Free Republic

The islands of Abu Musa, Greater Tunb, and Lesser Tunb in the Persian Gulf hold the key to the global economy's most vital chokepoint: the Strait of Hormuz..In the current landscape of the West Asia conflict, the islands of Abu Musa, Greater Tunb, and Lesser Tunb have transformed from sleepy patches of sand into what military analysts call “unsinkable aircraft carriers". While the world watches the missile exchanges between major powers, these three tiny landmasses in the Persian Gulf hold the key to the global economy’s most vital chokepoint: the Strait of Hormuz.The story of how these islands became part...

FILE PHOTO: An aerial view of the island of Qeshm, separated from the Iranian mainland by the Clarence Strait, on December 10, 2023. Nicolas Economou/Reuters With thousands of US ground troops reportedly on the way to the Middle East, speculation is mounting that they may be assigned to take Iran’s Kharg Island, a key fuel hub in the northern Persian Gulf which handles 90% of Tehran’s oil exports. But Kharg is just one of dozens of Iranian islands in the gulf, and others may be more important to securing the safe passage of ships – and naval vessels –...

Here's the latest • Marathon meetings: The US and Iran have begun a new round of talks in Pakistan as hourslong negotiations extend into Sunday morning local time, according to Iranian media. • Sticking point: Pakistani sources say the overall tone of the discussions has been positive, but a stalemate persists over control of the Strait of Hormuz, the vital waterway where the US said it began mine-clearing operations on Saturday. • Historic face-to-face: A US delegation led by Vice President JD Vance met directly with Iranian officials in Islamabad, marking a significant moment for two countries that have typically...

On Tuesday's CNN This Morning, host Audie Cornish turned to retired Brigadier General Steven M. Anderson to assess President Trump’s potential expansion of military strikes on Iran. Anderson repeatedly warned that targeting infrastructure such as bridges, power plants, and water facilities could amount to “war crimes,” even suggesting U.S. troops could be put in the position of refusing “illegal” orders. Cornish failed to disclose that Anderson sits on the board of VoteVets, a progressive PAC that backs Democrat candidates. Nor did she note his record of sweeping, alarmist claims, including warning in a Washington Post op-ed of a potential military...

"The ends must justify the means — the only question is what means are necessary." —Saul Alinsky Why do the news anchor ladies of CNN, Erin Burnett, Kate Bolduan, always look so depressed on the air? They never smile. Their faces always register something between grave concern and hysteria. Is it the network’s cratered ratings? The pending hostile takeover by Paramount / Skydance (led by conservative David Ellison)? Too much botox, zombifying the small facial muscles? Or is it self-loathing from being compelled to slant everything they report on in the direction of a lie? There does seem to be...

US President Donald Trump has asked European allies for a lot lately – the use of military bases, the potential relocation of missile defense systems and generally stronger support for US military action against Iran. Many responses have been lukewarm, with allies offering limited defensive support but also repeatedly calling for de-escalation. But increasingly, White House requests have been met with a firm “no.” Or nie, non, rifiuto. This week, Italy denied a US request for aircraft to land at a military base in Sicily, according to state broadcaster RAI on Tuesday. Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez has perhaps been...

The Nebraska Democratic Party denounced a Democratic candidate for Senate recently that they allege to be a “Republican Party plant,” CNN reported Monday, with the candidate being exposed for having supported President Donald Trump, opposed access to reproductive health care and attended a GOP-sponsored training event. Forbes spoke with CNN for its report Monday, in which he admitted that he had voted for Trump “in multiple elections” and had attended a GOP-backed leadership summit as recently as January. Nebraska Democratic Party Chair Jane Kleeb also provided CNN with screenshots from a now-deleted Facebook page that she said show Forbes attending...

On Monday’s CNN This Morning, the network cast President Trump less as the Commander-in-Chief than as a common street criminal. Global affairs analyst Kim Dozier -- who was a longtime overseas reporter for CBS News -- likened Trump’s negotiating posture toward Iran to an armed robbery, suggesting the U.S. was telling Tehran: agree to Washington’s demands, “or else this is a stick-up.” Discussing the gap between competing U.S. and Iranian proposals, Dozier brushed aside diplomacy as little more than window dressing. “The fact of the matter is the 15-point plan that the U.S. has put forward versus Iran's five-point plan...

Enten on Tuesday morning reported the polling shows MAGA overwhelmingly backs Operation Epic Fury. “Look at this! Nearly 9 in 10, 89% approve of the U.S. military action in Iran. That is the MAGA GOP base,” Enten said during a segment on CNN News Central. “Just 9% disapprove of it. This is tremendously popular among the Republican base.”

