Free Republic

Erdogan: Mosul offensive will commence October 19 By Zhelwan Z. Wali yesterday at 07:30 Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan addresses the 71st session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York. AP photo ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan revealed on Sunday that the battle to push the Islamic State (ISIS, Daesh) out of their stronghold of Mosul will commence on October 19. “It is said that the battle for Mosul against Daesh will kick off on October 19 and that we all have to be prepared for this event,” Erdogan said in a meeting with...

The United States is preparing to send an unspecific number of additional troops to Iraq to help reclaim the city of Mosul from the Islamic State group. That's according to two U.S. officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to publicly discuss the development before the official announcement - expected later Wednesday. The troops will train and advise Iraqis as planning to retake Mosul ramps up. The U.S.-led coalition and Iraqi forces are planning to start the operation in the next few months. Mosul is Iraq's second-largest city - and IS' last major urban stronghold in...

(Published in Swedish only; unofficial translation by Defense-Aerospace.com) By Tomas Augustsson STOCKHOLM --- A controversy has broken out among defense commentators in Sweden as to whether it makes sense to break up a large part of the current Swedish Gripen fleet to recover parts that can be used in the production of the new Gripen-E fighter, as ordered by the defence ministry and parliament. Sweden plans to produce a total of 60 new Gripen-Es at a cost of SEK 36 billion ($4.2 billion) to replace the 96 Gripen C/D currently operated by the Swedish Air Force. However, many are protesting...

A United Nations-affiliated group in Geneva is calling for the U.S. to give African Americans reparations for the country’s history of slavery, according to a recent report by the group. The group’s statement was part of a study by the United Nations’ Working Group of Experts on People of African Descent, a group that reports to the international organization’s High Commissioner on Human Rights, The Washington Post reported. The group of experts, made up of leading human rights lawyers from around the world, presented its findings about the link between the U.S.’s history of slavery and present injustices, such as...

Shortened title. Full title: Exclusive — Mook Spooked: Clinton Campaign Manager, Other Top Dems Dodge Questions on Whether Hillary Wants Obama to Withdraw TPP Hillary Clinton’s campaign manager Robby Mook and other top Democrats refused to answer whether Clinton wants President Barack Obama to withdraw the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) from consideration before Congress during interviews with Breitbart News in the spin room after the first presidential debate here at Hofstra University on Monday night. The fact that Mook, Clinton campaign spokesman Brian Fallon, and Democratic National Committee (DNC) chairwoman Donna Brazile each refused to answer the simple question that...

Link only

Condolences Page Created For Shimon PeresBy Israel News Agency StaffJerusalem, Israel — September 28, 2016 … With tears we confirm the passing of former President, Prime Minister Shimon Peres. Israel has lost a founding father, a light for peace. A Condolence Page has been created at Shimon Peres CondolencesThe Shimon Peres condolences page was established on Facebook and will be maintained for several years on both Facebook and on a private Website. Shimon Peres was one of the founders of the State of Israel, and was instrumental in building and developing Israel’s defense and security industry, establishing the IDF, developing...

Up to 20,000 migrants and asylum seekers could be turfed onto the streets in Italy because of a shortfall in funding for the country’s overstretched reception centres, the interior ministry has warned. A budget shortfall of 60 million euros could lead to the closing of some reception centres within weeks. Migrants would then have to fend for themselves but would also be free to try to head towards the wealthier countries of northern Europe, including Britain. The interior ministry warned that having so many migrants wandering around Italy “could create problems of public order because of the social tensions that...

TEHRAN, Iran — Before being elected president of Iran in June 2013, Hassan Rouhani was known as a close friend and constant companion of Expediency Council Chairman Ayatollah Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani. Rouhani’s management of the initial round of nuclear negotiations with the West — the failed engagement with Britain, France and Germany over 2003-2005 — earned him the nickname “the Diplomat Sheikh.” However, throughout his career, including when he was secretary of the Supreme National Security Council during the presidency of Mohammad Khatami, when he was removed from this post by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and finally when he started...

