Free Republic

ALEPPO, Syria/BEIRUT (Reuters) - Syria's U.S.-backed Kurds are getting indirect help from an unlikely source in their war against Turkey in the northwestern region of Afrin: President Bashar al-Assad. Pro-government forces and Kurdish-led forces have fought each other elsewhere in Syria and Damascus opposes the Kurds' demands for autonomy. But in Afrin they have a common enemy and a mutual interest in blocking Turkish advances. Turkey, which regards the Kurdish YPG militia in Afrin as a threat on its southern border, launched an assault on the region last month. Seeking to shield Afrin, the Kurds asked Damascus to send forces...

One pilot in serious condition * Israel attacks Syrian, Iranian targets in fresh strike * Rocket sirens sound throughout northern Israel An Israeli F-16 was downed Saturday morning after Israel intercepted an Iranian drone launched from Syria into Israeli territory. According to the Israeli army, Syrian anti-aircraft missiles targeted the jet after Israel responded to the infiltration of the drone with a strike in Syria. The two F-16 pilots ejected as the plane went down in northern Israel. The pilots were taken to the hospital in stable condition. One of the pilots is in serious condition. Following the downing of...

YPJ spokeswoman and commander Nesrin Abdullah is in Stockholm for diplomatic talks. Speaking at a press conference in the Swedish parliament, Nesrin Abdullah, spokeswoman and commander for the Women's Defense Units (YPJ) in Rojava, drew attention to the Turkish regime's intention to carry out a genocide on the population in Afrin with jihadist militias. Nesrin Abdullah explained to numerous journalists that in Afrin so far, a peaceful coexistence of different ethnic groups and faiths has taken place. "For 20 days, the NATO member Turkey has been attacking Afrin in front of the world public. These attacks are contrary to international...

LEMONS, GRAPEFRUITS, oranges and figs grow in abundance in the three gardens of Nadia Younis Butti’s house in Mosul, the house her parents built from scratch. She used to enjoy the lush trees and alluring fruits, sitting in her rocking chair near the flourishing, scented bushes. On July 17, 2014, however, Nadia had to leave Mosul, because ISIS had captured Iraq’s second-largest city. “With pain in my heart I left,” she says. ISIS has been ousted from Mosul and Nadia, who belongs to the Assyrian Church, recently returned to visit the city of her birth. “It is still extremely dangerous...

The leading Democratic candidate for a Virginia House seat the party is targeting in 2018 moved to the state just a year-and-a-half ago, but you'd never know it from watching his campaign's first ad.Roger Dean Huffstetler, who is both outraising and outspending his Democratic opponents in Virginia's largely rural fifth district, announced his campaign less than a year after he moved in the summer of 2016 to Charlottesville, a blue city located near the center of a rural red district. His first ad—which, based on a nearly $50,000 expenditure, appears to have been created by a major D.C. advertising firm...

The United Nations has issued a report in which it states that al-Qaeda's global terror network remains "remarkably resilient" as ISIS quickly heads towards defeat. In some regions, the reports argues, al-Qaeda now poses more of a threat than ISIS. The report, sent to the UN Security Council, says that AQAP -- al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, based in Yemen -- has now become the communications hub for the entire organization. "Al-Qaeda affiliates remain the dominant terror threat in some regions, such as Somalia and Yemen, a fact demonstrated by a continuous stream of attacks and foiled operations," the report...

Qatar’s diplomat in Moscow has said his country was in serious talks to purchase an advanced Russian anti-aircraft missile system also sought by a number of other regional powers, some of which were at odds with one another. Qatari envoy Fahad bin Mohammed al-Attiyah told Russia state media Thursday that the tiny oil-rich monarchy was “already in advanced negotiations” over “air-defense systems and capabilities for our land forces as well.” The S-400 Triumf has been considered one of the most effective surface-to-air missile systems in the world, and Qatar’s interest in it signaled only the latest attempt by a Middle...

US report confirms nine Abrams tanks ended up with Iranian-backed militias in Iraq ERBIL, Kurdistan Region (Kurdistan 24) – Nine Abrams tanks the United States had provided to Iraqi forces for the battle against the Islamic State (IS) are now in the hands of the Iranian-backed Hashd al-Shaabi militias, a US military audit confirmed. A quarterly inspector general report for the US mission in Iraq and Syria, released on Feb. 2, confirms that M1 Abrams battle tanks and other lethal equipment provided to the Iraqi government by Washington have ended up with the Hashd al-Shaabi, also known as the Popular...

George Washington University’s Program on Extremism released a study Monday focused on Americans who traveled to Iraq or Syria to join the Islamic State (ISIS). The study, titled “American Jihadists in Syria and Iraq,” provides details on 64 of the 300 or so jihadists the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) identified as those who attempted to or did travel abroad to join the radical Islamic group. The 64 on whom the study focused made it to the Middle East, and 12 of those returned to the United States. Of those twelve, nine were arrested, one returned to Syria and died...

Toppled dictator Saddam Hussein's exiled daughter is among dozens named on Iraq's "most wanted" list of people accused of supporting acts of terror. Those on the list are wanted for belonging to or having an affiliation with ISIL, Al Qaeda or Saddam's Baath Party regime. Raghad Saddam Hussein responded on Monday by pledging to take legal action against those who have "insulted her". Iraq's government has been seeking to prosecute Ms Hussein since 2006 for allegedly supporting violence in the country. The list echoes the US set of 55 playing cards, released in 2003, that depicted the most wanted members...

