Free Republic

The U.S. State Department has determined and certified Cuba as a "not fully cooperating country" (NFCC) for not helping with counterterrorism efforts after the island nation failed to turn over at least 11 fugitives in 2024 to U.S. custody. State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce made the announcement on Tuesday that the certification, which falls under Section 40A of the Arms Export Control Act, will result in the prohibition on the sale or license for export of defense services to Cuba. "In 2024, the Cuban regime did not fully cooperate with the United States on counterterrorism," Bruce said in a statement....

As China imposes export controls on rare earth elements, the U.S. would be unable to fill a potential shortfall, according to the Center for Strategic and International Studies — and this could threaten Washington’s military capabilities. Amid U.S. President Donald Trump’s escalating tariffs on China, Beijing earlier this month imposed export restrictions on seven rare earth elements and magnets used in defense, energy and automotive technologies. The new restrictions — which encompass the medium and heavy rare earth elements samarium, gadolinium, terbium, dysprosium, lutetium, scandium and yttrium — will require Chinese companies to secure special licenses to export the resources....

Former senior Canadian intelligence officials say Canada needs to be on the lookout for campaigns aimed at destabilizing the country amid U.S. President Donald Trump's escalating 51st state threats. And they told CBC News that the most potent weapon wielded by the Trump administration to advance the cause of annexation would likely not be the intelligence agencies directed by Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard. "I would regard Mr. Musk as a problem," said Ward Elcock, who headed CSIS for a decade including during the 9/11 attacks and also served as national security adviser. "I think that's on a number...

Ukraine doesn’t actually have any commercial deposits of the rare earths that both Washington and Kyiv have hyped up. The country does not currently produce rare earths, which are a type of critical mineral, nor has it produced rare earths in recent decades. Kyiv only has Soviet-era rare-earth geological mapping, and the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war is certain to complicate any mining or processing efforts—all of which require years of hefty investments, even in countries that are not in war. “Mining is a long-term effort—so the United States may not yield benefits for another 20 years,” a report by the Center...

When Attorney General William Barr stated "spying did occur" against the 2016 Trump campaign, most attention was focused on the FBI's surveillance of former junior foreign policy aide Carter Page. But the spying Barr was thinking of, and which he said may or may not have been legally authorized, is more likely to be that carried out by Stefan Halper, a former Republican operative and White House aide who became a foreign policy academic with close ties to both American and British intelligence. One could be forgiven for believing Halper was a creation of the spy novelist John Le Carré....

If re-elected, would Donald Trump end U.S. support for Ukraine? He certainly sounds as if he would. On the campaign trail, he routinely describes Ukraine as a burden to the U.S. and declares his eagerness to see the war end, which he promises to achieve through negotiations in a mere 24 hours. Trump has also made clear his admiration for Vladimir Putin and dismissive attitude toward the European Union. Many observers worry that once back in office, he would condone, tacitly or even directly, Russia’s efforts to dominate Ukraine. But it wouldn’t be an easy move for Trump to make,...

Defeated generals are sent home in disgrace, but it is most unusual to dismiss victorious ones. Kosovo: NATO’s war against Serbia ended in victory. Gen. Wesley K. Clark, was very much the victorious general of that war. So why was Clark fired? Officially, he wasn’t fired, but merely asked to step aside early. Clark was caught. The entire structure of the U.S. armed forces is built on: classic war, fought by Army infantry, Marines storming ashore, armored forces, artillery, attack helicopters, fighter-bombers that dive low to attack the enemy, as well as strike aircraft and bombers that operate more safely...

The keynote speaker of the World Economic Forum’s 2024 annual conference in Davos was Ursula von der Leyen, European Commission President. She stated the top global risk for the EU is disinformation and misinformation, declaring disinformation destroys trust and limits the ability to “tackle the big global challenges.” In plain English, trust can only be restored by censoring inconvenient facts and evidence. Below is a short clip (1:39) highlighting her disinformation sermon. The top risk in the WEF’s 2024 Global Risk Report is disinformation. If not controlled, societies will be polarized, elections will be disrupted, and there will be mistrust...

Here is a disturbing story. It demonstrates intrigue, corruption and disdain for American principles at the highest level. Perhaps the saddest thing about this story is that you probably won’t be surprised. Especially if you’ve been paying attention for the past few years. The story is this: Twitter and other social media platforms have been cozy with the Department of Homeland Security ... But you knew that. And maybe Elon Musk did in his purchase of Twitter last week. ... Job one for Musk was to not only fire CEO Parag Agrawal but also Vijaya Gadde, Twitter’s top lawyer and...

Members of a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) advisory committee on combating “misinformation” privately cast critics of their work, including those who raised the alarm over government censorship of free speech, as malign actors, according to documents obtained by the Daily Caller News Foundation. An advisory panel under the Cybersecurity Infrastructure and Security Agency (CISA), called the Protecting Critical Infrastructure from Misinformation and Disinformation Subcommittee, issued recommendations to CISA in June on how to address threats to “critical functions” of democracy, including public health measures, the financial system, elections and the court system. The subcommittee recommended CISA detect “informational threats,”...

