Free Republic

Afghanistan’s military and security forces are losing personnel at an unsustainable rate and could not remain intact for long if U.S. forces were withdrawn, according to Marine Lt. Gen. Kenneth F. McKenzie Jr, the incoming CENTCOM commander. In testimony before Congress, the Marine three-star also said that the U.S. military and Taliban are “in a stalemate” — which was the most optimistic portion of his description of the current security situation in America’s longest-running war. His assessment comes on the heels of Afghan President Ashraf Ghani’s statement earlier this month that nearly 29,000 military and security personnel have been killed...

"There is not a smoking gun....there is a smoking saw" That's the assessment of Republican Senator Lindsey Graham regarding the involvement of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman in the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on October 2nd. Graham said that the Saudi Crown Prince, commonly called "M-BS" is a:....... British Prime Minister Theresa May lost three votes in the House of Commons over Brexit Tuesday as her government was found in "contempt of Parliament"...... Nigel Farage announced Tuesday evening that he was leaving UKIP..... The French President, Emmanuel Macron, was booed and...

Defense Secretary James N. Mattis said Monday Pakistan must take on a substantive role in peace talks with the Taliban if the war in neighboring Afghanistan is to be ended. Speaking to reporters at the Pentagon Monday, Mr. Mattis demanded Islamabad provide explicit support for “all those who are trying to maintain peace” in Afghanistan and elsewhere in the region. “We are looking for every responsible nation to support peace in the subcontinent and across this war in Afghanistan. … It is time for everyone to get on board,” Mr. Mattis said ahead of bilateral talks with Indian Defense Minister...

WASHINGTON — Three men from Northern Virginia have been charged with defrauding the Department of Defense of nearly $9 billion in contracts. Abdul Huda Farouki, 75, of McLean, his brother Mazen Farouki, 73, of Boyce and Salah Maarouf, 71, of Fairfax all pleaded not guilty to eight counts each of fraud and violating sanctions against Iran. Federal prosecutors say the three men — all executives connected to defense contractor Anham FZCO based in the United Arab Emirates — were awarded an $8 billion contract to provide supplies and food to American troops in Afghanistan in 2012. The indictment says that...

Three men were charged in an indictment returned Nov. 27 for their roles in a scheme to defraud U.S. Military contracts in Afghanistan, engaging in illegal commerce in Iran, and laundering money internationally. Their conduct was in connection to two multi-million dollar contracts to provide supplies and logistical support to U.S. troops in Afghanistan. Assistant Attorney General Brian A. Benczkowski of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, Special Agent in Charge Patrick J. Lechleitner of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Washington, D.C. and Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) John F. Sopko made the announcement. Abul...

The peace talks are underway behind the scenes in Qatar, but the war in Afghanistan continues with 30 civilians killed in a US airstrike in Helmand province Wednesday..... The President's son-in-law Jared Kushner is set to receive Mexico's top award today..... His wife Ivanka Trump will help represent the United States at the inauguration of Mexico's incoming President.... Russian President Vladimir Putin says that Ukraine deliberately staged the incident in the Kerch Strait last Sunday.... A prosecutor in Argentina launched an investigation of Mohammed Bin Salman as the Crown Prince arrived there Wednesday for the G20 summit..... The US Senate...

A Vermont homeowner woke up Sunday morning to an alarming discovery: the charred remains of his “Trump 2020: Keep America Great!” flag, which had been flying outside his house in Burlington, Vt. Gus Klein, a veteran of the war in Afghanistan, and his family had been sleeping soundly inside their home the night before, but now he wonders just how safe they really were. “I don’t know if this flag was on fire when they threw it on my front porch,” he said in an interview with local news station WCAX-TV. “I can only assume that it wasn’t, but if...

Retired Gen. Stanley McChrystal on Wednesday denounced President Trump's attacks on military service members, including the late Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and retired Adm. William McRaven, who oversaw the operation that killed Osama bin Laden. "His discussions on Bill McRaven, as well as his previous discussions on John McCain and others have been something that’s deeply disturbing to a lot of thoughtful people,” McChrystal said on ABC's Powerhouse Politics podcast. “The fact that he would take on people in this vitriolic manner, I think is pretty upsetting to people." "And the fact that he would be dismissive of the kinds...

<p>KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — A roadside bomb killed three American soldiers in eastern Afghanistan on Tuesday, the U.S. military said.</p> <p>The military said that three other service members were wounded when the bomb went off near the city of Ghazni. An American contractor was also wounded, it said. The military did not immediately identify any of the casualties.</p>

Hillary Clinton popped back into the news cycle on Thanksgiving in the worst possible way, after the Guardian quoted her as saying, basically, that Europe needs to get harsher on migrants and refugees or else people like Donald Trump will keep winning elections. Just to reiterate this is a bad and terrible stance that only some kind of ultra-warped center-think could come up with. The interview took place before the midterms, according to the Guardian, and was published as part of the paper’s new “The New Populism” series, which might explain why they decided to drop the quotes on Thanksgiving...

