Free Republic

If you've been following coverage of the Trump administration's military action against Iran, you've probably noticed something: A lot of people are determined to convince you that the United States is losing. They're wrong. Even worse, many of them know they're wrong. Critics across the political spectrum — from Democrats to elements of the so-called horseshoe Right — are pushing narratives that paint the conflict as a disaster in the making. The goal is simple: Undermine public confidence and turn what is shaping up as a strategic success into a perceived failure. Three particular claims are circulating widely. All three...

You might feel like you're seeing a lot of stories about strategic oil reserves on Wednesday. That’s because the U.S.-Israel conflict with Iran has caused volatility on the market, and the International Energy Agency (IEA), a Paris‑based intergovernmental organization that counts over 30 countries among its members, is releasing 400 million barrels to tackle the problem. Senate Minority Chuck Schumer (D-NY) meanwhile has been “demanding” that we tap into our reserves (why does a minority leader get to “demand” anything?), and Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR), is, as RedState’s Becca Lower wrote, “asking the Energy Department (DoE) to look into what...

The economic significance of Kharg Island to Iran renders it especially susceptible to potential military threats. However, experts suggest that any effort to capture it would likely necessitate a ground troop operation, which the U.S. seems hesitant to pursue. Experts further state that if Washington aims to intensify pressure beyond airstrikes, capturing or incapacitating Kharg Island’s oil infrastructure could strip Tehran of one of its most crucial financial resources. Given its pivotal role in global energy supply chains, any assault on the island might also cause a sharp increase in international oil prices, rendering it one of the most critical...

Assassinating Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and nearly all of Iran’s top military and Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps officers on the first day of the war was an incredible turning point in which all of the IDF’s air and intelligence power combined to change the course of history, an IDF senior officer told The Jerusalem Post on Wednesday. “Assassinating the supreme leader and all of the top echelon of the Iranian military and the IRGC in around half a minute was made possible by a giant and incredibly coordinated airstrike, which took months of planning,” the senior officer said. In 40 seconds...

What's Going On With Shipping?

President Donald Trump said Wednesday that the war with Iran had already been decided in America's favor. He told supporters in Hebron, Kentucky, that the conflict was effectively over almost as soon as it began. Trump said U.S. forces knocked out 58 Iranian naval vessels and eliminated the country’s air force. “Let me say we’ve won. You know, you never like to say too early you won. We won. We won, in the first hour it was over, but we won,” the president said. He added, “We don’t want to leave early, do we? We’ve got to finish the job."

The FBI has reportedly warned police departments across California that Iran could attempt to retaliate against the United States for Operation Epic Fury by launching attack drones targeting the state. Iran does not have the capability to launch drones from the Middle East that could reach the U.S. West Coast. However, the FBI reportedly warned that unidentified vessels operating off the California coast could potentially be used to launch attack drones. “We recently acquired information that as of early February 2026, Iran allegedly aspired to conduct a surprise attack using unmanned aerial vehicles from an unidentified vessel off the coast...

Iranian regime loyalists displayed a taped-together cardboard cutout of their new supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, who was reportedly injured in recent strikes and has not been seen since his elevation. The makeshift stand-in appeared at a pro-regime rally in Tehran, where organizers brought the life-size cutout of Khamenei onto the stage, according to Israeli journalist Amit Segal. Regime loyalists hailed and swore allegiance to the cutout, which appeared crudely assembled and held together by strips of tape, Segal reported. Khamenei has not appeared in public or issued a statement since being selected as Iran’s new supreme leader on Sunday following...

Three cargo ships have been hit by projectiles in the Strait of Hormuz. The Thailand-flagged bulk carrier Mayuree Naree was struck and set on fire 11 nautical miles north of Oman, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations said. Oman’s navy rescued 20 crew members who evacuated the ship in a lifeboat on Wednesday morning, while three remain missing. A second ship, the Marshall Islands-flagged bulk carrier Star Gwyneth, was hit by a projectile 50 miles north-west of Dubai. The vessel suffered hull damage but all crew members are safe. A third vessel, a Japan-flagged container ship, sustained minor damage near...

The government has approved a request from the police to ban the Al Quds Day march in London on Sunday to prevent “serious public disorder” given the conflict in the Middle East, the home secretary has said. The Metropolitan Police asked for the ban saying it was concerned about the high number of protesters and counterprotesters, adding the march organizers were “supportive of the Iranian regime” . The Islamic Human Rights Commission, who organize the annual march, insist it is a peaceful, pro-Palestinian event. It says a static protest will take place instead. It is the first time a protest...

