Free Republic

...One thing that I wish from Pope Francis is that he be more emphatic in his statements, and be more specific as to whether or not all weapons manufacturers are evil, or that only the ones who profit from evil are placing their souls in jeopardy. I doubt Francis himself takes the former position, since he is constantly surrounded by very tough Swiss Guardsmen who are all armed....All of the guns that the Swiss Guard uses are manufactured, and I doubt that Francis is condemning these manufacturers. Lets not forget that not too long ago the Vatican was pushing for...

Over the weekend, Pope Francis made a statement that should be of deep interest to the many thousands of faithful Catholics who work in the American defense industry or to the countless more who’ve invested in American arms companies. Speaking Sunday, the pope said, “If you trust only men, you have lost.” He continued, “It makes me think of . . . people, managers, businessmen who call themselves Christian and they manufacture weapons. That leads to a bit of a distrust doesn’t it?” Interestingly, in that same speech the pope wondered aloud why the Allies didn’t do more to stop...

This week, Pope Francis informed an audience in Turin that gun manufacturers—and those invested in the weapons industries—were hypocrites if they called themselves Christians. Francis, who earlier this year accused weapons makers of participating in an “industry of death,” explained: “It makes me think of … people, managers, businessmen who call themselves Christian and they manufacture weapons. That leads to a bit a distrust, doesn’t it?” Well, not really. This piece comes with customary caveat that English-speaking media tends to tweak the translation of the Pope’s messages just enough to mislead or strip it of proper context—or sometimes, miss...

Pope Francis is rapidly convincing me that he is not just a leftist, but a dope. Speaking to a group of young people in Turin, he departed from his script and launched into a rambling denunciation of, among others, arms manufacturers: “It makes me think of … people, managers, businessmen who call themselves Christian and they manufacture weapons. That leads to a bit a distrust, doesn’t it?” he said to applause. He also criticized those who invest in weapons industries, saying “duplicity is the currency of today … they say one thing and do another.” We are a long way...

Fascinating look at weapons per state compared to countries.

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan has vowed to punish the editor of a newspaper which published video footage it said showed the MIT state intelligence agency helping send weapons to Syria. The Cumhuriyet newspaper published footage on its website on Friday which it said showed gendarmerie and police officers opening crates of what it described as weapons and ammunition on the back of three trucks belonging to MIT. "The individual who has reported this as an exclusive story will pay a high price for this," Erdogan said in a television interview with state broadcaster TRT late on Sunday. "I will not...

Among all the rivers of money that have flowed to the Clinton family, one seems to raise the biggest national security questions of all: the stream of cash that came from 20 foreign governments who relied on weapons export approvals from Hillary Clinton’s State Department. Federal law designates the secretary of state as “responsible for the continuous supervision and general direction of sales” of arms, military hardware and services to foreign countries. In practice, that meant that Clinton was charged with rejecting or approving weapons deals — and when it came to Clinton Foundation donors, Hillary Clinton’s State Department did...

Clinton Foundation payola funds State Department approval of arms shipments to repressive governments. While presidential candidate Hillary Clinton was America’s top diplomat the Department of State that she oversaw approved $165 billion worth of commercial arms sales to 20 nations whose governments forked over millions of dollars to the now-embattled Clinton Foundation. According to an International Business Times report by David Sirota and Andrew Perez, “at least seven foreign governments that received State Department clearance for American arms did donate to the Clinton Foundation while Hillary Clinton was serving as secretary.” The article identified the seven nations as Algeria, Australia,...

Islamic State has unveiled its latest weapon in its quest for dominance in the Middle East... a homemade Blue Peter-style sniper rifle. New pictures have emerged of the crudely-assembled long-range weapon, which critics are already suggesting would be far too heavy and inaccurate to use on the battlefield. The new sniper rifle also appears to be lacking a tripod stand, resulting in the sniper having to use a tree branch as an ineffective resting post.

More than 100 pages of previously classified Department of Defense and Department of State documents implicate the Obama administration in a cover-up to obscure the role Hillary Clinton and the State Department played in the rise of ISIS. The documents were obtained in a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit filed by the Washington watchdog Judicial Watch. They confirm WND reporting over the past three years of evidence that U.S. Ambassador Christopher Stevens was involved in shipping weapons from Benghazi to support the al-Qaida-affiliated militias fighting the Bashar al-Assad regime in Syria, effectively arming the Sunni jihadists who morphed into ISIS....