Sweden may be descending into a crisis as a new report suggests 80 per cent of police officers are considering switching careers due to the danger they face in the field. The criminal situation in Sweden may be heading for an even worse turn as a new report has shown that the vast majority of the Swedish police force is so unhappy they are looking into other careers. Sweden has been rocked by increasing levels of criminality from sex attacks at music festivals, hand grenade attacks and violence toward the police in areas populated mostly by migrants.

Folks, it is crunch time...Do what you can. Call, Email, or Tweet to vote on Protecting Internet Freedom Act and include it in the Continuing Resolution to the following: SENATE BILL SB3034 MITCH MCCONNELL http://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/contact (Bring Bill to floor & include in CR) 202-224-2541 Washington - I have been told easier to contact satellites (502) 582-6304 Louisville (270) 442-4554 Padukah (270) 781-1673 Bowling Green (859) 224-8286 Lexington JOHN CORNYN: Majority Whip, (bring SB3034 to floor NOW) https://www.cornyn.senate.gov/contact 202-224-2934 Washington I have been told easier to contact satellites 713-572-3337 Houston 956-423-0162 Harlington 806-472-7533 Lubock 210-224-7485 San Antonio 512-469-6034 Austin 903-593-0902 Tyler...

Saudi ministers will see a drop in their salaries of 20 percent, while members of Shura council’s wages are to be 15 percent less. The move follows a royal decree and Cabinet statement released Monday, in which the Saudi government announced the suspension of wage increases. During its meeting the Saudi cabinet also agreed to cancel the payment of bonuses, allowances, rewards and financial benefits. According to statistics, a minister’s salary amounts to 51,750 Saudi Riyals (SAR) – that’s nearly $13,800. But with the wage cut this figure will be reduced to 41,400SAR ($11,034). There are 143 Ministers, with a...

There is no possible way that among the Syrian refugees desperately needing our help, there could be a few dangerous terrorists. It is only ridiculous, racist conservatives – the types of people who will vote for Donald Trump - who insult the Syrian people, and intelligent liberals everywhere, by saying that there could be. We know this because we were instructed in that regard by earnest, progressive commentators who were out recently parading their caring tolerance in reaction to the son of the Republican candidate for president in the United States. Except that they are wrong; and provably so. Donald...

Julian Assange, the founder of WikiLeaks, is a controversial character. But there’s no denying the emails he has picked up from inside the Democrat Party are real, and he’s willing to expose Hillary Clinton. Now, he’s announcing that Hillary Clinton and her State Department were actively arming Islamic jihadists, which includes the Islamic State (ISIS) in Syria. Clinton has repeatedly denied these claims, including during multiple statements while under oath in front of the United States Senate.

Breaking News

The lifetime of Shimon Peres, who died Tuesday at age 93 after suffering a stroke on Sept. 13, spans the lifetime of the state of Israel. Born in Belarus, his family moved to Tel Aviv when he was 11, more than a decade before the country was founded. He lived on a kibbutz, when those communal settlements and a utopian, leftist ideology defined the nascent state. He also served in the pre-independence militia that became the Israeli Defense Forces, the institution that would ultimately define Israeli society. A hawk in the early decades of the country’s existence, Peres was a...

Several Afghan nationals undergoing military training in the United States disappeared from U.S. military bases this month, according to Pentagon and Homeland Security officials. “During the month of September, seven Afghan students were considered absent without leave (AWOL) during international military student programs,” Pentagon spokesman Cmdr. Patrick L. Evans said. Three of the Afghan military trainees fled from a Pentagon training program two weekends ago during the bombing spree in New York and New Jersey by Afghan-born bombing suspect Ahmad Rahami, raising concerns among security officials that the missing Afghan students may be linked to terrorism or plans for attacks...

Shimon Peres, one of Israel’s defining political figures and a Nobel peace prize laureate, has died at the age of 93, two weeks after having a stroke, the official Israel News Agency has confirmed. Peres had twice served as prime minister of Israel and later as the country’s ninth president. He had been seriously ill on a respirator in an Israeli hospital near Tel Aviv and died after his condition deteriorated sharply.

