Free Republic

snipPresident Biden (snip) “I trust the capacity of the Afghan military, who is better trained, better equipped, and more competent in terms of conducting war,” the president declared from the White House’s ornate East Room on July 8. A few days later, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff gave a less rosy assurance, but disputed claims a Taliban takeover was inevitable. “A negative outcome – a Taliban takeover of Afghanistan – is not a foregone conclusion," Army Gen. Mark Milley told reporters. “…I don’t think an end game is yet written.” But inside U.S. intelligence agencies, the Pentagon...

President Biden is getting little cover from Congress as he faces broad backlash over his handling of the U.S. withdrawal in Afghanistan. Some Democrats, including Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.), have rallied to Biden’s side and circulated White House talking points to their members. Pelosi also urged Democrats during a conference call to stand behind Biden, according to a source familiar with the conversation. But the quick fall of Afghanistan to the Taliban, images of chaos coming out of Kabul and questions about how, and how quickly, Americans and tens of thousands of Afghan...

The Texas Supreme Court ruled Tuesday evening that the state’s constitution allows the state House of Representatives to arrest absent members to force them to return to the chamber to conduct legislative business. The court’s decision is a win for House Republicans. It lifts a temporary restraining order a county judge issued last week blocking arrest warrants — signed by Republican House Speaker Dade Phelan — targeting dozens of House Democrats who fled the state to block Republicans from passing a restrictive voting bill. “The question now before this Court is not whether it is a good idea for the...

Texas officials requested 5 refrigerated trucks to hold deceased COVID-19 victims, an NBC News report shows. Many hospitals in Texas are lacking available ICU space. A state official said the request for mortuary trucks was a precautionary move as cases increase in the state. Visit Insider's homepage for more stories. Texas officials requested five additional mortuary trucks to hold deceased COVID-19 victims, according to a recent NBC News report. Chris Van Deusen, the spokesperson for the Department of State Health Services, told NBC News that the request for more refrigerated vehicles did not come from a specific town or hospital...

The Hague, Netherlands: The first Dutch evacuation flight since the Taliban takeover left Kabul without a single Dutch or Afghan national on board after passengers were blocked by US troops, the Netherlands said Wednesday. The US military allowed the Dutch jet to stay on the tarmac in the Afghan capital for just 30 minutes before ordering it to take off on Tuesday, foreign minister Sigrid Kaag said. Around 40 people were able to board the plane but none were Dutch or Afghan, with many people unable to get to the plane on time as they were stuck outside the US-guarded...

California Gov. Gavin Newsom told reporters Tuesday that he was “incredibly proud” of President Joe Biden, when asked whether Biden’s disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan might become a liability for him during the recall election. Newsom backed the president, according to Yahoo! News: A local reporter asked Newsom Monday if the fallout from the withdrawal from Afghanistan would “complicate” whether Biden is “the right person” to campaign with ahead of the recall election.

WWII veteran Tom Rice celebrated his birthday in epic fashion. According to First Coast News, Rice wanted to do something a little extra special to celebrate his 100th birthday and that meant parachuting out of an airplane. Rice, who jumped into Normandy on D-Day with the 101st Airborne, parachuted out of a vintage WWII plane and landed at the Coronado Hotel in San Diego over the weekend for his birthday. The WWII veteran is from San Diego and lived there when Japan attacked Pearl Harbor, according to the same report. You can watch the awesome moment unfold below.

Could this audacious electric scooter be the Honda Cub of the 21st Century? Ola is betting big on the S1Ola Electric ======================================================================== India's Ola Electric is mounting a huge assault on the motorcycle market with the clever, cheap, high-tech S1 scooter. Talk about volume; Ola's building the world's biggest motorcycle "Futurefactory," capable of producing 10 million bikes a year. Put another way, that's a bike every two seconds. Put yet another way, when this 500-acre, carbon-negative, 10 production line, 3,000-plus robot behemoth starts manufacturing at full capacity, it will be making more than one-seventh as many motorcycles as the entire...

The rollout of the COVID-19 vaccine mandate across New York City restaurants Tuesday has sparked an instant backlash, with business owners branding the move 'segregation' and confused customers finding themselves turned away from eateries. Mayor Bill de Blasio's controversial 'Key to NYC' scheme officially kicked off August 17, marking the US's strictest rule to date which separates the vaccinated and the unvaccinated in day-to-day life. And it is restaurant servers and bar staff who must be the public enforcers of the mayor's new mandate. -snip- Mary Josephine Generoso, manager of pastry shop and diner Pasticceria Rocco in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn,...