Of 20 nations that donated to the Foundation, 17 had more robust weapons transactions in the three fiscal years that State was led by Hillary than in the last three years of the previous administration. How do you convince a president who got elected in 2008 on an anti-war platform repudiating warmongering cowboy George W. Bush to ramp up arms deals to unsavory regimes in the Middle East? Slipping a fat envelope into the Clinton slush fund’s collection box couldn’t hurt. And evidently didn’t.Personally, I’m pretty excited to have every foreign-policy transaction the United States engages in through 2020,...

Even by the standards of arms deals between the United States and Saudi Arabia, this one was enormous. A consortium of American defense contractors led by Boeing would deliver $29 billion worth of advanced fighter jets to the United States' oil-rich ally in the Middle East. Israeli officials were agitated, reportedly complaining to the Obama administration that this substantial enhancement to Saudi air power risked disrupting the region's fragile balance of power. The deal appeared to collide with the State Department’s documented concerns about the repressive policies of the Saudi royal family. But now, in late 2011, Hillary Clinton’s State...

In late April, a commander for Islamic State said his forces were ready to launch an offensive to take Ramadi, and the group called for fighters to redeploy to Iraq from Syria.

The Pentagon said Thursday that an expedited shipment of 2,000 lightweight shoulder-fired weapons should arrive in Iraq next week. The weapons, according to The Associated Press (AP), are intended to help the Iraqi army stop the Islamic State (ISIS) group's increasingly effective use of car bombs. The shipment is among a variety of weaponry and equipment the United States agreed to send to Iraq on an expedited basis after Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi visited Washington in April to plead for more help in fighting the extremists. Col. Steve Warren, a Pentagon spokesman, said the shipment of shoulder-fired AT-4 weapons...

To me it's treasonous to send more weapons into Iraq at this point! Just saw this on Foxnews ISIS controls way too much of Iraq to do this! ISIS WILL get their hands on these Anti-Tank Weapons. Look what just happened in Ramadi! We are supplying ISIS with weaponry! This is insanity!

How arms got into ISIS jihadists' hands--with Clinton and Obama's full knowledge The shameless lying that has formed the heart of the Obama administration’s Benghazi narrative took another turn yesterday. Documents obtained by Fox News reveal that U.S. intelligence agencies were “fully aware” weapons were being moved from Benghazi to Syria before the attack on Sept. 11, 2012, that claimed the lives of ambassador Christopher Stevens,Navy SEALs Glen Doherty and Tyrone Woods, and diplomat Sean Smith. The documents also put the lie to President Obama’s assertion that the rise of ISIS caught the administration “by surprise.” “Newly released documents show...

The United States is “expediting” shipments of weapons to fight the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) in light of recent gains by the terror group. Vice President Joe Biden told Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-abaci on Friday the U.S. will rush the weapons to Iraq to help them try to hold the city of Ramadi, CNN reported Friday night. ISIS raised its flag over Ramadi on Friday after capturing the city’s provincial government building and police headquarters, CNN said. The shipment reportedly includes AT-4 shoulder-held rockets and ammunition.

The Obama administration is quietly pushing Sunni Arab allies in the Persian Gulf to create an advanced missile defense system, and is preparing to ramp up sophisticated weapons sales to Saudi Arabia in an effort to ease regional fears over a potential nuclear deal with Iran. With Secretary of State John F. Kerry set to visit Saudi Arabia Wednesday and Thursday, officials privately say the administration is weighing whether to offer Riyadh — already a major buyer of American and European weaponry — GBU-28 bunker buster bombs Washington has so far only been willing to provide to Israel. The discussions...

In April 1945, an entire brigade of British special forces joined the massive effort to attack the German army until its back was against the Po River. If successful, the Wehrmacht would have no choice but escape across the river and evacuate Italy — or stay and fight, facing the prospect of heavy losses.

Navy officials: US warship heads to Yemeni waters to intercept Iranian weapons shipments.