Free Republic

correction appearing in the New York Times quietly unravels what has become a major story as phony agitprop, intended to discredit the leaders of Israel and the House of Representatives. Of course, the story is still believed by many, and has well served those in the White House and media who created and disseminated it. Omri Ceren spotted the correction and explained on Twitter: NYT tries to promote anti-Netanyahu talking point that #Israel blindsided Obama. They got just 1 tiny detail wrong.

The FBI has added a former Venezuelan ambassador to Lebanon and Syria to their Terrorism “Seeking Information” list, after evidence indicated that Ghazi Nasr al Din was using his position to help fundraise for the Shiite terror group Hezbollah. Nasr al Din, a dual Venezuelan and Lebanese citizen, served both of his terms under socialist leader Hugo Chávez before his death and has also served at the head of the Shi’a Islamic Center in Caracas, Venezuela, according to the United States Department of Treasury. The Treasury designated Nasr al Din a “supporter” of Hezbollah in 2008, with Adam J. Szubin,...

British citizens think worse of Israel than they do about any other non-European country except for North Korea, a British survey published this week found. Answering the question "Which of the following do you feel especially unfavorable toward?" 35 percent named Israel – scoring two points worse than Iran, the poll found. With 47 percent, North Korea won the worst score, the Chathan House-YouGov poll found.

January 29, 2015: Israel believes Iran is now helping Hezbollah to build tunnels under the Lebanese border. The evidence is piling up and an effort is underway to find and breach one and examine it. Since the 50 Day War with Hamas ended last August in Gaza Israel has been examining the massive amounts of evidence it collected in the 32 Hamas tunnels into Israel that were discovered and destroyed. Comparing notes with the CIA and other Western intel agencies it was determined that these tunnels were of a new design probably supplied by Iran. Apparently nearly $100 million of...

North America has an “enormous interest” in building diplomatic relationships with Cuba, Secretary of State John Kerry said Saturday during a weekend meeting with his counterparts from Canada and Mexico. “This is an effort we believe offers the best opportunity for the people of Cuba to improve their lives and to take part in the choices about their lives,” Kerry said during a news conference at Boston’s Faneuil Hall. A high-level U.S. delegation held two days of talks with Cuban officials in Havana last week for the first time in decades. In December, President Barack Obama announced plans to restore...

President Barack Obama’s choice to be U.S. ambassador to Mexico has withdrawn from consideration. The White House says Maria Echaveste cites a prolonged confirmation process as well as her family’s best interests. …

THE Prime Minister has been warned. After conceding there are lessons to be learnt from Queensland’s bloodbath election, there is talk Tony Abbott could have as little as a week to turn things around. One federal MP has predicted the government would face a similar fate to Campbell Newman’s first-term government and another government minister is reported to have warned: “Abbott is finished”. Speaking on ABC News today, Independent Senator Nick Xenephon said the PM has a week. “The Liberal brand is toxic mainly due to Tony Abbott,” he said. “I think Tony Abbott has until the end of this...

Ukraine wants the United Nations to brand Russia a terrorism sponsor amid bloody clashes between pro-Russian separatists and Ukrainian government troops. The Ukrainian ambassador to the UN told Fox News he plans to submit a draft resolution asking the UN General Assembly to formally label “Russia as a sponsor of terrorism." Ambassador Yuriy Sergeyev gave no timetable for when he would present the resolution to the UN. He said government officials in Kiev are working on the text. Sergeyev told Fox News the resolution will mirror the Ukrainian parliament’s declaration this week, designating the Moscow-backed separatists in East Ukraine as...

It came as no surprise to me that Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker dazzled the audience at the recent Iowa Freedom Summit. I have long touted the potential strength of Walker as a presidential candidate. He has an impressive record of actual governing accomplishments and has advanced conservative ideas in the face of fierce opposition from unions and liberal activists nationwide. He’s also demonstrated clear political skill in winning three elections in four years in a blue state. At a time of division among Republicans, it’s hard to think of another candidate who can excite conservatives as much as Walker without...

Three Cultural Traditions, Philosophies That Can Help Combat Winter Blues Saturday, January 31, 2015 20:40 ET Rachelle Gaynor, Accuweather.com Staff Writer Winter tends to bring feelings of fatigue and, at times, depression to people around the world, making it harder to feel motivated and energetic. However, these cultural traditions offer creative ways to beat the winter blues and remain optimistic when it feels like winter is dragging on. 1. Hygge- Denmark "The essence of 'hygge' is to surround yourself in a warm, cozy atmosphere with people you care about and enjoy something you love," Tai Højer Klan, online manager at...