New details about a plot to fire a rocket at Marina Bay from Batam island have raised more questions over the capabilities of the terrorist cell behind the foiled attack. Indonesia's National Counter-terrorism Agency (BNPT) chief Suhardi Alius said the suspects planned to launch the strike from a hilltop in Taman Habibie. The little-known nature park is located about 17km from Singapore's shoreline and just over 18km from Marina Bay Sands.

The history of slavery in the United States justifies reparations for African Americans, argues a recent report by a U.N.-affiliated group based in Geneva. This conclusion was part of a study by the United Nations' Working Group of Experts on People of African Descent, a body that reports to the international organization's High Commissioner on Human Rights. The group of experts, which includes leading human rights lawyers from around the world, presented its findings to the United Nations Human Rights Council on Monday, pointing to the continuing link between present injustices and the dark chapters of American history. "In particular,...

A new report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine indicated that “first-generation immigrants are more costly to governments, mainly at the state and local levels, than are the native-born, in large part due to the costs of educating their children.” An article about the report in the Washington Times observed that the academies’ “researchers tested eight scenarios, and in each of them taxpayers came out worse.” The Times noted that in the best-case scenario, the federal government came out ahead as a result of immigration, but the states showed negative fiscal effects, for a total loss of...

An Air Force colonel facing court-martial next month on multiple counts of sexual assault was found dead Sunday at his Colorado home, according to the Air Force. Col. Eugene Marcus Caughey, formerly the vice commander of the 51st Space Wing at Schriever Air Force Base, had been charged with rape, assault, adultery and other crimes. His court-martial was scheduled to begin Oct. 17 in what would have been a rare instance of the military placing a senior officer on trial for sexual assault. Officials at Peterson Air Force Base said Caughey, 46, was found dead at his off-base residence in...

The president of Iran, state-sponsor of terrorism, has said he is expecting more money from the United States in addition to the $1.7 billion in cash that President Barack Obama has already paid the Shiite Islamic Republic as part of his nuclear deal. “There are still considerable sums of money in the United States that belong to our nation. And we’re currently conducting conversations and various dialogues in order to return this money to Iran. Some things that we could not agree upon, there are ways to address those in the international court system,” Shiite Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani told...

During their first debate face-off, Donald Trump hit Hillary Clinton over her support for the Trans-Pacific Partnership. Trump slammed the former first lady, who originally supported the massive free trade agreement, for calling it the “gold standard” of trade agreements. The issue of trade provided Trump with a window to launch the first significant attack against her last night—and yes, Clinton did describe TPP as such. Clinton tried to wiggle her way out of this endorsement of a trade agreement the Trump says will bring about the death knell to American manufacturing. DONALD TRUMP: You called it the gold standard....

Three priests with the Catholic Church have been kidnapped and murdered in Mexico in less than a week. The high profile murders mark the latest chapter in Mexico’s ongoing crime wave that continues to spread. The most recent murder took place the week of September 19 in the Mexican state of Michoacán when authorities confirmed the kidnapping and murder of Rev. Jose Alfredo Lopez Guillen. Over the weekend, the Michoacán Attorney General’s Office confirmed the discovery of Lopez’ body in a rural area called las Guayabas. Days before the kidnapping of Lopez, in the Mexican state of Veracruz, a group...

Former Mexican President Vicente Fox on Tuesday slammed Donald Trump's performance in the first presidential debate and warned that the GOP nominee's behavior should alarm world leaders. "We think he’s a danger. He’s a threat to the world," Fox, who watched the debate on Mexican television, told The Washington Post. "When he speaks about geo-economic situation and the geo-political situation and terrorism, he’s absolutely ignorant, and he’s only provoking us democratic leaders from around the world to reject everything he’s proposing. He is an imperialistic gringo." In contrast, Fox said Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton looked "very presidential." "My impression...