The White House confirmed that it is relying on the Taliban to help provide safe passage for civilians looking to evacuate Afghanistan as the State Department warns US civilians there to 'shelter in place' until it is safe to leave. On Tuesday, National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters that the Biden administration was in contact with the Taliban, who committed to ensuring US citizens exit the country safely. 'The Taliban have informed us that they are prepared to provide the safe passage of civilians to the airport, and we intend to hold them to that commitment,' Sullivan said. The...

The scorching hot summer sun didn’t stop the Clintons from getting out and about in Quebec’s scenic Eastern Townships this week, where the famous political couple are vacationing once again. Former U.S. president Bill Clinton and ex-secretary of state Hillary Rodham Clinton are back in the picturesque village of North Hatley, garnering excited attention from local business owners and residents. The pair were seen Friday alongside their friend and renowned Quebec author Louise Penny, taking in the sun on a small white boat on the waters of Lake Massawippi. They were flanked by a heavy security presence.

@ColumbiaBugle Pennsylvania Senate Candidate @SeanParnellUSA Joins Tucker Carlson To Discuss His Time Serving In Afghanistan & The Dangers Of Bringing In Unvetted Refugees Sean: "We can not bring 30,000 unvetted Afghan refugees to the United States of America, it is an irresponsible policy." Clip...

Former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice wrote in a new op-ed that the past four U.S. presidents share blame for the crisis in Afghanistan, adding that they all made mistakes that have culminated in the Taliban retaking the country this week. "The past years in Afghanistan have been difficult for every president, our armed forces, our allies and our country. The sacrifices of those who served — and those who died — will forever sear our national memory," Rice wrote in The Washington Post. "Each of us who held positions of authority over those years made mistakes — not because...

Reuters reported Tuesday that at least one global authority is already reconciling itself to Taliban rule in Afghanistan: “The chief of field operations of the U.N. children’s agency expressed cautious optimism about working with Taliban officials following their seizure of power in Afghanistan, citing their early expressions of support for girls’ education.” The source of this optimism may have been Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid sounding a superficially reassuring note: “We are going to allow women to work and study, women are going to be very active in society… we guarantee all their rights within the limits of Islam.” That’s a...

The Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll, sponsored by The ANTIFA by Jack Posobiec, for Wednesday shows that 46% of Likely U.S. Voters approve of President Biden’s job performance. Fifty-four percent (54%) disapprove. The latest figures include 26% who Strongly Approve of the job Biden is doing and 45% who Strongly Disapprove. This gives him a Presidential Approval Index rating of -19. (see trends)

American personnel destroyed the passports of some Afghans when they were getting rid of all sensitive materials at the US Embassy in Kabul in preparation for a full evacuation, according an update that Rep. Andy Kim’s office is sharing with people who request assistance with evacuations from Afghanistan. It is unclear why the passports were destroyed, but it is possible diplomats determined it would have been dangerous for the documents to fall into the hands of Taliban members, who could then target those Afghans. Not having a passport creates major complications for Afghans who are desperately and urgently trying to...

Months ago, U.S. forces began either removing, breaking down, or selling for scrap the military hardware they would leave behind on Joe Biden’s hand-chosen date to leave Afghanistan: September 11, 2021. But with Biden’s clueless and hackneyed Bay-of-Pigs-like disaster in Afghanistan, the U.S. is instead leaving to the Taliban billions of dollars worth of weapons and equipment. These are real weapons of war, not the ones BLM and antifa call police rifles and service pistols.This will take some self-control, but try to put aside for a minute your disgust at the moronic, clueless, and deeply symbolic – for terrorists anyway...

A recent New York Times article exemplifies the arrogant, condescending attitude of the elite Mainstream Media toward Middle America. Decline in Immigration Threatens Growth of Regions on the Rise is the name of the article, by Miriam Jordan. If you want to raise your blood pressure, read it. The Growth-At-Any-Cost crowd says there must be rapid growth and sprawl powered by an unending flow of immigration. Is this the future our elitists want for every American region?

Beloved; America, which was founded during the Philadelphia Church Age (from about 1700 to about 1900 – the church of the “open door” – Rev 3:7-13), was established on the bedrock of natural and moral laws and foremost acknowledged the RIGHTEOUS Person of Almighty God at its founding. Beloved, just read the Declaration of Independence, our nation's precious birth certificate, and see for yourself how Almighty God was included! Oh, how the haters love to slander our founding and twist the truth of its inception! In the fullness of time, at the end of world history, some 4000 years after...

I'm not a scientist, a doctor, or an expert in viruses or pandemics. I didn't even finish college. When I form an opinion about something in one of those disciplines, I must rely on experts in the field, but I try to be judicious in the information I gather. I look at the source material and the experts' credentials, and I consider what ulterior motives said experts may have when they share their conclusions. All of this is to say that I felt myself to be on safe ground when I shared an article on Facebook that Dr. Robert Malone...