The United States' reluctance to become decisively committed to the complex quagmire in Syria is understandable. However, its plan to insert a US-trained-and-equipped “moderate rebel” force into the mix is deeply concerning – on several levels. According to reports, the US plans to deploy up to 1000 military trainers and support personnel to the region to train moderate Syrian rebel forces. While US efforts to support rebel groups to date have been less than successful, there is so much that could go wrong with this course of action, and so little that could go right. Naturally, we only have access...

VIDEO [English]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZeaTiESVJug Spokesperson Psaki Comments on Attacks by Russian-Backed Separatists on Debaltseve Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said in Washington there is no doubt who was behind the attack, and who is guilty of violating the terms of the ceasefire. Jen Psaki, a spokesman for the US State department: "We have no doubt who breaks the agreement and who is to blame. Chairman of the so-called "People's Republic Donetsk "January 24 said, "a few days we surrounded Debaltseve. "During the last week separatists shelled the city many times, and there were dozens of civilians dead and wounded." "In addition, because...

My breakfast companion looked gloomy. He’d flown into Washington from Vienna the day before. When he deplaned, he found a shocking email waiting for him: a demand from his banker for immediate payment of €12,000. Although a resident of Austria, he had taken a home mortgage in Swiss francs, which carried a lower interest rate than mortgages in euros. But 48 hours before he had arrived in the United States, the Swiss franc had surged by 20 percent against the euro. That currency appreciation had wiped out his equity in the house. His frightened banker wanted a new infusion of...

When Islamic State group militants invaded the Central Library of Mosul earlier this month, they were on a mission to destroy a familiar enemy: other people's ideas. Residents say the extremists smashed the locks that had protected the biggest repository of learning in the northern Iraq town, and loaded around 2,000 books — including children's stories, poetry, philosophy and tomes on sports, health, culture and science — into six pickup trucks. They left only Islamic texts. The rest? "These books promote infidelity and call for disobeying Allah. So they will be burned," a bearded militant in traditional Afghani two-piece clothing...

The Likud party intends to hold a press conference in Tel Aviv Sunday in which it will expose details about “V15 – Victory in 2015,” a campaign it says is using foreign money, and lots of it, to boost Labor and Meretz in the elections. Likud has filed a motion to the Elections Committee, according to which V15 is carrying out an illegal indirect campaign with a connection to Labor and Meretz. V15 is “making criminal use of foreign sources of funding,” adding that the sums involved were “very high” and their sources unknown. Likud's press conference will include MK...

A visibly upset Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has vowed to "never forgive terrorists" after the Islamic State (ISIS) released a video purportedly showing the beheading of Japanese hostage Kenji Goto. "I am extremely angry about these heinous and despicable terrorist acts. We will never forgive terrorists," Abe told reporters in Tokyo on Sunday morning (local time), according to the AFP news agency. "We will cooperate with the international community to make them atone for their crimes," he declared. The ISIS claim was made in a video released online that included no mention of a Jordanian pilot also being held...

The Likud party intends to hold a press conference in Tel Aviv Sunday in which it will expose details about “V15 – Victory in 2015,” a campaign it says is using foreign money, and lots of it, to boost Labor and Meretz in the elections. Likud has filed a motion to the Elections Committee, according to which V15 is carrying out an illegal indirect campaign with a connection to Labor and Meretz. V15 is “making criminal use of foreign sources of funding,” adding that the sums involved were “very high” and their sources unknown. Likud's press conference will include MK...

Online Video Purports To Show Islamic State Group Beheading Japanese Journalist Kenji Goto Japan says working closely with Jordan for release of captives held by Islamic State CAIRO (AP) — Online video purports to show Islamic State group beheading Japanese journalist Kenji Goto.

A day after Greece appeared on a collision course with its creditors, new radical left Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras has tamped down the rhetoric by vowing to pay off debts and not act unilaterally.

‘People should be respecting and honoring him’An Iraqi Muslim interpreter for Chris Kyle spoke out against claims by MSNBC foreign correspondent Ayman Moheldin that the "American Sniper" was a racist and went on "killing sprees," sharing his own experiences with Mr. Kyle whom he considered a dear friend. In comments published Friday in IJReview, the interpreter, known by his codename Johnny Walker, said that Kyle was not a racist. He told reporters that Kyle had treated him like a brother in arms, sharing meals, talking about families and trusting him with his life. "If you're going to call Chris Kyle...

