Free Republic

Russian mercenaries...attacked an outpost manned by American commandos and U.S.-backed fighters of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), comprising Syrian Kurdish and Arab fighters...Today, the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) is the U.S. military's best ally in the fight against ISIS in Syria, helping to take back 90 percent of territory formerly held by ISIS. It consists of well over 50,000 Syrian Kurdish and Arab fighters.

Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman said Tuesday that Israel may strike the Russian-made S-300 anti-aircraft defense systems in Syria if they are used against Israel. "One thing should be clear - if someone fires on our planes, we will destroy them," Lieberman said in an interview with the Israeli website Ynet. "What's important to us is that the weapons defense systems that the Russians transfer to Syria are not used against us. If they are used against us, we will act against them."

In a small windowless cell lit by a single light bulb, Louai al-Sakka sits isolated from the world and fellow inmates for 24 hours a day. His concrete box is in the bowels of Kandira, a high-security F-type prison 60 miles east of Istanbul, which was built to house Turkey's most dangerous criminals. The prison has been criticised by human right groups such as Amnesty International. The guards control everything, including the cell's light switch. Sakka's only visitor is Osman Karahan, a lawyer who shares his fervent support for militant Islamic jihad. Since being convicted as an Al-Qaeda bomb plotter...

Russian diplomats are planning to bring a group of Syrians to the international chemical weapons watchdog who the Russians claim were filmed in "staged videos" of an alleged chemical attack on the town of Douma earlier this month. Russian Embassy spokesman Mikhail Sobolev said Wednesday that about 15 Syrians will attend a meeting at the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons on Thursday to brief member states. The OPCW, which has sent a team of inspectors to Syria to investigate the alleged attack, had no immediate comment. The event is part of an ongoing clash of narratives between the...

Last week, the fact-finding mission of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) visited a site in the Damascus suburb of Douma to collect samples in connection with the alleged April 7 chemical attack. Chief of the Main Operational Directorate of the Russian General Staff Col. Gen. Sergey Rudskoy has announced that the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) had confirmed that there were no chemical weapons found at the Barzeh research center in Damascus despite the US officials' claims. The official further noted that thousands of people could have died if there was any chemical...

As we seem to be inching ever closer to World War 3, heated rhetoric and threats between nations are becoming everyday occurrences. Israel has threatened to strike Russian systems in Syria after it was threatened with “catastrophic consequences” if it does. Russia will send advanced S-300 anti-aircraft missiles to Bashar al-Assad, officials said Monday, warning Israel not to attack the new air defense systems or suffer “catastrophic consequences.” But Israel, in turn, threatened to strike those very systems anyway. Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman said Tuesday that Israel may strike the Russian-made S-300 anti-aircraft defense systems in Syria if they are...

Russia's new nuclear drone submarine could be capable of causing 300ft-high tsunamis, able to wipe out coastal cities, experts say. The existence of the drone, believed to be the Status-6 system - also known as 'Putin's doomsday machine' - was confirmed by the Russian President himself in his annual state-of-the-nation speech in Moscow last month. Experts say a 50 megaton underwater nuclear bomb would be able to create tsunami waves reaching more than 320ft - the 'Status-6' is allegedly able to carry a 100 megaton warhead.

The Trump administration is seeking the dismissal of a suit alleging the nonprofit helmed by former president Jimmy Carter has used taxpayer funding to provide material support to international terrorist groups, including Hamas. The Zionist Advocacy Center, which filed the recently unsealed suit in 2015, alleges the Carter Center received more than $30 million in taxpayer grants while violating federal statutes barring it from using the cash to provide material support to terror groups. The plaintiffs maintain the Carter Center has violated the law by hosting designated terrorists at is facilities, as well as by providing various forms of assistance...

Russia is moving the S-300 surface-to-air missiles into Syria under a literal smokescreen, to be placed next to the Syrian air bases, but it will be "resolved." Turkey is calling for new surface-to-air missiles. Iran suffering tremendous unrest, which we are not hearing about in our media, and will suffer more if Trump pulls out of Iran deal. And in Gaza the assault on the Israeli border continues, with teenagers being sacrificed to the battle. Not a pretty picture, but stay tuned till the end to hear a very moving description of Israel's purpose in the world, and our role...

WHISKY is back on the tables in Mosul, one of Iraq’s biggest cities. Until last year, boozing was punishable with 80 lashes...Families queue at restaurants on the banks of the Tigris. There is not a niqab, or face-veil, in sight....Now Iraq, home to nearly 40m people, is righting itself... About 45,000 Sunnis mustered alongside the Shia-led Hashd al-Shaabi, or “popular mobilisation units”. And millions of Sunnis fled the would-be caliphate to seek refuge in Kurdish and Shia cities. Religious minorities feel safer, too. Over 70% of the 100,000 Christians who fled to Kurdistan have returned to their homes on the...