A community in the central Logar province of Afghanistan has awarded the ‘Bravery’ Medal to the US President Trump for his recent stance against Pakistan. The handmade medal was prepared with a total cost of $645 with the contribution of the participants of an informal Jirga in which around 300 people had participated. Syed Farhad Akbari, a community leader in the province, on January 14 told RFE/RL’s Afghan Service that more than 300 people at an informal “jirga,” or council, of concerned citizens agreed to award the medal to the U.S. president. He said the handwritten message on the award...

Iran’s president Hassan Rouhani said on Monday that the country will continue to export oil despite fresh U.S. sanctions, which he described as “psychological war doomed to failure.” “We will not yield to this pressure which is part of the psychological war launched against Iran,” he said on state TV. “They have failed to stop our oil exports. We will keep exporting it ... Your regional policies have failed and you blame Iran for that failure from Afghanistan to Yemen and Syria,” he added, to chants of “Death to America!”. Rouhani also said that the U.S. lacked international support for...

Kabul (CNN)A blast at a wedding hall in Kabul has killed 40 people, the Afghan health ministry said.

The families of some of the 17 SEAL Team 6 commandos who were killed in an ambush in Afghanistan during a helicopter flight to help Army Rangers pinned down by Taliban gunmen accused the Obama administration of deliberately endangering their loved ones for political ends. Now a highly decorated, retired Air Force officer is coming forward, breaking her silence to speak out on what she witnessed in one of the deadliest attacks on Navy SEALs in U.S. history. Her testimony details how the government covered up evidence in the 2011 downing of a Chinook helicopter gunship that killed a total...

92 Military Dogs coming home "Good job Pooches" come home and rest !Link Only

Other than a “presence” in Afghanistan, the United States has no strategic cards to play. There is no military solution in Afghanistan, at least from the standpoint of the manner in which we have conducted the war. After an initial small-footprint victory in late 2001, driving the Taliban out of Afghanistan, the U.S. chose to mount an exhaustive and expensive counterinsurgency campaign with its nation-building component. At the same time, Pakistan, sustaining the Taliban, waged a proxy war in Afghanistan, much like Pakistan’s and, indirectly, China’s reported support and use of the Islamic extremist group Lashkar-e-Taiba and its affiliates against...

When U.S. forces and their Afghan allies rode into Kabul in November 2001 they were greeted as liberators. But after 17 years of war, the Taliban have retaken half the country, security is worse than it’s ever been, and many Afghans place the blame squarely on the Americans. The United States has lost more than 2,400 soldiers in its longest war, and has spent more than $900 billion on everything from military operations to the construction of roads, bridges and power plants. Three U.S. presidents have pledged to bring peace to Afghanistan, either by adding or withdrawing troops, by engaging...

Democrats are gloating over the sentencing of former Rep. Steve Stockman (R-Texas) last week. He was ordered to serve 10 years in prison for the vague charges of mail fraud, wire fraud and money laundering. Whenever prosecutors want to get someone who hasn’t actually committed a crime, they use those vague but scary sounding charges. He was also ordered to pay $1,014,718.51 in restitution, to be divided between him and two other co-defendants.What did Stockman actually do to warrant this? He facilitated four donations from two donors totaling $915,000 to two nonprofits he was associated with. One of the nonprofits...

This week’s edition of Saturday Night Live’s Weekend Update served as a sequel of sorts to last week’s episode. Pete Davidson followed up on his insult of newly-elected Congressman Dan Crenshaw by bringing the politician on to the show to get his revenge and share a serious message about respecting veterans. Crenshaw, a Republican politician and military veteran who lost his eye in Afghanistan in 2012, had been targeted by Davidson as part of SNL’s midterms preview. Davidson mocked the politician’s injury, saying he looked like a “hitman in a porno.” Davidson had quickly added, “I’m sorry, I know he...

1LT Lorance led US Soldiers in Zhari, Afghanistan – the Taliban’s birthplace where dozens of US Soldiers have been killed & maimed. Three Taliban, on a motorcycle, were speeding toward Clint’s platoon. A Soldier fired at them, but missed. Clint instantly ordered another Soldier to fire. Two of the three Taliban were killed. Clint protected his men, consistent with the ROEs. However, the Army sentenced him to 20 years in prison for “double murder & attempted murder” claiming he killed innocent civilians. Fingerprints and DNA have proven they were NOT innocent civilians but, Taliban. Additionally, an Army report noted Clint’s...