US Central Command, or CENTCOM, reported yesterday that it killed Abu Malik, an Islamic State "chemical weapons engineer," in an airstrike near Mosul, Iraq. Abu Malik was associated with al Qaeda in Iraq and then the Islamic State for a decade before he was killed. "Malik was an ISIL (Islamic State) chemical weapons engineer who worked at Saddam Hussein's Muthana chemical weapon production facility before affiliating with al Qaeda in Iraq in 2005," according to the CENTCOM press release. "He later joined ISIL and his past training and experience provided the terrorist group with expertise to pursue a chemical weapons...

Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said on Thursday Russia would consider extending financial aid to debt-strapped Greece if Athens were to make a request. “Well, we can imagine any situation, so if such petition is submitted to the Russian government, we will definitely consider it, but will take into account all the factors of our bilateral relationships between Russia and Greece,” he told CNBC. Speculation has grown in recent days that new Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras’ government is at odds with the rest of Europe over sanctions on Russia, and may move closer to Moscow as it seeks to...

IRS Cover-Up Expands to Justice Department Exchanging Terrorists for an Army Deserter? Will Senate Endorse Obama’s Lawlessness?IRS Cover-Up Expands to Justice Department In an interview with Bill O’Reilly of Fox News about a year ago, President Obama said that President Richard Nixon was actually more liberal in his policies than Obama is. But, while comparing their policies, Obama conveniently left out one chilling similarity: Both presidents used the virtually unbridled power and authority of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to target their political opponents. In fact, in many respects Obama’s IRS abuses actually have been much worse than Nixon’s. As...

Criticism in the Democratic Party over Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's planned Congress address is refusing to die down. Despite marathon phone calls between Netanyahu and senior Democrats in an effort to convince them to tone down their objections to the speech, the underlying message relayed by the Democratic representatives in the House and the Senate is that Netanyahu ought to cancel it. The most direct statement yet was issued by Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi on Friday, who did not rule out the possibility that many Democratic lawmakers would boycott Netanyahu's speech on March 3. Asked if most House Democrats would...

Iraqi Kurdish forces and police retook an oil field in Kirkuk province Saturday that was seized by the Islamic State group overnight, and freed 24 workers who had been taken captive, officers said. "Peshmerga forces and police cleared the Khubbaz (oil) field a little while ago and were able to enter it after surrounding it for hours," police Brigadier General Sarhad Qader said of the fighting, adding that they also retook eight villages. IS had moved into the oil field Friday night and seized 24 workers, who were freed after they withdrew, peshmerga Major General Westa Rasul said. A police...

An ISIS chemical weapons expert who used to work for Saddam Hussein was killed last weekend during a coalition airstrike. Abu Malik died Jan. 24 near Mosul, according to a statement released by U.S. Central Command Friday. In the past, Malik had worked at one of Hussein’s chemical weapons facilities. He joined al-Qaeda in 2005, then later became a member of ISIS. According to the statement, his background provided ISIS “with expertise to pursue a chemical weapons capability.” His death should “temporarily degrade and disrupt the terrorist network and diminish ISIL’s ability to potentially produce and use chemical weapons against...

An ISIS chemical weapons expert was killed in an airstrike on Saturday near Mosul, Iraq, U.S. Central Command said in a statement on Friday. Abu Malik worked in a chemical weapons production facility under Saddam Hussein before joining al Qaeda in Iraq in 2005, Central Command said. He then joined ISIS, allowing the terrorist group to make use of his experience in chemical weapons capabilities, according to Central Command. "His death is expected to temporarily degrade and disrupt the terrorist network and diminish ISIL's (ISIS') ability to potentially produce and use chemical weapons against innocent people," the statement said. The...

Chuck Hagel has only about a week to go on his tenure as Secretary of Defense, and CNN’s Barbara Starr finds out that a man on the verge of retirement doesn’t have a lot of reason to keep his mouth shut. Hagel makes it clear, although still with some caution, that the Obama administration put pressure on him to increase the frequency of releases from the detention center at Guantanamo Bay. In doing so, Hagel has handed the new Republican majority on the Senate Armed Services Committee a perfect opening to demand answers on Barack Obama’s efforts to empty...

The deadline has passed for a presumed hostage deal between Islamic State and Jordan that would have seen the release of an Iraqi woman terrorist by the Jordanians in exchange for a royal air force pilot and a Japanese civilian held by Islamic state. Jordan says that negotiations are continuing but are demanding proof of life before they release the terrorist. In fact, Islamic State has refused to say if they would release the pilot even if the terrorist were set free. Now the Jordanians are saying that if their pilot is executed, they will speed up the judicial process...