Before you watch this insanity, which made the social media rounds this week, may I remind you that Senator Barack Obama met privately with, and complimented, this man at an event coordinated by the Congressional Black Caucus -- a disgrace that was deliberately hidden from voters until Obama was safely out of office?  May I also remind you that numerous CBC members have courted this man's support, including the current deputy DNC Chairman, who hasn't been truthful about the nature of that relationship?  As I've previously argued, "minister" Louis Farrakhan is the Left's version of David Duke, in that...

Their relationship began with a show of machismo –- an extended, white-knuckle handshake on their first meeting last year in Belgium. Emmanuel Macron had reportedly studied Donald Trump’s style of domineering power-grabbing handshakes, apparently prepared to avoid being outdone by his counterpart. Instead, it was President Trump who at one point in the 5-second-long handshake attempted to withdraw his hand from Macron's firm grasp. The maneuver marked the start of what has become a close partnership between the two leaders, who recently joined forces along with the United Kingdom to strike Syria earlier this month. "It's no secret that President...

Syrian government forces used warplanes, helicopters and artillery on Sunday to pound districts of the capital held by the Islamic State group, in a bid to enforce an evacuation deal reached with the militants earlier in the week. Two Palestinian refugees, a father and a son, were killed during the fighting at the Yarmouk refugee camp in Damascus, according to the United Nation’s Palestinian refugee agency, which added that thousands of homes have been destroyed in four days of fighting. Hundreds of IS militants hold parts of the Yarmouk camp and nearby area of Hajar al-Aswad in southern Damascus. They...

Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif says the Trump administration is showing “disrespect” towards Tehran, AFP reported Saturday. He added that his country is open to prisoner swap negotiations with the U.S., but only if the Trump administration shows a "change of attitude." His comments were made in an interview with CBS, set to air in full on Sunday. Negotiations are a "possibility certainly from a humanitarian perspective, but it requires a change of attitude," Zarif said. Five Americans are held in Tehran, including 81-year-old Baquer Namazi, who is in failing health. Zarif blasted the U.S. administration for showing "disrespect"...

The Iran lobby is digging deep in an effort to drum up support from anyone and anywhere to preserve the Iran nuclear deal including circulating a letter from members of the French, British and German parliaments addressed to the U.S. Congress.The letter is rife with the same common misperceptions that the Iran lobby has worked hard to foist on an unsuspecting world. None have done as much spadework in engineering this plethora of fake news than the National Iranian American Council.Among the common misperceptions in the letter are:“The only reason we were able to achieve this breakthrough is that we stood...

After meeting last week with Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister Tzipi Hotovely last week, a Romanian politician has announced their nation will be moving their embassy to Jerusalem. This will make Romania the fourth nation to do so and the first European Union country to break ranks and recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. Romanian Prime Minister Viorica Dăncilă, a Social Democrat, proposed the move to his government last Wednesday, April 11, and the process moved forward quickly. In an interview with the Romanian TV channel ANTENA 3 on Thursday, Israeli Independence Day, Liviu Dragnea, the president of the Chamber of Deputies...

The people of Syria are speaking out against media reports which suggest the Assad government has planted informants to deny the alleged chemical attack in Douma. One America’s Pearson Sharp is in Syria and has this exclusive report.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump criticized OPEC on Friday for output curbs that have helped raise global oil prices and said “artificially” high prices would not be accepted, drawing rebukes from oil-producing countries as prices dipped following his remarks. “Looks like OPEC is at it again. With record amounts of Oil all over the place, including the fully loaded ships at sea. Oil prices are artificially Very High! No good and will not be accepted!” Trump wrote on Twitter. Several members of OPEC, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, said in response that oil prices were not...

Iran's supreme leader warned top officials Wednesday that their country was facing threats of espionage and subversion from foreign foes who sought to undermine the Islamic Republic and its increasingly large sphere of influence in the Middle East. {snip} Iran has also shored up its relations with neighboring Iraq, where a 2003 U.S. invasion installed a Shiite Muslim government much friendlier to Iran and spurred a Sunni Muslim insurgency that ultimately helped to form ISIS... With ISIS largely defeated, these paramilitary fighters were made official members of the country's armed forces and they have threatened to expel the U.S. military...

One of the biggest ongoing problems of U.S. foreign policy is a failure to understand what we’re really up against. This problem is nothing new, although Barack Obama took it to new heights by banning all mention of Islam and jihad from counterterror training, with many of his loyalists still in place and hampering our ability to deal realistically with the jihad threat today. This myopia goes back decades. In Theodore H. White’s America In Search of Itself, there is this telling passage about the Iranian hostage crisis of 1979: Of the negotiating effort, the most biting summary was...