Free Republic

What is the best way to deal with North Korea? Diplomacy Pre-emptive strike Economic embargo I'm not sure

The world was appalled when fanatical members of the Taliban blew up ancient Buddhist statues carved into a mountain in Afghanistan. They destroyed the priceless artifacts as part of an effort to eliminate items they didn't considered politically correct. More recently ISIS members have been doing the same thing in Iraq. They have even been destroying historical artifacts other Muslims consider acceptable. Unfortunately, this vandalism oriented mental condition has begun infecting people in the South. The southern vandals have begun destroying Civil War related art such as statues remembering the men who led the Southern states into the disaster known...

On Dec. 5, 1965, Lt. Douglas M. Webster climbed into his aircraft as he prepared to take part in a round of United States Navy training exercises. The plane was an A-4E Skyhawk, on board the uss Ticonderoga aircraft carrier. The Ticonderoga was en route from duty along the Vietnamese coast to a port call in Japan. When the ship was 70 miles east of Okinawa, Webster’s Skyhawk accidentally rolled off the deck and plunged into the Pacific. One other important detail: Webster’s plane was carrying a one-megaton B-43 thermonuclear bomb, with a yield 70 times larger than the weapon...

The Mayor of Dallas Texas called Confederate monuments symbols of injustice. So, what will a city task force on monuments say about the city’s namesake? Introduction: Dallas, Texas is among U.S. cities that have removed, or are considering removing, Confederate monuments from public lands. In Dallas, an appointed task force is deciding if that city joins the 2017 Great Purge of American History. The integrity of their deliberations requires they review the history of George Mufflin Dallas, Vice President during the James K. Polk Presidency (March 1845 – March 1849). In a series of 6 postings, a case will be...

An open military conflict in Northern Asia would disrupt more than a third of global seaborne crude oil trade, Wood Mackenzie warned last week amid yet another escalation between North Korea, its neighbors, and the U.S. Such a conflict would cripple North Asia’s production and refining capacity, the consultancy said. Some 65 percent of Asia’s crude oil refining capacity is located in China, Japan, and South Korea, so the effects of an open war would be far-reaching and potentially long-lasting. The most pressing question, then, is how likely such an open conflict is.

1781: The Royal Navy fleet commanded by Rear Admiral Sir Thomas Grave's Royal fleet clashes with Comte de Grasse's French armada at the entrance to the Chesapeake Bay. The navies fight each other at close range for two hours before the British disengage and sail for New York. The French victory traps Lt. Gen. Lord Corwallis' army at Yorktown, preventing their reinforcement or evacuation and ultimately contributing to Cornwallis' surrender in October. 1813: Off the coast of Maine, the brig USS Enterprise spots HMS Boxer and the two vessels begin maneuvering to attack. Boxer's captain Samuel Blyth declares "We are...

US President Donald Trump on Monday told his South Korean counterpart Washington was willing to approve arms sales worth “many billions of dollars” to Seoul following Pyongyang’s test of what it said was a miniaturized hydrogen bomb. President Trump “provided his conceptual approval for the purchase of many billions of dollars’ worth of military weapons and equipment from the United States by South Korea,” said the White House, without providing details of any specific new contracts. The United States sold arms worth nearly $5 billion (Dh18.4 billion) to South Korea between 2010 and 2016, according to an analysis by the...

Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov on September 1 announced the evacuation from Iraq of 12 Russians and Kazakhs, including eight children and four women, who were left behind in areas recently liberate... Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov on September 1 announced the evacuation from Iraq of 12 Russians and Kazakhs, including eight children and four women, who were left behind in areas recently liberated from the Islamic State extremist group. "This evening, a plane will arrive in Grozny from Iraq with the latest group of our citizens," Kadyrov, head of the mainly Muslim region of Chechnya, wrote on Instagram. Iraqi police and...

The disaster in Texas brought out the best in us this week. These 24 moving photos prove it:

1925: As Cmdr. John Rodgers attempts a long-distance flight from California to Hawaii, his PN-9 flying boat runs out of fuel several hundred miles short of the goal. Rogers' four-man crew turns the airplane into a sailboat, and despite not having any food and very limited water, sails the remaining 450 miles to the island of Kauai. Although the plane did not reach its intended target, Rogers' flight still sets a record for flying a seaplane 1,992 miles non-stop. 1939: Three waves of Luftwaffe Ju 87 B "Stuka" dive bombers cross Germany's border with Poland at 4:40 a.m., destroying most...

1864: Two armies under the command of Maj. Gen. William T. Sherman engage Confederate Gen. John Bell Hood's vastly outnumbered Army of Tennessee just south of Atlanta. Despite brilliant fighting and generalship in the Battle of Jonesborough, the Confederates destroy a trainload of military supplies to prevent its capture by the Union and withdraw to Atlanta. 1916: Near Guillemont, France, a German artillery shell scores a direct hit on 2nd Lt. Henry A. "Harry" Butters, instantly killing the popular Royal Field Artillery officer. Butters, an American citizen that joined the British Army at the outbreak of World War I, was...

