Free Republic

Ukraine is braced for a major new offensive that could begin within weeks. One of President Zelensky’s key insiders told The Daily Beast that they expect a looming Russian move to encircle the country with a simultaneous attack on three fronts.Rustem Umerov, a member of the team negotiating with Russia, said the Kremlin was preparing for a fresh advance which could begin as soon as February. The assault would come from the north, over the Belarusian border, from the Russian strongholds in the east of Ukraine, and from the south, where the Black Sea peninsula of Crimea was seized by...

A detachment from the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit has set up a secret firebase in northern Iraq to support operations of the US and coalition forces fighting ISIS.Yesterday, ISIS targeted the firebase, firing two rockets, one of which landed inside the base killing one Marine and wounding several others.Initially, the Pentagon claimed that the Marine, Staff Sgt. Louis F. Cardin, of Temecula, California was killed by "indirect fire" from ISIS. But it seems clear that ISIS saw the Marines moving into the firebase and fired directly into the base.The existence of a combat unit in Iraq that could be targeted...

Political analysts are predicting a huge win for Republicans in November's congressional elections, but some Democrats believe they have a secret plan to stave off a crushing Republican landslide. That’s the analysis from Newsweek magazine’s Andrew Romano, who writes that “the Democrats in charge are actually rather confident about getting their fellow Dems elected this year. The reason? They have a plan — a plan that they believe will produce much better results on Election Day than anyone expects.” The first element of that plan is the return of Obama’s former campaign manager David Plouffe, who left politics after Obama’s...