Free Republic

The campaign in Iran is necessary for a variety of reasons. It is also justifiable under fair Just War evaluations. There are critical objectives that must be met: 1. Totally destroy Iran's nuclear capacity. I extend that to any so-called peaceful nuclear energy use. Iran is not trustworthy with any nuclear capacity whatsoever. 2. Totally access in and around the Strait of Hormuz. Whether this takes the form of escort of ships and annihilation of any opposition any time it appears, or whether it requires actual control of the Iranian side of the land mass, it is a necessary objective....

An attempt to OSINT the current state of affairsEnergy: The US is a net petroleum exporter. At $100+ Brent, US shale producers benefit. The US saves approximately $250 million per day compared to Asia and Europe on energy costs during the war. [CONFIRMED — Forbes, March 16]China hurt directly: China was purchasing ~90% of Iran’s sanctioned oil — ~1.7 million barrels/day at deeply discounted prices. That supply is now disrupted. China’s teapot refineries face acute shortages. A direct strategic blow to a US competitor.Taiwan deterrence signal: Chinese intelligence watched B-2s deliver GBU-57s against hardened targets successfully. The US capability to...

Sizable minorities on both the left and the right want America to intervene in fewer foreign conflicts and to exercise more restraint in foreign policy. In the 2006 midterm elections, antiwar voters contributed to the Republicans’ loss of both houses of Congress. They also helped defeat Hillary Clinton in the 2008 Democratic presidential primary contest and the Republican nominee, John McCain, at that year’s general election. While McCain styled himself a “maverick,” the label could be more accurately bestowed upon the anti-interventionist Republican Ron Paul, who shocked the GOP establishment by showing that an unstinting critic of the Iraq War...

When a naturalized citizen commits terrorism in the United States, current law makes revoking citizenship extremely difficult unless fraud in the naturalization process can be proven. That gap leaves serious national security concerns, and it’s a reality we have to confront head on.

Len Deighton, the British author who brought a documentary-style realism to the spy genre in 1960s Cold War thrillers like “The Ipcress File” and “Funeral in Berlin,” the film versions of which helped make Michael Caine an international star, died on Sunday at his home in Guernsey, one of the Channel Islands between England and France. He was 97. His death was confirmed by Russell Clark, the family’s lawyer. Unlike the impossibly suave, action-oriented Bond or George Smiley, John le Carré’s dumpy, cerebral, upper-class spy hero, Mr. Deighton’s central character is self-consciously proletarian, with a jaded, frequently hostile attitude toward...

An investigation into a Newfoundland junior hockey game that exploded into three brawls and racked up 572 minutes in penalties has resulted in sweeping suspensions, according to a league official. Boyd Hillier, vice-president of the St. John's Junior Hockey League, said the violent game on March 7 between the St. John's Junior Caps and the Southern Shore Junior Breakers was a "black eye" on hockey in the region. The league has since handed out suspensions to 18 players and coaches worth a collective total of 53 games, Hillier said Saturday. Video appearing to show footage from the night of roiling...

The Trump administration's top counterterrorism official Joe Kent announced his resignation Tuesday over opposition to the Iran war, becoming the highest-profile administration official to step down publicly over the conflict. In a resignation letter posted publicly on social media, Kent said he could not "in good conscience" support the war, which is now in its third week. "Iran posed no imminent threat to our nation, and it is clear that we started this war due to pressure from Israel and its powerful American lobby," Kent, who served as the director of the National Counterterrorism Center, wrote in his resignation letter....

Southern Florida is quietly falling to the Muslim Brotherhood’s insidious civilizational jihad, as local leaders—from mayors donning Islamic garb to police and FBI officials—roll out the red carpet for Brotherhood-tied groups at Ramadan 2026 iftars across 14 cities, betraying the state’s anti-terror stance and legitimizing networks bent on subverting American institutions through smiling infiltration and “diversity” rhetoric.

Celebrate March 17 with this collection of traditional, folk and contemporary Irish songs including “Molly Malone” and “Danny Boy. It’s St. Patrick’s Day! Whatever plans you’ve got on the calendar to celebrate the March holiday, whether you’re dining on corned beef and cabbage or attending a St. Paddy’s parade, be sure to wear green in honor of the Emerald Island and don’t forget to be on the lookout for a pot of gold at the end of a rainbow. While we can’t guarantee that you’ll find it, you’re sure to discover a real treasure in this collection of Irish songs.

