Free Republic

In the wake of yet another foiled ISIS-inspired terrorist plot, this one by a Canada-based Pakistani seeking to kill Jews in New York on the anniversary of last year’s Hamas attack in Israel, everyone is loudly proclaiming: “ISIS is back.”And yet, this analysis is wrong.For someone or something to “be back,” it has to have left in the first place. This return can be surprising or expected, but in the end it is of note. With respect to the ISIS terrorist group, it has not “resurged” because it never went away in the first place.The group has been around since...

Outraged family members of US troops hurt in the line of duty slammed Kamala Harris’ brazen claim that no Americans are serving in war zones — a statement which flies in the face of her own administration’s official list of active combat zones. As many as 50,000 US service members currently patrolling countries and oceans across the Middle East and Africa are receiving either “hostile fire” or “imminent danger pay,” monthly payments of up to $225 for troops deployed in areas where they could easily be subjected to — or do come under — enemy attack, retired Army Col. and...

Iraqi officials – some on the record, some not – stated this week that they are finalizing an effort to remove nearly all American troops from the country following the collapse of the Islamic State “caliphate.” The plan would allegedly remove nearly all American military personnel from the country by 2025, leaving some in the autonomous northern region governed by the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) for another year. Defense Minister Thabit al-Abbasi reportedly announced the plan in an interview with the Saudi network Al Arabiya this week; the Washington Post quoted an anonymous “Iraqi military official” on Thursday describing the...

The lefties have been in sync with all of the Never Trump faux Republicans ... The dead weight that Trump has been flushing out of the party has needed to go for a very long time. Most of those who are fleeing were connected to the Bush family ... Conservatives have been putting up with less-than-ideal circumstances and candidates for a very long time now. I have never once thought that the best way to express my discontent was to vote for a Democrat for president. The Democrats of 2024 are not the Democrats of 20 years ago. The party...

This was all a mistake. Surely, the United States wouldn't intentionally create a system that facilitated Iraqi banks to illegally funnel money into Iran's terrorist regime. Right? Right?!The U.S. set up an ad hoc banking system in Iraq to handle the country’s oil earnings. Iraqi banks used it to funnel dollars to Iran. https://t.co/n6I6MBF0bf https://t.co/n6I6MBF0bf— The Wall Street Journal (@WSJ) September 9, 2024Iraq gets a substantial fraction of its electric power from Iran, and the United States set up a system through which the Iraqis could pay for the power without violating sanctions. The Federal Reserve helped set it up,...

Erdogan said in July that Turkey would extend an invitation to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad "any time" for possible talks to restore relations between the two neighbors. Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said on Saturday Islamic countries should form an alliance against what he called "the growing threat of expansionism" from Israel. He made the comment after describing what Palestinian and Turkish officials said was the killing by Israeli troops of a Turkish-American woman taking part in a protest on Friday against settlement expansion in the West Bank. "The only step that will stop Israeli arrogance, Israeli banditry, and Israeli state...

Could Finland´s next President be a foreigner? Finland´s current President Alexander Stubb speaking to the public. Finland´s President Alexander Stubb Credit: Alexander Stubb, Facebook Finland´s future President may be a foreigner, said current President Alexander Stubb during a recent presidential Q&A session on the local Yle Radio Suomi. The Finnish President emphasised that 10 per cent of residents in Finland have foreign backgrounds and argued that the future could see a foreign national leading the country. “Racism should not be politicised. Every nation has to go through this discussion,” emphasised Stubb. “In Finland, 10 per cent of people were not...

Ajoint operation by American and Iraqi forces killed 15 members of the Islamic State group in western Iraq, the U.S. military announced. The U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) tweeted on Friday that in the early hours of Thursday, Aug. 29, U.S. and Iraqi forces killed 15 ISIS operatives. The operatives were "armed with numerous weapons, grenades, and explosive ‘suicide’ belts," the agency announced. At least seven U.S. service members were injured in the raid — five during one portion of the operation, and two more during a second segment of the operation. A U.S. defense official tells Fox News Digital, "During...

US Central Command announcing a joint operation against ISIS in Western Iraq said to have killed...unofficial reports 6-7 members of the US military wounded... An explosion at a gas station in Yemen's port city of Aden causing deaths and injuries... The commanding officer of the USS John McCain guided missile destroyer fired... Police in Germany saying the stabbing attack that injured five people on a bus this evening was not a 'terrorist act'... Tensions in the Balkans as Kosovo authorities raided Serbian minority government... Two missiles exploding near a merchant vessel off the south coast of Yemen... In Ireland today...

VIENNA (Reuters) - Iran, which the United States accuses of secretly pursuing nuclear weapons, has a stake in the world's biggest open-pit uranium mine in the African state of Namibia, the mine's owner told Reuters. Rossing Uranium Limited, which is majority owned by Anglo-Australian firm Rio Tinto, sells its uranium to nuclear power plants in the United States, Japan, South Korea and Sweden. Graham Davidson, the general manager for operations at Rossing, said in a letter to Reuters that the company's board of directors only permits the sale of uranium for use in generating electricity. "The government of Iran has...

