Free Republic

“With malice toward none; with charity for all…” It was a civic gesture as unexpected then as it is needed now. One hundred and fifty years ago today, Abraham Lincoln stood on the eastern portico of the U.S. Capitol and delivered a few words—703, to be precise—at his Second Inaugural. The speech remains the most celebrated inaugural address in our history. Fredrick Douglass, not always an admirer of Lincoln, called it a “sacred effort.” Lincoln himself acknowledged it was filled with “lots of wisdom” and predicted it would “wear as well as—perhaps even better than—any thing I have produced.” From...

Action in memory of Boris Nemtsov in Moscow. LIVE In Moscow, March 1 goes rally in memory of Boris Nemtsov, who was killed last night in the Greater Moscow River bridge, Column Proceeds from the Slavic area. Completed a march at the murder scene Policy. http://tvrain.ru/articles/aktsija_pamjati_borisa_nemtsova_v_moskve_live-383168/

Nemtsov founded a number of opposition movements after leaving the Russian parliament in 2003 and he had served as the co-chair of the opposition Republican Party of Russia - People's Freedom Party since 2012. He was a prominent and vocal critic of Mr Putin, denouncing him for Russia's part in the Ukraine crisis, its worsening economic situation, and the alleged corruption surrounding preparations for the Sochi Olympic Games in 2014.

Western powers should take into consideration Russia's legitimate security concerns over Ukraine, a top Chinese diplomat has said in an unusually frank and open display of support for Moscow's position in the crisis. Qu Xing, China's ambassador to Belgium, was quoted by state news agency Xinhua late on Thursday as blaming competition between Russia and the West for the Ukraine crisis, urging Western powers to "abandon the zero-sum mentality" with Russia. He said the "nature and root cause" of the crisis was the "game" between Russia and Western powers, including the United States and the European Union. He said external...

The National Police on Friday detained eight Spaniards suspected of fighting alongside pro-Russian forces in the ongoing conflict in Ukraine. The arrests took place in Asturias, Catalonia, Extremadura, Murcia, Navarre and Madrid. Three of the suspects are former members of the Spanish armed forces, and one is confirmed to have been on the frontline, according to anti-terrorist sources. The men are all aged between 20 and 30 years old. The eight Spaniards belong to several different communist organizations, and had received support from an unofficial pro-Russian European network. The operation was completed after three of the men returned to Spain...

Head of the DPR Aleksandr Zakharchenko made an emergency announcement in Donetsk on February 26 in regard to the withdrawal of heavy armaments from the line of contact. He recited to the journalists the text of the document submitted to the Head of the OSCE mission in the DPR. “In pursuance of the Declaration of 12.02.2015 and the “Package of measures concerning implementation of the Minsk Agreement” the Donetsk People’s Republic has withdrawn heavy armament to the agreed upon and registered by the given document distance”, the document claims. Aleksandr Zakharchenko remarked that the DPR has withdrawn 90% of artillery,...

Back in March 2014 we forecast that it in the aftermath of the US State Department-sponsored coup in Kiev, it was only a matter of time before Ukraine (all of its sovereign gold having since "vaporized") succumbed to full blown hyperinflation and economic implosion. Less than a year later, precisely this outcome has finally played out, and as a result, the entire nation has finally entered its economic endgame, which has two conclusions: either it joins Greece in becoming a ward of Europe and the IMF (thank you Joe Q taxpayer), or it quietly fades away into insolvent "failed state"...

Yesterday we summarized the most recent economic, political and social situation in Ukraine as follows: "A year or so on from the last coup in Ukraine, Ukraine’s former Prime Minister Sergey Arbuzov told TASS, with growing popular discontent, "another state coup can’t be ruled out in Ukraine." As the cease-fire deal hangs torn and tattered in the Debaltseve winds, the nation is a mess, a new gas dispute looms as Gazprom demands upfront payments, capital controls have been tightened as the $17.5bn IMF loan may not be enough; and the central bank governor faces prosecution as the economy craters. All...

More than half of the Ukrainian casualties in the battle against Russian-backed separatists are killed by friendly fire and lack of training, a British army veteran who volunteered with the Ukrainian forces has revealed. The soldier, known only as “Saffron”, confirmed that the Ukrainian forces were in complete disarray, lacking basic equipment and having no concept of military strategy. Last week Ukrainian forces suffered defeat at Debaltseve. But Saffron, a 40 year old naturalised Briton of Ukrainian descent, told the Sunday Times that the defeat was inevitable thanks to incompetent leadership and lack of training. “Six out of 10 casualties...