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan will travel to Vatican City on Sunday evening to meet with Pope Francis. During a news conference at Istanbul's Atatürk Airport State Guest House, Erdoğan called the visit a "significant opportunity" to convey messages of peace. "I see this visit as a significant opportunity in terms of drawing attention to common human values, friendship and peace messages," the president told reporters. "We will discuss Palestine, Jerusalem, Syria, Iraq, the fight against terrorism, the problems of refugees, humanitarian aid and the fight against rising Islamophobia and cultural racism in the West," he said, referring to his...

The U.S. military is pulling its forces from an American-led coalition base in Iraq and shifting them to Afghanistan following the defeat of Islamic State group militants in the country. Western contractors at the base say U.S. troops began the drawdown over the past week, with groups of soldiers leaving the base on daily flights. The exact scale of the redeployment was unclear. According to various estimates, as of 2016, there were more 5,000 U.S. military personnel stationed in Iraq, with nearly 4,000 deployed to support and assist local groups fighting ISIS militants. The remaining personnel included special operations forces,...

Feb. is the Iranian regime's celebration of "The Revolution". Protesters have taken to the streets to call for the end of the regime and death to Khamenei. They are tearing down posters & banners celebrating the Revolution and burning them. The protests are happening in cities throughout the country. The women are still taking off their head scarves in protest and being arrested. Just because the media doesn't report it, doesn't mean it isn't happening. There are many photos & videos on Twitter @iranprotests, and #iranprotests

How Putin is Winning and Losing Syria No one is in Syria because of ISIS. October 8, 2015 Daniel Greenfield    Daniel Greenfield, a Shillman Journalism Fellow at the Freedom Center, is a New York writer focusing on radical Islam. The Russian line is that they’re in Syria to fight ISIS. But the Russians, like the Turks, Iranians and Europeans, don’t care about ISIS. By declaring itself a Caliphate, ISIS made itself non-aligned. The fighting in Syria isn’t about ISIS. It predated the rise of ISIS as a major player. It’s about Syria. ISIS has become a convenient excuse for...

In what has ironically been designated “Operation Olive Branch,” Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has been trying to put the northwestern Syrian region of Afrin into a stranglehold. Turkey is now in its second week of bombardment over Afrin from the air and heavy tanks are now carrying out a ground offensive into the Kurdish region. Erdogan is a brute and a thug, who has made a habit of trampling on the human rights of his own people. He used the failed military coup of July, 2016 to arbitrarily arrest and imprison anyone whom he considers to be his opposition,...

Mutlu Civiroglu‏ @mutludc YPJ fighter Barin Kobani whose body was mutilated by Turkish-backed forces in Qurna village of Bilbil in #Afrin Remember both ISIS and al Qaeda fighters are now part of the FSA Turkish Militia who invaded Efrin, Syria -- Rojava; @AzadiRojava https://twitter.com/AzadiRojava/status/959150351894147072 YPJ heroine Barîn Kobane defended her homeland Efrîn from invading Al Qaeda Mercenaries & your ally Turkey. They got her. They mutilated & dismembered her body. Don’t condone these warcrimes. Break your silence @theresa_may @EmmanuelMacron @sigmargabriel @HalbeZijlstra-- Jenan Moussa; @jenanmoussa https://twitter.com/jenanmoussa/status/959151218680631297 There’s also another video going viral which is too graphic to share. But I’ll try...

Unless Trump intends to humiliate himself and America and sell Israel down the river like his predecessors did, the peace process will not be resuscitated. On Tuesday in Bethlehem, the Palestinians demonstrated the choice the Americans now face in their dealings with Fatah – the supposedly moderate PLO faction that controls the Palestinian Authority and the PLO. President Donald Trump and his advisers can play by Fatah’s rules or they can walk away. On Tuesday a delegation of diplomats from the US Consulate in Jerusalem came to Bethlehem to participate in a meeting of the local chamber of commerce. When...

The time for pious American lectures is over. North Korea North Korea seeks respect on the cheap — and attention and cash — that it cannot win the old-fashioned way by the long, hard work of achieving a dynamic economy or an influential culture. Over the last quarter-century, it has proved that feigned madness and the road to nuclear weapons (Pakistan is another good example) provide a shortcut to all three goals: It is now feared, in the news, and likely to receive another round of Western danegeld. Setting off a bomb (as opposed to merely bragging that it soon...

When the final history of America’s war on terror and the combat role in the Middle East is told, it will be the individual stories of veterans like Sunbury’s Joshua Mantz, a 2001 Shikellamy High School graduate, that resonate long after our soldiers have come home. Few who knew Mantz in high school would be surprised that after surviving a sniper’s bullet in Baghdad, and following his recovery, 10 years of insidious trauma including thoughts of suicide, he would now be transformed by his experiences into a nationally known speaker, dedicating his life to helping others understand PTSD through lectures,...

British 15-year-old gained access to intelligence operations in Afghanistan and Iran by pretending to be head of CIA, court hears A 15-year-old gained access to plans for intelligence operations in Afghanistan and Iran by pretending to be the head of the CIA to gain access to his computers, a court has heard. From the bedroom of the Leicestershire home he shared with his mother, Kane Gamble used “social engineering” – where a person builds up a picture of information and uses it manipulate others into handing over more – to access the personal and work accounts of some of America's...