The State Department is offering up to a quarter million taxpayer dollars to an eligible nonprofit to teach Iraqi teenagers about climate activism. Iraqi high schoolers could receive “Eco Action Clubs” bankrolled by taxpayers that will teach them how to advocate for environmental reform in their home country, according to a grant solicitation posted by the State Department earlier this month. The clubs will have several objectives, ranging from developing an “eco-agenda and action plan” which will generate “climate change solutions” to running a social media campaign to increase awareness of the climate crisis. -- snip -- Under President Joe...

Khamenei never expected to be in such a difficult position during his rule. History shows that dictators, drunk on power, often think they can stay in control forever through repression, war, and creating crises. A tired IRGC spokesperson, using the Arbaeen observance (The Shia religious observance In Islam) as an excuse, promised revenge but hinted that it might take time. He said, “When it comes to revenge, time is on our side, and the wait might be longer than expected. Brave and wise commanders do not act rashly.” Khamenei is at an impasse due to: 1.A discontented society on the...

Iran is in no position to fight a long-term war with Israel and even asked the US to intervene to prevent a possible large-scale Israeli retaliation to any Iranian attack, according to Mohsen Sazegara, founder of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), in an exclusive interview with The Jerusalem Post. The IRGC was founded shortly after the 1979 revolution in Iran to protect the Islamic Republic’s religious control over the country, and to act as a counterbalance to the regular Iranian Army, many of whose officers were still loyal to the Shah of Iran, and therefore could not be trusted...

Iran’s “supreme leader” Ayatollah Ali Khamenei warned his underlings in a meeting on Wednesday that making a “nontactical retreat” would meet the “divine wrath” of Allah as the world awaits a highly touted attack by Tehran on neighboring Israel. Iranian officials have been boasting that they would attack Israel for all of August following the elimination of Hamas “political” chief Ismail Haniyeh on July 31. Haniyeh was killed by a yet-unexplained explosion in his lodgings in Tehran, which he was visiting to attend the inauguration of President Masoud Pezeshkian. Iran is believed to be one of the top funders and...

Jibril Rajoub, Secretary of the Fatah Central Committee, said recently in an interview with Lebanon’s Al-Mayadeen TV that Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar is a “pragmatic, patriotic, and realistic man” and that Israel is attempting to demonize him. Rajoub also accused Israel of “demonizing” Iran and preventing it from being admitted into international society. He stated that Israel’s “unilateral attacks” on “Palestine”, Lebanon, Yemen, Syria, Iraq, Iran, and the whole world are threatening the stability of the region and world peace. The comments, which were made on August 6, were translated by the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI). .....

Iran on Tuesday categorically refused Western calls to drop its threat to retaliate against Israel for last month’s killing of Hamas terrorist leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran. Israel has been blamed for Haniyeh’s killing on July 31 during a visit to the Iranian capital for the swearing-in of President Masoud Pezeshkian. Israel has not commented. Iran has since been publicly vowing revenge and on Monday key Western allies urged it to reconsider, as Breitbart News reported. Britain, France, and Germany Warn Iran to Not Attack Israel, Meanwhile U.S. Sends Nuclear Submarinehttps://t.co/ymIyHqXEdZ — Breitbart London (@BreitbartLondon) August 12, 2024

The overwhelming likelihood is still that Iran and Hezbollah will attack Israel, maybe even as these words go to print. But if they do not, and even if they do, and a hostage deal eventually comes about, they will now be able to take credit instead of the Saudis for ending the regional hostilities. For several months, the Biden administration had been offering a grand bargain: Israel pauses its war with Hamas for an indefinite period in exchange for a return of the hostages and, eventually also, normalization with the Saudis. This grand bargain might have seen Israel another half...

The sources informed the reporter of Tasnim in Iraq that the foreign minister of Iraq and the US secretary of state will be holding a press conference during the Iraqi diplomat’s upcoming visit to the US in order to read a statement on the end of the US-led international military coalition’s mission in Iraq. The pullout of the international military coalition forces from Iraq, excluding the Iraqi Kurdistan Region, will begin in September 2025, the sources said.

coalition in Iraq has pushed proposals to lower the legal age of marriage for girls to just nine-years-old, sparking fierce backlash from activists and rights groups. Protesters demonstrated in Baghdad this week to express their outrage at changes that would allow aspects of personal status matters to be legislated by religious sects, rather than the courts. With many Iraqi marriages conducted informally and left unregistered, the revisions would allow figures from Sunni and Shia religious sects to finalise unions between people in law. But critics fear the Shia code would be based on 'Jaafari jurisprudence', allowing girls as young as...

Vice President Kamala Harris had nothing but “praise” for her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz when questioned about his service in the National Guard Thursday. Harris, 59, was asked by a reporter to respond to criticism that Walz “deserted his own troops, deserted his own colleagues” when he opted to retire from the Minnesota National Guard in May 2005, as his battalion was preparing to deploy to the Iraq warzone. “Listen, I praise anyone who has presented themselves to serve our country,” Harris said. “And I think that we all should.” Walz, 60, served 24 years in the Minnesota...