'It was not just a butt smack or a butt grab,' she continued. 'It was a groping of a private area. It had been occurring for several months.' The victims' parents were less than satisfied with how the school district and Principal Georgina Aye handled the distressing case. 'I think from the very beginning, Fairfax County has attempted to diminish what happened to these girls,' a parent said, calling the county's approach to the situation 'abysmal.' An undocumented migrant has been charged with nine counts of assault and battery after it was claimed that he was groping fellow students in...

CNN correspondent Clarissa Ward joined "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert" on Wednesday night live from Iraq, where she accused the White House of demonstrating a "staggering lack of humility" with its handling of the war in Iran so far. Colbert asked Ward directly how she, as an on-the-ground journalist, felt about the White House's use of action movie clips and "Call of Duty" gameplay in a recent social media video covering the war in Iran. "As a journalist, I'm really not supposed to say this, but I feel deeply ashamed, and I think it belies a staggering lack of...

Actually, it’s easy to say. On Friday’s CNN This Morning, CNN national security analyst Peter Bergen claimed it was “hard to say” whether recent terror attacks have any connection to immigration. But the suspects’ backgrounds in four recent cases tell a very different story. [snip] "Calls for additional immigration constraints… as a practical matter when it comes to terrorism, it's not going to have any real effect.”Get the rest of the story and view the video here.

The Pentagon and National Security Council significantly underestimated Iran’s willingness to close the Strait of Hormuz in response to US military strikes while planning the ongoing operation, according to multiple sources familiar with the matter. President Donald Trump’s national security team failed to fully account for the potential consequences of what some officials have described as a worst-case scenario now facing the administration, the sources said. And now it may be weeks before the administration’s efforts to alleviate the intensifying economic fallout take hold, officials said Thursday, including high-risk naval escorts of oil tankers through the strait that the Pentagon...

Iran’s military has shown off its enormous supply of naval suicide drones, which it is using to blockade the crucial Strait of Hormuz, in chilling footage taken from its underground “missile city.” Footage from Iranian state media purportedly shows underground tunnels full of naval drones, anti-ship missiles, and sea mines, with dramatic footage also showing some of them being fired. Experts have analyzed the footage, released by Iranian state media outlet Fars, telling CNN exactly what is being shown off. The full terrifying array of armory on display includes: Abadil-2/3 “kamikaze” drones: Shown on rail launchers inside the tunnels, these...

"If you are feeling dumb today, just remember, there are real people who believe Iran is winning." —Cam Higby on "X". Terminally Depressed on CNN. You probably wonder what the end of this war will look like. It won’t look like V-J Day in Times Square, 1945, with sailors kissing girls they met five seconds ago. Our country is way too divided and disturbed with politically-inflected mental illness for love to bloom in the streets like it did then. If you happen to catch the glum crew on CNN you will detect that they really want this operation to fail...

Greg: All right, so this week CNN once again left the realm of news coverage for the magical land of make-believe. This time waving their wands over a terror attack, shouts of “Allahu Akbar,” and two suspects who said they did it to impress the goat-bangers at ISIS.Enough details for the story of the year, you would think, but not for Cincinnati. They decided the terror and mayhem wasn't the real story, and this was their tweet:“Two PA teenagers crossed into New York City Saturday morning for what could have been a normal day enjoying the city during abnormally warm...

President Donald Trump was gravitating toward endorsing Texas GOP Sen. John Cornyn last week. But he and some top advisers grew frustrated after his intentions leaked to the press, sources familiar with the matter told CNN, and the plan stalled. Then Cornyn’s opponent, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, announced on Friday that if the Senate passed the president’s voting restrictions bill — something Trump has grown particularly fixated on in recent weeks — he would consider dropping out of the runoff race. Paxton specified the GOP should lift the filibuster to do so, an idea many Republican senators oppose. White...

The Jan. 6 Select Committee's various improprieties and its prioritization of narrative over facts have been exposed. Nevertheless, key participants in the Democrat-led lawfare campaign have so far managed to evade consequence. That might soon change. House Republicans have reportedly referred Jan. 6 committee star witness Cassidy Hutchinson to the Department of Justice for criminal charges. A pair of sources reportedly familiar with recent developments told CNN that Republican Rep. Barry Loudermilk (Ga.), the chairman of the Select Subcommittee to Investigate the Remaining Questions Surrounding Jan. 6, 2021, recently made the referral, which was co-signed by House Judiciary Chairman Jim...

CNN’s Kaitlan Collins pressed Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) on Wednesday over why he was the only Senate Democrat who did not sign a letter pressing for an investigation into the strike on an elementary school in Iran. Fetterman joined The Source to discuss the ongoing U.S. military operation and his view of the war as it continues through its second week. Reporting on Monday claimed that the U.S. campaign in Iran was responsible for a strike on a girls’ elementary school that killed 175 people, most of whom were children. In a letter addressed to Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth,...

Paramount/Warner Bros is not a done deal. These two Hollywood titans have not cleared regulatory scrutiny — the California Department of Justice has an open investigation, and we intend to be vigorous in our review.