Free Republic

There are moments in American foreign policy when the warning signs are flashing so brightly that failing to act becomes its own form of negligence. This is one of those moments. Senator Ted Cruz and his fellow sponsors of S. 4063 are not engaging in political theater. They are responding to a gathering national security threat that too many in Washington have either underestimated or deliberately ignored for years: the growing cooperation between the Polisario Front and Iranian-backed terrorist networks operating across North Africa and beyond. The Senate should move quickly to advance this legislation. Not because it is politically...

.......That would be Warren Kinsella, a native Canadian with an impressive résumé and a long list of accomplishments. In this riveting interview, featured on Israpundit.org, he relates how in his experience in running political campaigns — and being the campaign manager for Prime Minister Jean Chrétien (1993–2003) — he instantly recognized that the virtual explosion of worldwide anti-Semitism after October 7, 2023 was significantly similar to...yes, political campaigns, in which those who run them are primarily concerned with (1) Volunteers, (2) Leadership, (3) Messaging, (4) Money, (5) Advertising, and (6) Social Media. The campaign against Israel, Mr. Kinsella said, was...

Dubai: Defying international law governing global waterways, Iran is trying to force shippers to comply with a new protocol for transiting the Strait of Hormuz — or risk attack. According to a document seen by CNN, Tehran has introduced new rules for vessels seeking passage through the strategic waterway, pressing ahead with efforts to formalise control over Hormuz despite repeated US and regional warnings. The document, titled “Vessel Information Declaration,” was issued by Iran’s newly created Persian Gulf Strait Authority (PGSA). It requires vessels transiting Hormuz to submit detailed information, including ownership, crew nationalities, cargo details and voyage plans, before...

The next presidential aircraft just cleared a major milestone. The U.S. Air Force announced on May 1 that the VC-25B Bridge aircraft has completed both modification and flight testing and is now being painted in its new red, white, gold, and blue livery ahead of delivery to the Presidential Airlift Group no later than this summer. The bridge jet is a Boeing 747-8i platform originally gifted by Qatar. It was modified at L3Harris facilities in Waco, Texas, and is designed to serve as an interim presidential aircraft while the longer-term VC-25B replacement program continues to work through delays. The current...

A quiet legal ruling in Texas has opened the door to a much louder national conversation. When Amy Meachum ordered the state to allow construction of a 400-acre Muslim community—complete with homes, a mosque, schools, and businesses—it wasn’t just a zoning decision. It was a window into a deeper reality: Islam is growing in the United States, and with that growth comes both opportunity and tension that Americans can no longer ignore. The development, formerly known as Epic City and now called “The Meadow,” represents a vision of communal life shaped around Islamic faith and culture. Backed by developers and...

Barring regime change in Iran or a durable diplomatic resolution to the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, the West is now facing its most fundamental challenge to its energy security since the Arab-Israeli wars of the 1950s, ’60s, and ’70s. To escape the Hormuz trap—a crisis in oil, gas, and petrochemicals transit that will slowly degrade the global economy over the months and years to come—the West must revisit a familiar pattern. For nearly three decades during those wars, Arab states seeking to pressure Israel and its Western backers repeatedly weaponized Middle Eastern oil transit chokepoints by blocking canals...

Food for thought. Iran Is Not Winning. It Is Unraveling. The prevailing narrative on Iran has it almost perfectly reversed. We are told that Tehran is winning a war of wills in the Gulf and that Donald Trump is gambling recklessly with the world’s most sensitive chokepoint. In reality, Iran is not consolidating strength; it is managing decline. And Trump’s play on the Strait of Hormuz has quietly forced energy markets to reprice security—tilting the balance decisively toward the Americas, and away from Europe, Asia and China. The Islamic Republic no longer resembles a confident revolutionary project. With the old...

imo, There's no doubt in MY mind that Mamdani was selected to be the Mayor.After seeing two rabid Muslims singing a relatively Protestant church bus song together with some very enthusiastic (whom obviously KNEW the song, thus . . church/children Sunday School ..attendees) children, it appears that the radicals have invaded us and are stepping up their indoctrination the way they ALWAYS do . . . . they use our own ways and laws against us.The plan is to take over the Island of Manhattan and eventually make it a Caliphate / Islamic State. . . . . We are...