North Korea's launch of a missile over Japan was a prelude to more military operations directed at the American territory of Guam, North Korean state media warned Wednesday. The country's state-run Korean Central News Agency reported leader Kim Jong Un presided over the dawn launch Tuesday of the "ultra-modern rocket system," the first missile ever fired from the capital Pyongyang. North Korean officials told CNN in Pyongyang that Kim was "very satisfied with the performance of the missile." The intermediate-range missile, identified by the North Koreans as the Hwasong-12, flew over Japan, further fueling tensions between North Korea and the...

As we've previously noted, there are more than 16,000 nonprofits in the United States with the word "veteran" in its title. One would think with so many, there wouldn't be so many needy veterans, especially in states where politicians have repeatedly assured the public there aren't any homeless vets on the street. Again, there is a constant when it comes to any nonprofit, but especially those that claim to be helping veterans: keep the mission vague and goal literally unattainable. That way there is no gauge for real success that ever has to be achieved.

1776: After a series of defeats by the British, the Continental Army conducts a strategic withdrawal of Long Island, and Gen. William Howe sends a letter to Gen. George Washington seeking a peace conference. Washington rejects the offer, forwarding the message to Congress instead. Diplomacy falls flat when the British refuse to recognize American independence on Sept. 11, and the British respond by capturing New York City four days later. 1862: Near Lexington, Ky., Maj. Gen. Edmund Kirby Smith accomplishes the "nearest thing to a Cannae" (Hannibal's double envelopment of the Roman army - perhaps the greatest tactical achievement in...

FORT HUACHUCA — In order to be trained and ready for an unexpected emergency event, Fort Huachuca conducts its annual Antiterrorism and Force Protection Full-Scale Exercise Sept. 7. All personnel and visitors should be aware of possible increased security measures and delays at access control points, to include Fort Huachuca gates, during the exercise. There may be traffic delays. Everyone is asked to plan accordingly and give full cooperation. While we make every effort to limit the amount of disruption to organizational missions and services to our customers, knowledge gained through this exercise is critical to the installation remaining prepared...

1940: At Lawson Army Airfield (modern-day Fort Benning, Ga.), 1st Lt. William T. Ryder and his Parachute Test Platoon conduct the first mass parachute jump in U.S. military history. Meanwhile, a delegation of British scientists begin sharing radar and other military technologies with the United States, hoping to secure assistance from the still-neutral nation. 1944: Four years after German conquerors marched through Paris’ famous Arc de Triomphe, 15,000 American soldiers of the 28th Infantry Division parade down the newly-liberated capital’s Champs-Élysées. 1945: An American B-29 “Superfortress”, carrying a load of humanitarian aid to Allied prisoners of war in Korea, is...

Transgender soldiers, sailors, airmen and other members of the military, along with others who want to enlist, sued President Donald Trump on Monday, hoping the federal courts will stop him from preventing their service. One federal lawsuit was filed in Baltimore by the American Civil Liberties Union of Maryland on behalf of six transgender individuals currently serving in the Army, Navy, Air Force, National Guard and Naval Reserve. Another was filed in Seattle by Lambda Legal, on behalf of a 12-year Army veteran and two young transgender men who hope to enlist, along with Human Rights Campaign and the Gender...

Donald Trump has retweeted a message criticizing former president Barack Obama for “pardoning” a “traitor” just days after facing a backlash over his own pardoning of controversial former sheriff Joe Arpaio. The president shared a tweet from Fox News journalist Katie Pavlich, who incorrectly suggested Obama pardoned Chelsea Manning during an online debate with Obama’s former National Security Adviser Ben Rhodes over Trump’s decision to pardon Arpaio. Obama in fact commuted Manning’s 35-year sentence, meaning her prison sentence was cut short but the conviction stands, whereas a pardon is usually granted for people based on good conduct and removes civil...

Like millions of Americans, I watched President Donald Trump’s speech from my living room on August 21, 2017. It is the third time an American president has addressed our nation on Afghanistan, now the longest war in American history. To those of us familiar with the region, the speech was business as usual, with a few notable changes. But for those Americans with loved ones in Pakistan, the president’s speech was a plainspoken warning – fall in line Pakistan, or face the consequences. Taking the speech to its furthest extrapolation, without change, Pakistan will soon face US sanctions. Certainly for...

Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany has told the US Government "not to count on Germany's support in any potential armed conflict with North Korea." "I don't see how Germany would gain from allying itself with the United States in such a conflict," Merkel said. "North Korea is far away and poses no direct threat to us. The United States' military would most likely crush the under-fed North Korean Army with ease. If the unimaginable happens and North Korea somehow wins, our stance of neutrality will reduce the incentive for them to turn on us." The Chancellor also admitted to an...