GAITHERSBURG, MD — Eight Montgomery County men were charged over the weekend with poaching striped bass in Dorchester County, according to Maryland Natural Resources Police. Three men were caught shortly before 4 a.m. Friday near Ferry Bridge on Hooper Island with 36 striped bass, 31 of which were undersized. Juan C. Ardon Gonzalez, 44, Melvin Omar Guzman, 45, and Juan Francisco Cruz-Hernandez, 33, all of Gaithersburg, were charged with catching over the recreational limit of two fish, keeping undersized striped bass, catching fish outside legal hours and keeping an undersized sea trout. All three men must appear in Dorchester County...

“Look at the war in Iraq and the mess that we’re in,” he said in an August 2004 issue of Esquire. “I would never have handled it that way…Two minutes after we leave, there’s going to be a revolution, and the meanest, toughest, smartest, most vicious guy will take over. And he’ll have weapons of mass destruction, which Saddam [Hussein] didn’t have.”

Hillary Clinton has a lifetime of anti-Israel positions. She said she was a big supporter of Israel when she was in the U.S. Senate, when she needed campaign contributions from American Jews and New York's Jewish voting bloc. She has not been pro-Israel since her resignation from the Senate to become Secretary of State in January 2009. When Hillary Clinton was the Secretary of State, she helped Barack Obama craft his anti-Israel positions. Like other presidents, Obama made his own policy; he fundamentally transformed America's foreign policy. He reoriented America's Middle East policy in favor of the ayatollahs, to make...

WASHINGTON (AP) — Congress is poised to override President Barack Obama’s veto of a bill that would allow families of Sept. 11 victims to sue Saudi Arabia for the kingdom’s alleged backing of the terrorists who carried out the attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people. The showdown is scheduled for Wednesday. Proponents of the legislation say they have enough votes for what would be a first: During his nearly two full terms in office, Obama has vetoed nine bills. None has been overridden. While there is broad and bipartisan support for bucking the president, the bill’s opponents also are pushing...

Two days prior to devastating aerial attacks, Michael Ratney, the U.S. special envoy to Syria, was told the Assad regime was planning to hit the Aleppo facilities of the Syrian Civil Defense, a volunteer rescue group. Raed al-Saleh, the head of the organization, which is widely known as the White Helmets, was in Manhattan last week, where he told not only Ratney, but envoys from the Netherlands, Britain, and Canada. He said intercepted communications from military officers in the Assad regime signaled imminent plans to bomb several rescue centers, according to two sources who were in the room when al-Saleh...

The Treasury Department and Justice Department took actions Monday against four Chinese individuals and one Chinese company for conspiring to aid North Korea’s nuclear weapons program in violation of U.S. economic sanctions. The unsealing of criminal charges and the imposition of new sanctions are aimed at shutting down a major Chinese node supporting North Korea’s weapons proliferation, officials said. The Justice Department charged the individuals and the trading company with conspiring to launder money and with evading sanctions. The four individuals and the company are all located in China. …

Yossi Tzur, who lost his son, Assaf, in a terror bus bombing, has unpleasant memories from his meeting with Hillary Clinton. He shared them with his Facebook friends Tuesday morning. "On 2003 My son, Assaf, almost 17-years old, was killed in a terror attack in Haifa, Israel, attack orchestrated by Hamas," he wrote. "On 2004, I went with a delegation of families of terror victims to the US, we talked to decision makers, in Congress, Senate and others, the time was when the debate over Israel right for a security fence was at its peak. Israel was taken to the...

European Union nations pressed ahead Tuesday with plans to boost military cooperation as Britain vowed to oppose the creation of an EU army or headquarters. With Britain leaving the EU, France and Germany have been spearheading moves to boost Europe’s capacity to run its own security operations. […] “We are in a very strong Franco-German relationship and we think we will be able to make significant progress before the end of the year,” he said, standing alongside German Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen. Von der Leyen insisted that “it’s not about a European army.” …

Thousands of Iran-backed fighters converge on Aleppo amid deadly Syria airstrikes Published September 26, 2016 As deadly airstrikes pounded Aleppo, Syria over the weekend, a major foreign ground force was also converging on the region. As many as 3,000 Iranian-backed fighters have arrived in Aleppo supporting the Syrian regime in its fight to crush the rebellion, two U.S. officials confirm to Fox News. There are an estimated 250,000 Syrian civilians trapped in Aleppo facing an onslaught of Russian and Syrian bombs, according to reports. The Iranian-backed Shiite militias include fighters from neighboring Iraq as well as Afghanistan, officials say. Many...