Jankowicz was scrutinized for her history of spreading misinformation, such as a story denying the existence of the Hunter Biden laptop. According to critics, DHS’ new board resembled George Orwell’s ‘Ministry of Truth’ from 1984 and was designed to silence conservative voices. It is clear from the novel that the ministry was used to spread information – and that it was able to rewrite the history of a fictional world in order to change the facts. After just a few weeks, the DHS shut down the board for a “pause”, and its head, Jankowicz, resigned.

he Department of Homeland Security's Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency outsourced its "censorship operation" to a nonprofit it funded following a First Amendment lawsuit by Louisiana and Missouri attorneys general, "implicitly admitting that its censorship activities are unconstitutional," according to an interim staff report by House Judiciary Committee Republicans shared with Just the News. CISA also wanted to use the Center for Internet Security, which operates the Multi-State Information Sharing and Analysis Center (MS-ISAC) and Elections Infrastructure Information Sharing and Analysis Center (EI-ISAC), as its "mouthpiece" to obfuscate its own role in censorship, the report says. It cites spring 2022...

WASHINGTON ― The U.S. defense-industrial base is not ready for a battle over Taiwan, as it would run out of key long-range, precision-guided munitions in less than one week, according to a new report by the Center for Strategic and International Studies.U.S. military aid to Ukraine has helped prevent a Russian victory against the neighboring nation, but that assistance has depleted Pentagon stockpiles and shown that the American defense industry cannot surge for a major war, the think tank found.“As the war in Ukraine illustrates, a war between major powers is likely to be a protracted, industrial-style conflict that needs...

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) met weekly with large social media platforms to collaborate on moderating content, according to a deposition this week from FBI Supervisory Special Agent Elvis Chan. Chan, who was one of the two FBI agents who contacted Facebook ahead of its censoring of the Hunter Biden laptop warning of potential Russian disinformation operations, said that the FBI’s Foreign Influence Task Force (FITF) and Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) officials met weekly with social media companies to remove specific accounts ahead of the 2020 presidential election, according to his deposition cited by Missouri Attorney General...

China is losing its influence; it’s in decline. At the same time, however, China, ruled by a despotic regime, is responsible for 28.7 percent of global manufacturing output (more than 10 percentage points ahead of its No. 1 rival, the United States). This utter dependence on China for manufacturing must be stopped. As I write this, three countries are working to siphon customers away from China. Will their efforts prove to be successful?I speak from experience when I say the following: communist China is not a fun place to live in. Moreover, with its frequent power cuts and the Chinese...

Canada’s federal government admitted to secretly surveilling its population’s movements during the COVID-19 lockdown by tracking 33 million phones.The Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) clandestinely tracked the devices to assess “the public’s responsiveness during lockdown measures,” the agency acknowledged last week, according to Blacklock’s Reporter, which first reported the disclosure.Canada’s entire population totals 38 million, according to Statistics Canada.“Evidence is coming in from many sources, from countries around the world, that what was seen as a huge surveillance surge — post 9/11 — is now completely upstaged by pandemic surveillance,” David Lyon, author of “Pandemic Surveillance” and the former...

OTTAWA---Canada's spy service said on Friday it was increasingly concerned about the rise of violent ideologically motivated online rhetoric, which it blamed in part on tensions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) said since the start of the pandemic, threats posed by extremists had "evolved with unprecedented multiplicity and fluidity." COVID-19 it said, has worsened existing strains of xenophobia and anti-authoritarianism. Violent extremists were exploiting the pandemic by amplifying false informaton about government measures and the virus, it said. Protesters opposed to mandatory vaccinations have blocked access to hospitals across Canada and abused medical staff,...

The CSIS Commission on Strengthening America’s Health Security will host a fireside chat with Dr. Anthony Fauci, Chief Medical Advisor to the President and Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. Moderated by J. Stephen Morrison, Senior Vice President and Director of the CSIS Global Health Policy Center, the discussion will examine the administration’s signature initiative, The Antiviral Program for Pandemics, which dedicates $3.2 billion to speed development of antivirals for COVID-19 and other viruses with the potential to become pandemics. Expanding the repertoire of widely available, effective drug therapies for COVID-19 is critical for minimizing the...

#BREAKING: DHS' Cyber Security Agency Releases Statement on Presidential Election: “The November 3rd election was the most secure in American history. -- There is no evidence that any voting system deleted or lost votes, changed votes, or was in any way compromised.”

As supporters of President Donald Trump continue to spread baseless allegations of voter fraud, a new theme is emerging in their attacks on the election's legitimacy. Widespread allegations that President-elect Joe Biden "stole" the election are now tinged with unfounded claims that media outlets are rescinding their calls of certain states or are changing their projections in ways that disfavor Biden. These claims are untrue. But they continue to circulate virally on social media and show how, for online platforms, the problem of misinformation is as serious as ever. Misinformation and security researchers warn of the long-term consequences of allowing...