PARIS (AP) — It was bad enough when France learned that the minute of silence for victims of the nation's deadliest terror attacks in decades was not respected by all students. Some children contested it, others walked out. But when an 8-year old Muslim boy proclaimed, "I am with the terrorists," the alarm bells sounded at full strength. The chilling call from a child so young brought into stark relief the divide between mainstream France and a portion of the Muslim population, often from neglected neighborhoods. But the official reaction — hauling the boy into the police station for questioning...

Despite claims by Washington Post columnist Eugene Robinson that Speaker Boehner’s invitation to PM Netanyahu has “backfire[d] on them both,� in the real world Netanyahu’s Likud Party has just moved ahead in the latest poll of the Israeliu electorate. The Jerusalem Post: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud Party reached the top spot in a Panels Research poll taken for The Jerusalem Post and its Hebrew sister newspaper, Ma’ariv Sof Hashavua, on Thursday for the first time since Labor and Hatnua joined forces on December 10 to create the Zionist Union. The Likud Party is firing back against the efforts of Obama-affiliated...

No doubt because of my background investigating, prosecuting, and studying terrorism, the cynical claim by White House spokesmen that the Taliban is not a terrorist organization has annoyed me even more than the Obama administration’s nonstop lying usually does. No surprise then that I could be found railing about it on The Kelly File Thursday night. In that spirit, ten thoughts for the weekend: 1. Under federal law, there are only three requirements for a group to qualify as a “foreign terrorist organization”: It has to be (a) foreign, (b) engaged in “terrorist activity” (bombings, assassinations, etc., carried out to...

Iran, 1970 Iran, 2012 AfghanistanEgypt (Cairo University, 1959) Cairo University, 2012Amsterdam, 1980Amsterdam, 2012…And some people still do not see a reason to worry! Winston Churchill 1899. “Individual Muslims may show splendid qualities, but the influence of the religion paralyses the social development of those who follow it. No stronger retrograde force exists in the world.” This is amazing. Even more amazing is that this hasn’t been published long before now. CHURCHILL ON ISLAM Unbelievable, but the speech below was written in 1899. (Check Wikipedia – The River War). The attached short speech from Winston Churchill, was delivered by him in...

An Egyptian court on Saturday banned the armed wing of Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas, the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, declaring it a "terrorist" group, a judiciary official said. Since Egypt's military ousted Islamist president Mohamed Morsi in 2013, the authorities have accused Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip, of aiding jihadists who have increased their attacks on security forces in the Sinai Peninsula. Saturday's court verdict followed a complaint from a lawyer accusing the Hamas armed wing of direct involvement in "terrorist operations" in the Sinai, a court official said. The lawyer also accused the movement of using tunnels under the...

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erodogan said Jan. 31 that the Gulenists in the country, which he dubs “the parallel structure,” have joined forces with the Israeli intelligence service. “The sincere people backing this parallel structure should see with whom this structure is cooperating with,” Erdogan said, while addressing a meeting of the All Industrialist and Businessmen’s Association (TUMSİAD) in Istanbul. “Shame on them if they still cannot see that this structure is cooperating with the Mossad,” he said. Erdoğan accuses the followers of the U.S.-based Islamic scholar Fethullah Gulen for illegal wiretappings and a “coup attempt,” starting from the revelation...

On September 11, 2001, Grover Norquist met in his office with a group of terrorists – “jihadis” if you prefer – to determine how to mend relations between Muslim leaders and American government officials, while the smoke was still rising after the attacks in which 3,000 of our citizens where murdered. That alone should have put Mr. Norquist outside of the circle of trust among discerning and patriotic American leaders in the conservative movement, but it did not. Mr. Norquist creating the Islamic Free Market Institute with money from Al Qaeda financier Abdurahman Alamoudi should be a red flag to...

Is Iran’s Lebanese client losing its grip? Last week Hezbollah buried one of its princes, Jihad Mughniyeh, the 22-year-old son of the late Imad Mughniyeh, a legendary Hezbollah commander implicated in such infamous operations as the 1983 bombing of the U.S. Marine barracks in Beirut. The assassination of the elder Mughniyeh in Damascus in 2008, typically attributed to Israel, is regarded as one of the organization’s most traumatic blows. However, some in the Shiite community here say that Israel’s January 18 strike on a three-car convoy in the Golan Heights near the Syrian town of Quneitra—which killed the younger Mughniyeh...

A request by US Republican Senator Marco Rubio to create an “independent” committee to investigate the death of Argentine AMIA special prosecutor Alberto Nisman has been described by Cabinet Chief Jorge Capitanich as an “imperialist” approach to “sovereign” countries' affairs. “The Republic of Argentina is an autonomous, sovereign and independent country. (Marco) Rubio with his imperialist vision fails to recognize the United Nations charter since the intromission in the affairs of other states constitutes an interference of an imperialist vision,” the head of ministers said this morning during his daily message to the press at the government house. Rubio, he...

