Free Republic

BEHIND THE LINES: The US administration appears to fail to notice the broader alliance taking shape behind these forces, and the interconnectedness of the current assault on the West. The statement by US President Donald Trump that Iran would be held responsible for continued attacks by the Yemeni Houthi movement on shipping in the Red Sea sharply raises the temperature in the ongoing escalation between US forces and the Yemeni Shi’ite Islamist movement in that area. “Every shot fired by the Houthis will be looked upon, from this point forward, as being a shot fired from the weapons and leadership...

Two Chinese submarines and several warships were spotted in international waters off Japan's southern island of Okinawa at the weekend, and Tokyo is investigating what the military vessels were doing there, the defense minister said Tuesday. Encounters between China's growing military and the Japanese navy have increased in the waters between the two countries in recent years. The two governments both lay claim to valuable undersea gas deposits in the region, which they have agreed to jointly develop. Okinawan islands also have dozens of U.S. military bases. More than half of the 47,000 U.S. troops in Japan under a security...

WASHINGTON (AFP) — Chinese fishing boats engaged in "dangerous" maneuvers near a US Navy ship in international waters off China, in the latest provocative encounter with American surveillance vessels, a Pentagon spokesman said Tuesday. "It is unsafe and dangerous behavior and it needs to be addressed" diplomatically, spokesman Bryan Whitman said as he described last Thursday's approach of a pair of Chinese vessels to the USNS Victorious, which he said was engaged in "routine operations." The USNS Victorious and another unarmed surveillance vessel, the USNS Impeccable, were involved in a series of close encounters with Chinese ships in the South...