Two Jewish men were beaten, and later briefly hospitalized, after they were heard speaking Hebrew in front of a restaurant in San Jose’s Santana Row in California, local media reported on Tuesday. Footage of the incident, shot by local witnesses, shows the pair of victims attacked by three other individuals outside the Augustine restaurant, NBC Bay Area reported. “I just turned around, and they literally started punching,” one of the victims, who wished not to be identified, told the outlet. “We got swarmed very badly. I’m in a lot of pain. I still cannot chew. My jaw hurts, my back...

In the Persian Gulf, 16 miles off the Iranian coast, lies a small island that could be the key to finally sending Iran's theocratic regime into its well-deserved place in the ash heap of history. It's called Kharg Island, and it may well be the small scrap of dry land with the potential to end this whole thing.Kharg Island is located about 16 miles off the Iranian coast in the Persian Gulf, making it difficult to defend and easier to isolate — reportedly drawing the attention of administration planners.“Kharg Island handles roughly 90% of Iran’s crude oil exports. Take it...

President Donald Trump announced Monday that the war in Iran would be over “very soon,” and that oil tankers would be given special U.S. Navy escorts to navigate between the Persian Gulf and global oceans. With gasoline prices and energy inflation already ticking up around the world, the speedy resumption of global petroleum trade has become a matter of urgency for the global economy, according to the world’s largest oil and gas company.The widening conflict in the Middle East has all but immobilized the fossil fuel trade stemming from the region over the past 10 days. Attacks targeting vessels and...

President Trump on Tuesday quipped about Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney becoming the “future Governor of Canada,” reviving an insult previously hurled at his predecessor Justin Trudeau over the president’s push for America’s northern neighbor to become the 51st state. “I’m working with Governor Gretchen Whitmer [D-Mich.] on trying to save The Great Lakes from the rather violent and destructive Asian Carp, which is rapidly taking over Lake Michigan, and all of the beautiful surrounds,” Trump wrote in his Tuesday Truth Social post.

Sirens blared in Tel Aviv early Wednesday as the city came under attack amid another wave of Iranian strikes. Fox News correspondent Nate Foy said despite Israel's strong air defense, half of the missiles are hard to defend against because half of the missiles are cluster munitions. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said it detected a waved of missiles launched from Iran, which still possess the ability to strike despite its depleted capabilities, he said on "The Ingraham Angle." Explosions could be heard in the distance. Foy noted that some Israelis have chosen to continue with daily life despite the...

As the United States continues to strike Iran roughly 10 days since ordered by President Donald Trump, questions about how long the war may last have been coupled with the prospect of a military draft that administration officials admit remains "on the table.”Six U.S. soldiers have been killed in the war that Trump has continually defended on the backdrop of what he and other senior officials have attributed to “an imminent threat” posed by Iran towards the U.S., Israel and other Middle East nations. The potential length of this conflict has drawn many assumptions, as Trump has floated a “4-5...

Donald Trump dismissed Keir Starmer's justifications for staying out of Iran strikes in an apparently frosty call. The US president is said to have given short shrift to the PM's arguments that the action was against international law. Sir Keir's attempts to switch the topic to the King's impending state visit also seem to have had limited impact, as the pair had their first conversation since the military campaign was launched. Details have been leaking out of the chat on Sunday amid concerns about long-term damage to the Special Relationship. Sir Keir initially refused to allow the use of UK...

Pedro Quiala Carmenate says he’s not religious but he’s praying for President Donald Trump to liberate Cuba. “There’s no food, there’s no electricity and there’s no medical care,” he told The Post from his neighborhood, Old Havana, where he was speaking on his cell phone Monday during one of the frequent blackouts on the island. In addition to power outages, an increase in crime, no trash collection and climbing inflation, the 34-year-old pro-democracy activist can barely find enough food to feed his children. Due to lack of food, he’s keeping his kids, aged six and fifteen years old, from class,...

Barcelona has always been a weird city but now it's getting really weird, and not in a good way.AdvertisementAs Front Page Magazine reported, citing Spain's ABC: The Barcelona City Council , through its Office of Religious Affairs (OAR), has distributed to the city’s schools the guide ‘Guidelines for educational centers on Ramadan,’ in which it recommends that school principals , as a gesture of respect for the Muslim celebration, which this year began on February 18 and concludes on March 20, not carry out extracurricular activities such as music or dance, which may be considered by some people as ‘inappropriate’...

NPR correspondent Eyder Peralta was amazed during a segment Friday by his recent trip to Venezuela following President Donald Trump's arrest of the country's president Nicolás Maduro. "It is absolutely surreal because you land at the airport and the signs are in Spanish, Russian, Arabic and Chinese, which tells you just where this country was facing a few months ago," Peralta told host Steve Inskeep. "And then you go out on the streets and people here tell you that they feel like a weight has been lifted." He continued, "For the first time in a long time, there are street...