The Saudis have Obama in their corner. And Obama has the Saudis in their corner. And this dirty alliance of terror and hate has teamed up against 9/11 families. The Saudis are now spending more than $250,000 a month fighting the bill, retaining powerhouses Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck, Glover Park Group, Sphere Consulting and Squire Patton Boggs. Besides working with companies invested in Saudi Arabia, the lobbyists are directly contacting lawmakers, placing opinion articles and seeking support from think tank scholars. GOP Sens. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and Bob Corker of Tennessee are trying to hammer out a compromise...

The debate audience last night was instructed to remain silent, but American voters have grown louder and louder in recent weeks, and what once was a clamor is now a roar. Hillary Clinton, show us your medical records. Yesterday’s Franklin Pierce University/Boston Herald poll paints an ugly prognosis for the Democratic nominee, that shows voters have real concerns about her health. Asked if Clinton should be required to release more of her medical records to the public, 57 percent think that she should release all of them. Making things worse is that 65 percent of independents also want to see...

Folks, it is crunch time...Do what you can. Call, Email, or Tweet to the following: SENATE BILL SB3031 MITCH MCCONNELL http://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/contact (Bring Bill to floor & include in CR) 202-224-2541 Washington - I have been told easier to contact satellites (502) 582-6304 Louisville (270) 442-4554 Padukah (270) 781-1673 Bowling Green (859) 224-8286 Lexington JOHN CORNYN: Majority Whip, (bring SB3031 to floor NOW) https://www.cornyn.senate.gov/contact 202-224-2934 Washington I have been told easier to contact satellites 713-572-3337 Houston 956-423-0162 Harlington 806-472-7533 Lubock 210-224-7485 San Antonio 512-469-6034 Austin 903-593-0902 Tyler 972-239-1310 Dallas HARRY REID: http://www.reid.senate.gov/contact 202-224-3542 (stop playing politics w/ our internet) HOUSE RESOLUTION...

Member states will conduct a last-ditch offensive on a proposal to limit CO2 gases emitted by aircraft during the International Civil Aviation Organization conference in Montreal opening on Tuesday (27 September). The 191 members of the UN body responsible for air transport are expected to adopt a global market-based mechanism to achieve carbon-neutral growth for the aviation sector from 2020 onwards. The number of passengers flying each year is expected to double by 2035, surpassing 6.5 billion travelers. …

The European Union could remove Colombian guerilla movement FARC from its list of known terrorists, pending the signing of the peace agreement between the group and the country’s government. EurActiv Spain reports.Ahead of a formalization of the deal between FARC and the Colombian government, the EU indicated that it could soon remove the group from its terrorist blacklist. “FARC currently sits on the list of terrorist organizations in Colombia,” confirmed European Commission spokesperson Maja Kocijancic today (26 September), adding that the EU “has strongly supported the Colombia peace deal”. […] The European Court of Justice last week recommended that Hamas...

The accommodation centers which house migrants across Italy are running out of money and if the funds don’t turn up by the end of the month, they may be unable to continue. The centers are run by charitable organizations and NGOs, which provide accommodation, food and health care to those living there. But the Italian Treasury owes them €600 million, according to Il Corriere, and the organizations have set the government a strict deadline to pay up: this Friday. […] The cost of providing accommodation, food and healthcare for new arrivals cost Italy over €1 billion in 2015. …

The nationalist Danes’ Party elicited strong reactions went it took to the streets of Haderslev to hand out cans of what it called “refugee spray”. The party, which was founded by a former Neo-Nazi and wants to see all non-Western immigrants kicked out of Denmark, put labels on cans of hair spray reading “Refugee Spray: Legal [and] effective”. The party’s chairman, Daniel Carlsen, said the spray is a necessary legal alternative to pepper spray, which is illegal in Denmark. He said that Haderslev was the perfect location to hand out the cans, given the reports of local women being harassed...