<p>Investigators are searching for an Afghan National Army soldier who shot a rocket at British soldiers in Helmand province, killing three and injuring four others early Tuesday morning, an Afghan Defense Ministry spokesman said.</p> <p>"We believe these were the actions of a lone individual who has betrayed his ISAF and Afghan comrades," a U.K. military spokesman said. "His whereabouts are currently unknown but we are making strenuous efforts to find him."</p>

Statement by Benjamin Roberts-Smith VC MG, 19th April 2026For the past 10 years, my family and I have been subject to a campaign to convince Australians that I’ve acted improperly in my service in Afghanistan.As I’ve always maintained, I categorically deny all of these allegations and while I would have preferred these charges not be brought, I will be taking this opportunity to finally clear my name.I’m proud of my service in Afghanistan.While I was there, I always acted within my values, within my training and within the rules of engagement.I’d also like to say I’m extremely proud of all...

Last December Belarus approached Russia with a request for a loan aimed at facilitating the switch to the Russian ruble as the main currency for bilateral trade. The global financial crisis depleted the country’s international reserves and put the economy in a rather dire condition, creating a desperate need for more funding, even after the country secured a $2 billion loan earlier in the year. But the Russians made it clear that they were not interested in giving out more money. However, after last week’s meeting of the Higher State Council of the Union of Russia and Belarus, the Assistant...

The deployment aimed to enhance joint military coordination, improve operational readiness between the armed forces of the two countries, and support security and stability at regional and international levels

President Donald Trump said Saturday the U.S. military has begun clearing the Strait of Hormuz, declaring Iran’s naval and air capabilities have been wiped out. "Their Navy is gone, their Air Force is gone, their Anti Aircraft apparatus is nonexistent, Radar is dead," Trump wrote in a Truth Social post. He added Iran’s missile and drone infrastructure has been "largely obliterated," along with the weapons themselves, and said the country’s longtime leaders "are no longer with us." Trump also said Iran’s ability to threaten shipping has been neutralized. "The only thing they have going is the threat that a ship...

Several U.S. Navy ships crossed the Strait of Hormuz on Saturday, a U.S. official told Axios. Why it matters: The move was not coordinated with Iran. It is the first time U.S. warships crossed the strait since the beginning of the war. The operation was aimed at increasing confidence for commercial ships to cross, sources say. It came as peace talks between the two sides kicked off in Pakistan. "This was an operation that focused on freedom of navigation through International waters," the U.S. official said.

A US official denied on Saturday that Washington had agreed to release frozen assets belonging to Iran, contradicting earlier reports. Reuters had reported that the United States agreed to release Iranian funds held in Qatar and other foreign banks, citing a senior Iranian source, which described the move as a goodwill step ahead of talks.

Britain will host further talks on reopening the vital Strait of Hormuz shipping lane with a coalition of countries next week. The meeting will continue the Government’s efforts to restore freedom of navigation to the strait, which provides shipping routes for oil and gas. It comes after the Prime Minister spoke to Donald Trump about the need for a “practical plan” to get ships going through the area amid suggestions Iran wants to charge vessels for passage. An official with knowledge of the planning has said the meeting is expected to look for ways to support a sustainable end to...

“Unlike Russia and China, which would need to independently find the technical means of downing the F-15, and unlike Turkey, which lacks such sophisticated capabilities, Qatar had all the secrets handed to them with the sale of F-15QA. All that was necessary was to give them to Iran. There is no known indication that the Russians or Chinese have overcome the technological problem of downing an American F-15E, whereas it is known that Qatar had the solution already in their hands. It would be advisable that the DOD experts who investigate the downing of the U.S. F-15E check the risk...

Operation Epic Fury marks a turning point in the art of war. The key to 20th-century battles was air power. In the past, space and cyber activities have traditionally played supporting roles as so-called force multipliers. But this is no longer the case. In this conflict they have become mainstream, carving out new fronts for the wars of the future. The use of space is no longer something that is just nice to have, because everything from comms to intel to navigation uses space and cyber assets. Along with the National Reconnaissance Office, which manages US spy satellites, the US...

At 6:30 p.m. on Sept. 14, Ana Belen Montes, a senior analyst at the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), walked into a public telephone booth outside Washington's National Zoo and made two calls to pager numbers later traced by federal agents to Cuba's Directorate of General Intelligence (DGI). She already had compromised the identities of CIA agents, revealed U.S. military secrets and exposed the contents of classified files. But, as Montes sent repeated signals to her DGI handlers during the days immediately following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the Pentagon and the twin towers of the World Trade Center, the ...

"It's going unnoticed because so much other news is happening but the war drums are beating again in D.C. The warmongers worry this is their last chance to get the white whale they've been chasing for thirty years, an all out regime change war against Iran. A new war in the Middle East would be a catastrophic mistake..."-Charlie Kirk "X" Post April 3, 2025... Intense fighting reported in southwestern Iran Saturday night amid a US effort to rescue a second crew member of a downed US warplane. Video was posted claiming to show Iranian civilians in vehicle convoys seeking to...