Many have speculated on the reason for the hand inside the coat pose of officers during Civil War photographs.   Perhaps it was to render access to a concealed weapon.  These, after all, were military officers. Is that the bulge of a Smith & Wesson #1 under his left arm?  It is about the right size.   The number one was one of the first easily concealable cartridge pistols.  It was first produced in 1857 and was in great demand by officers in the Civil War. As a .22 short, we might not think of it as having much stopping power. ...

As Russia celebrates 'Defender Of The Fatherland' Day, they had an interesting message on the side of the parade's missiles: "To be personally delivered to Obama."

Monitors from the OSCE, which is monitoring the ceasefire between Kiev and separatist rebels in east Ukraine, told FRANCE 24 on Monday that the truce is not being respected in critical areas nor with regard to the withdrawal of heavy weapons. Alexander Hug, the deputy chief monitor of the special mission to Ukraine for the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), warned that fighting had continued over the weekend and urged both Ukrainian troops and Russian-backed rebels to disclose information about the current positions of the heavy artillery that is to be pulled back from the front line...

One year ago, Dasha Oratovska and Sasha Zakhovaieva fled from Kyiv's Independence Square as riot police launched an assault on anti-government protesters, firing flares and rubber bullets into the crowd. Sasha lost consciousness and was dragged by a friend to a makeshift hospital in the nearby Trade Unions building. The building soon caught fire, forcing doctors and wounded protesters to evacuate. As the Euromaidan Revolution reached its bloody crescendo, Dasha found Sasha sitting, dazed, on St. Sophia Square, a short distance from Independence Square. Six months later, Dasha left Ukraine, likely permanently. Sasha remains in Kyiv but has begun formulating...

LifeNews is showing a video of a system in 3 transport crates, with lettering in English, that was found in a wrecked Kiev encampment in Debaltseve. I believe it was the 40th Regiment's HQ. Start at4:20 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kjf95WiAo3g#t=254 They don't really show it well, but my guess is that it could be a Sat Communications System. Others on another website are saying it's likely a US Counter-Mortar Radar. I thought the wealth of knowledge on FR might be able to answer this question?

Russian-made MIGs from deposed Libyan leader Col. Moammar Gadhafi were used by an Islamist faction vying for control of the nation’s affairs. A spokesman for the Libya Dawn coalition said Tuesday that “two or three” jets were used to attack an airstrip occupied by a rival militia in the town of Zintan, The New York Times reported.

Ukrainian forces fought their way out of the embattled town of Debaltseve in the early hours of Wednesday, choosing a risky overnight breakout rather than surrender as they abandoned the town to Russian-backed militants. President Petro O. Poroshenko said in a televised statement that he had ordered the retreat from Debaltseve, a strategic transportation hub where intense fighting raged in recent days despite a cease-fire agreement signed last week in Minsk, Belarus. Mr. Poroshenko sought to cast the retreat in a positive light, but the loss of the town was clearly a devastating setback for the army at the hands...

General Staff ordered the militias, which are surrounded by Debaltseve, the destruction of heavy machinery and departure. However, out of the new boiler in a fight almost not possible. It is reported online volunteer "Fund Peace and Order" Vsevolod Kozhemeyko, news reports "Press Ukraine". "Our part in the area Debaltseve no longer be able to enter the engineering and lossless. Order of destruction technology has received. Next to wade explored paths "- says volunteer. "What is it again? How long can you tolerate errors Viti Muzhenko war and lose people, equipment and grounds. Can this be enough dense unprofessional and...

Senior rebel commander Eduard Basurin said on Tuesday pro-Russian separatists had gained control of more than 80 percent of the east Ukrainian transport hub of Debaltseve, which has been gripped by fighting despite a ceasefire deal.

The leader of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic (DPR), Alexander Zakharchenko has called an emergency meeting Sunday regarding the violation of silence regime in Donbas by Kiev forces, the deputy head of DPR militia said. "The head of the Donetsk People's Republic, Alexander Zakharchenko has called an emergency meeting at which the current situation is being discussed," Eduard Basurin said. Eduard Basurin said that at 02:00 (February 14, 23:00 GMT) armed groups of Kiev militants in the town of Debaltseve have opened fire targeting the positions of LPR and DPR. “In order to avoid civilian casualties, the units of DPR...

When Ukrainian army officers came to the Ukrainian village of Velikaya Znamenka to tell the men to prepare to be drafted, they weren’t prepared for what happened next. As the commanding officer was speaking, a woman seized the microphone and proceeded to tell him off: "We’re sick of this war! Our husbands and sons aren’t going anywhere!" She then launched into a passionate speech, denouncing the war, and the coup leaders in Kiev, to the cheers of the crowd. What she did is now a crime in Ukraine: the only reason she wasn’t arrested on the spot is that the...