Kuwaiti authorities arrested 14 Kuwaiti citizens and two Lebanese nationals belonging to a Hezbollah cell, seizing weapons, narcotics, and terror paraphernalia.

Oil prices fell back near $95 a barrel in U.S. futures markets Monday as Iran's Straight of Hormuz strategy became clearer, with the hard-line regime allowing passage of ships bound for Pakistan, India and China. The pullback in oil prices is allowing the S&P 500 to rally on Monday morning even as the U.S. struggles to find partners for an effort to guarantee safe passage through the key shipping route.

The European Union’s top diplomat, Kaja Kallas, said during a Monday press conference the ongoing war in Iran is “not Europe’s war,” but noted Europe’s interests are “directly at stake” as the conflict widens.“This is not Europe’s war, but Europe’s interests are directly at stake. As this war expands, the EU’s priority remains the protection of our citizens,” Kallas told reporters after a meeting of the Foreign Affairs Council (FAC) in Brussels. (snip) Asked by reporters on Monday on Trump’s remarks and if she thinks that the war in Iran is going to be more linked to Ukraine and NATO,...

Strong mag. 5.8 Earthquake - Caribbean Sea, Provincia de Santiago de Cuba, 95 km east of Guantanamo, Cuba, on Monday, Mar 16, 2026, at 11:28 pm (GMT -5) - 11 hours ago Updated: Mar 17, 2026 13:48 GMT - 1 hour 24 minutes ago refresh A strong magnitude 5.8 earthquake occurred in the Caribbean Sea near the coast of Cuba late in the evening of Monday, Mar 16, 2026 at 11.28 pm local time (GMT -5). The quake had a very shallow depth of 11.6 km (7 mi) and was felt widely in the area. The shallow depth of the...

If you’ve never experienced liberty before, you don’t know what it is. It’s not the natural state of humanity. Most of human history is riddled with oppression. A fish doesn’t know it’s wet.

Someone should do a wellness check on The New York Times. Looks like its journos read the portents wrong — AGAIN — on another one of its apocalyptic prognostications on the economic consequences of President Donald Trump taking out the Islamist regime in Iran. Times business reporter Emmett Lindner nonsensically tried to dig up the corpse of the 1970s oil price shock following the Yom Kippur War as a comparative case study to what is transpiring around the Persian Gulf as Israel and the U.S. decimate Iran’s war machine. “Echoes of the ’70s in What’s Now the Largest Oil Shock...

Has anyone put Openclaw on their MacOS? It seems beyond my skill set.

Trump supporters who backed his promise to avoid new Middle East wars worry Iran’s attacks on shipping are pushing the U.S. toward escalation — and maybe even boots on the ground.When the U.S. started firing Tomahawk missiles at Iran late last month, many of President Donald Trump’s allies hoped it would be a quick, surgical operation, similar to last year’s strike against Iran’s nuclear facilities or the ouster of Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro in January. Though uneasy, they were reassured by the belief that Trump’s open-ended objectives gave him the flexibility to declare victory whenever he saw fit. Now, more...

The US Department of the Treasury completed a record $14.7 billion debt buyback operation on March 10, 2026 with settlement on March 11, 2026. This marks the largest single Treasury buyback in history. The operation targeted nominal coupon securities maturing between April 15, 2026, and February 29, 2028. The Treasury had announced a maximum par amount of $15 billion to be redeemed, but accepted $14.697 billion in par value from offers totaling nearly $41 billion submitted by participants. This buyback is part of the Treasury’s regular debt management strategy, which includes: Improving liquidity in the massive US Treasury market over...

The SAVE America Act, if passed, will require proof of citizenship to register to vote in federal elections. That seems like common sense. Not only because it is, but because it’s common. Pew Research Center found 83% of Americans support it. Gallup found 84—including 98% of Republicans, 84% of independents, and 67% of Democrats. The House passed it. By any measure, it is one of the most broadly popular pieces of legislation in recent memory. But in late February 2026, a reporter for Punchbowl News named Andrew Desiderio published a piece declaring the bill had “almost no chance of becoming...

Donald Trump's top counterterrorism official has resigned in protest over the Iran war, accusing Israel and its 'powerful American lobby' of pressuring the US into a conflict he says was built on lies. Joseph Kent, Director of the National Counterterrorism Center, said Iran posed no imminent threat and the war was started 'due to pressure from Israel and its powerful American lobby,' adding: 'I cannot in good conscience support the ongoing war.'