Migratory policies around the world have failed, leading to the spread of terrorism, Hungary's foreign minister told the U.N. General Assembly on Friday. Peter Szijjarto said the international community must make it clear that there is no excuse for violating the borders between two peaceful countries and do its best to keep migrants and refugees as close to their home countries as possible. "The uncontrolled and unregulated mass migration offered opportunity for terrorist organizations to send their fighters and to send their terrorists to other countries and continents," Szijjarto said. He added that Hungary is "a Christian country" and expressed...

Qatar always wanted to punch above its weight. In Syria, it got the chance. In 2009, Qatar, a leading natural gas producer, approached Syria about routing its planned 1,500 mile pipeline to the gas markets of Europe through Syria’s Aleppo province. Qatar wanted a pipeline straight to Europe as its current gas transport modes were limited to Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) tanker, mostly to Asia with limited spot shipments to Europe or the Dolphin pipeline to the United Arab Emirates and Oman. The pipeline would head north and end in Turkey after crossing Saudi Arabia, Jordan, and Syria. Syria declined...

The House will vote this week on a resolution to hold former State Department IT technician Bryan Pagliano in contempt of Congress, Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy told reporters Monday. “We’ll be taking up contempt on Bryan Pagliano for his lack of attending,” McCarthy said, referring to a committee hearing Pagliano skipped. McCarthy provided no further details on plans for the vote. Pagliano was responsible for setting up Hillary Clinton’s private email server during her tenure as secretary of State. The former State Department employee declined to appear at an Oversight Committee hearing on Clinton's server earlier this month, in spite...

On Friday, leaders European Union member states will meet for their next informal meeting in Bratislava, Slovakia — the second one without Britain. Also in attendance will be Martin Schulz, the German president of the European Parliament. Schulz is very concerned about the current state of the EU. […] Schulz also expressed his fears of a possible US President Donald Trump. “Then you will have an obviously irresponsible man sitting in a position that requires the utmost sense of responsibility,” he says. “Trump is not just a problem for the EU, but for the whole world.” […] … “When a...

The European Union launched a program on Monday to issue monthly electronic cash grants to benefit a million refugees in Turkey, as part of a deal under which Ankara will curb the numbers trying to enter Europe. The Emergency Social Safety Net (ESSN) will give refugees pre-paid cards for food, housing, schooling or medical expenses in Turkey. Earlier this year, EU countries approved a fund of 3 billion euros ($3.37 billion) to help Turkey improve living conditions for some 3 million Syrian migrants on its territory. The ESSN is part of that deal.

Klaireth Díaz is a 1st-grade teacher at Elías Toro School, one of the biggest public schools in Caracas, the capital of Venezuela. Last year, she says, attendance was painfully low. Every day, of a class of 30 children at least 10 would be absent. “The reason was always lack of food,” she told Fox News Latino. She said she had a student who skipped class every single Thursday and when she asked his mother about it, she explained that Thursday was the day of the week assigned to her family to buy food at government-regulated prices – which involves standing...

Until recently, you didn’t hear people being referred to as “globalist” very often. But in a time of rising nationalism, those who see the upside of globalism have become a distinct — and often embattled — tribe.

The recent deterioration of George Soros’s public image has been astonishing. Following coverage of his subversive operations across the world – including his efforts to destabilise Poland – now even the establishment media have picked up on his destructive activities, with Bloomberg recently covering his plan to marginalise Israel. Similarly, the list of Soros’s safe havens has also been shrinking dramatically. Until recently, out of all the EU countries, only his native Hungary had the courage to suggest his carefully crafted image of ‘global philanthropist’ may be a smoke screen. The country’s Prime Minister Viktor Orban pointed out that Soros...