s as if the Gaza transfer and disaster never happened. The Times of Israel reported: US Secretary of State John Kerry will offer Israeli and Palestinian negotiators a political trade-off: Israeli recognition of the 1967 lines as a basis for the future Palestinian state, in return for Palestinian recognition of Israel as the state of...

Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel called his Egyptian counterpart, Gen. Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, on Sunday to again tsk-tsk the interim government for not being “inclusive.” It was the first such call in a month and comes after Egypt branded the Muslim Brotherhood a terrorist organization. That came in the wake of a bombing at the security directorate headquarters in Mansoura that killed 16, but Egyptians made clear that the designation was warranted by a long history of incitement and violence by the MB. “Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel called Egyptian Minister of Defense General Al-Sisi today to discuss recent events in...

Increasingly vocal in its frustration over U.S. policies in the Mideast, Saudi Arabia is strengthening ties elsewhere, seeking out an alignment that will bolster its position after it was pushed to the sidelines this year. It may find a solution in France, whose president is ending the year with 24 hours of high-level meetings with the Saudi leadership in a visit intended to showcase commercial and diplomatic strength. […] The Saudis also watch with trepidation at the warming ties between Iran and the West. The way the nuclear talks were handled—with U.S. officials secretly meeting their Iranian counterparts before more...

It is the natural tendency of radical movements to be outflanked by radicalism. On Tuesday the UN announced that it was seeking an unprecedented influx of cash to facilitate aid operations in Syria and for Syrian refugees. More than 60 percent of the aid is to be spent on the burgeoning refugee camps of Syrian civilians in Iraq, Lebanon and Turkey. The refugees are currently suffering through harsh winter conditions and unprecedented sums are needed to support several million Syrians. The tragedy of the refugees is underscored by increasing failure of the Syrian rebels to make any gains against the...

US Secretary of State John Kerry reiterated on Sunday that Israel will be safer the day the recently-reached deal on Iran´s nuclear issue is implemented. Kerry, addressing the Brookings Institution´s annual Saban Forum, recognized Israel´s concern over Tehran´s disputed nuclear ambitions, saying the possibility of a weaponized nuclear Iran stood as an existential threat to Israel. "We will not allow Iran to acquire a nuclear weapon. Period. Not now, not ever," he said.

Nelson Mandela: Israel Is Terrorist and Islamic Arabs Are Innocent By Julio Severo If you believe the leftist Christian press, Nelson Mandela was… a Christian! Sheer indoctrination by the mainstream secular media? No doubt. The secular press has portrayed Mandela as a hero. A major Protestant news site in Brazil published a list of nice quotes by Mandela. By reading exclusively these nice quotes, you could say that he was a hero and even a Christian. Yassir Arafat and Nelson Mandela Yet, what about the other quotes? Since the mainstream media and even the Christian press will not show...

A former senior intelligence official told me that the Obama administration had altered the available information – in terms of its timing and sequence – to enable the president and his advisers to make intelligence retrieved days after the attack look as if it had been picked up and analysed in real time, as the attack was happening.

U.S. President Barack Obama said at the Saban Forum on Saturday that there must not be another Gaza in the Palestinian Authority-assigned areas of Judea and Samaria. Israel pulled out of Gaza in 2005, as part of the “Disengagement”. This resulted in Hamas taking over the region and escalating rocket attacks at southern Israel. Obama warned that in the event of a final agreement between Israel and the PA, there would be a "transition period" to ensure that Judea and Samaria does not become a security threat akin to Hamas-ruled Gaza. He said that the PA would have to accept...

U.S. President Barack Obama has reportedly asked Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu to stop being so vocal with his criticism of the deal reached between Iran and the West, reports The Washington Post. The newspaper’s columnist David Ignatius wrote on Thursday, “Obama has asked Netanyahu to take a breather from his clamorous criticism and send to Washington a team that can explore with U.S. officials a sound end-state strategy.” .....