FDR, the man who studied Mussolini, who birthed the current intrusive state, who started the drug war in earnest, who put Japanese Americans into concentration camps, who extended the Depression years longer than it needed to be and thereby contributed to the genesis of the Second World War, who tried to pack the Supreme Court, who gave away half of Europe to the Soviets at Yalta, and who confiscated the gold – the real wealth – of the American people. What a guy. And he still has his face on the dime. There is a reason why my grandmother, a...

On Feb. 12, 2008, Imad Mughniyah, Hezbollah’s international operations chief, walked on a quiet nighttime street in Damascus after dinner at a nearby restaurant. Not far away, a team of CIA spotters in the Syrian capital was tracking his movements. As Mughniyah approached a parked SUV, a bomb planted in a spare tire on the back of the vehicle exploded, sending a burst of shrapnel across a tight radius. He was killed instantly. The device was triggered remotely from Tel Aviv by agents with Mossad, the Israeli foreign intelligence service, who were in communication with the operatives on the ground...

Clarence House's internal rivalries have led to a former staffer calling the Prince of Wales's base "Wolf Hall", says a new biography of the prince. The Times reports that the book documents "common and bloody" turf wars between Prince Charles' staff. Author Catherine Mayer claims in Charles: Heart of a King that in-fighting thwarted a deal to streamline his charity operations.

*****November 16, 2009*****".....The [Washington] Times compiled an informal list of the new rules from interviews with U.S. forces. Among them: • No night or surprise searches. • Villagers have to be warned prior to searches. • ANA or ANP must accompany U.S. units on searches. • U.S. soldiers may not fire at the enemy unless the enemy is preparing to fire first. • U.S. forces cannot engage the enemy if civilians are present. • Only women can search women. • Troops can fire at an insurgent if they catch him placing an IED but not if insurgents are walking away...

SEATTLE — Lt. Col. Edward Saylor, one of four surviving Doolittle Raiders who attacked Japan during a daring 1942 mission credited with lifting American morale during World War II, has died. He was 94. Rod Saylor said his father died of natural causes on Wednesday in Sumner, Washington.

PM Ewa Kopacz has been threatened with legal action after comments she made regarding Law and Justice’s (PiS) presidential candidate Andrzej Duda who allegedly claimed that Poland could provide support for Ukraine and deploying troops there “should be considered”.
Ms Kopacz told reporters “It’s frightening that PiS wish to send in troops ... PiS is always looking for ways to start a war.”

The Head of Rome’s Jewish community and a television film crew made international headlines this week after finding themselves locked in Auschwitz and then interrogated by police after attempting to escape.

[VIDEO] How does the director of a zoo with a weekend hobby flying remote-controlled planes become enemy number one of the pro-Russian forces in Ukraine?

Fighting in eastern Ukraine has sharply escalated, with indications of a large-scale offensive by Russian-backed separatists at multiple locations in the Donetsk and Luhansk Oblasts as well as against the city of Mariupol. This is in utter disregard of the ceasefire. The shelling of residential areas in the city of Mariupol from separatist-controlled territory has cost the lives of at least 20 civilians, and injured many more. For several months we have seen the presence of Russian forces in eastern Ukraine, as well as a substantial increase in Russian heavy equipment such as tanks, artillery and advanced air defence systems....

France is pledging tanks and armored vehicles to bolster NATO forces in Poland, where leaders are increasingly uneasy about Russia.

Russian nationalist ideologue Alexander Dugin, who has close links to Vladimir Putin's Kremlin, has described his vision of a Russian lead 'Eurasian empire', incorporating Austria, as well as Hungary, Romania, Serbia and Slovakia. Dugin, who has called for Russia to completely annex Ukraine and exterminate Ukrainians, made the comments in an interview with far-right Hungarian website alfahir.hu, and declares his belief in the necessity of a Eurasian empire to counteract the influence of the "nihilistic" West.

Twice this month, the White House has publicly grappled with the politically fraught language of terrorism. In the days after a deadly terror spree in Paris, President Barack Obama was criticized for purposely avoiding calling the attacks an example of “Islamic extremism,” settling for the more generic “violent extremism.” This week, the White House struggled to explain why the administration sometimes classifies the Afghan Taliban as a terrorist organization—and sometimes does not. The rhetorical wrangling underscores the extent to which a president who pledged to end to his predecessor’s war on terror is still navigating how to explain the threats...