Free Republic

The United Kingdom's defense ministry said Thursday that a Russian fighter jet malfunctioned and fired a missile near a British spy plane over the Black Sea last month. "We don't consider this a deliberate escalation by the Russians, our analysis would concur it was a malfunction," UK Defense Minister Ben Wallace told the House of Commons on Thursday. "However, it is a reminder of quite how dangerous things can be when you choose to use your fighters in the manner that the Russians have done over many periods of time." Patrols over the Black Sea have resumed with British fighter...

Russian tanks with their tops blown off are just the latest sign that Russia's invasion of Ukraine isn't going to plan. Hundreds of Russian tanks are thought to have been destroyed since Moscow launched its offensive, with British Defense Secretary Ben Wallace on Monday estimating it had lost as many as 580. But Moscow's problems go beyond the sheer number of tanks it has lost. Experts say battlefield images show Russian tanks are suffering from a defect that Western militaries have known about for decades and refer to as the "jack-in-the-box effect." Moscow, they say, should have seen the problem...

British -made anti-aircraft missiles are about to be deployed by Ukraine in the conflict for the first time, threatening to heap further humiliation on Vladimir Putin over his disastrous invasion. Defence Secretary Ben Wallace told The Mail on Sunday that the Starstreak system – a shoulder-mounted missile that travels at more than three times the speed of sound to take down low-flying enemy jets – was ready to be used imminently. The news came as Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky claimed that Putin was scaling back the invasion because he was reeling from ‘powerful blows’ and had lost more than 16,000...

The withdrawal of Western troops from Afghanistan is the "biggest debacle" that NATO has suffered since its founding, the head of German Chancellor Angela Merkel's party, Armin Laschet, said on Monday. Laschet said focus at the moment must be on the German military's evacuation operation from Afghanistan."But we will talk about the causes and conclusions drawn after this rescue mission -- a no holds barred analysis of errors in Germany, with our allies and in the international community.”

Berlin (AFP) - Allies and critics alike on Monday condemned the United States over the botched end to its 20-year NATO campaign in Afghanistan. Stunned by the Taliban's lightning advance across the country after the departure of Western troops, NATO allies have been left scrambling to evacuate their nationals as well as vulnerable Afghans. In a meeting with her party's top brass, German Chancellor Angela Merkel admitted that developments in the country were "bitter". She said however that once the United States decided to withdraw from Afghanistan, it was clear that Germany and other allies had to follow suit. The...

The UK government has been talking to the Taliban through an intermediary and a pathway for the hardline Islamist terror group to be recognised as the government of Afghanistan exists, the defence secretary has said, as he defended President Joe Biden’s handling of the withdrawal. British Defence Secretary Ben Wallace spoke to several UK broadcast networks on Monday morning amid emerging scenes of chaos and violence in Afghanistan and Britain’s re-committal to a group of Air Assault Brigade troops to the country to protect efforts to expatriate both UK passport holders and Afghan interpreters coming to Britain.

The United Kingdom defended the actions of the Trump administration in Iran, saying the United States is “entitled to defend itself” against Iranian aggression and deploying the Royal Navy to the Persian Gulf to protect shipping vessels flying the British flag. The Secretary of State for Defence, Ben Wallace, expressed support for America’s decision to take out Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps commander Qasem Soleimani, citing the violence committed in Iraq by Iran-backed militias. “During the last few months U.S. forces in Iraq, who are based in Iraq at the invitation of the Iraqi government, have been repeatedly attacked by Iranian-backed...

DOWNING Street was last night livid with Donald Trump for endangering British troops by assassinating Iranian military chief Qasem Soleimani without any warning. In a serious breach of protocol between key allies, the US president didnÂ’t tell Boris Johnson about the Baghdad missile strike on the terror mastermind. The attack sparked immediate overnight concern for the safety of 400 British troops stationed in Iraq and fears they could be targeted for revenge. In a snub to the White House, the British Government refused to give any public support for the killing yesterday. As fears also rose for the precarious deal...

The Minister of State for Security has issued a stark warning that ISIS is plotting a chemical attack on Britain. Ben Wallace said exercises are being carried out to prepare for such an atrocity. ISIS has the capabilities to produce their own mustard gas, having already used the tactics in the Middle East. Troops fighting against the terror group have been left with appalling injuries — including agonizing blisters on their skin and badly damaged lungs — in a frightening echo of warfare in the trenches on the Western Front. Ingredients to make these bombs are fairly common and easy...

NEW YORK (AP) - Ron Artest, Jermaine O'Neal and Stephen Jackson of Indiana and Ben Wallace of Detroit were suspended indefinitely by the NBA on Saturday for taking part in one of the ugliest brawls in U.S. sports history, a fight with fans that commissioner David Stern called "shocking, repulsive and inexcusable." League officials were examining video tapes of Friday night's melee and interviewing witnesses. The NBA issued a statement saying it was reviewing rules and security procedures "so that fans can continue to attend our games unthreatened by events such as the ones that occurred last night." Artest, O'Neal...