Free Republic

(STACKER) — The ever-expanding American military footprint covers nearly every continent. While the United States has long had a military presence in other nations, the scope significantly expanded following the passage of the 2001 Authorization for Use of Military Force, which, in the wake of 9/11, permitted the support of foreign forces against various terrorist groups. The U.S. has since had 173,000 troops deployed in 159 countries as of 2020 and currently maintains at least 750 foreign military bases across 80 countries, according to the Conflict Management and Peace Science journal.As the top military power in the world, according to...

Volodymyr Zelensky has posted a video of himself visiting an island that became a symbol of Ukrainian resistance - as the war enters its 500th day. At the start of the war, Ukrainian soldiers defending Snake Island famously defied an order from a Russian warship to surrender. The Black Sea island was seized by Russia but later reclaimed by Ukraine. In a video, the Ukrainian president called it a "place of victory" that would never be reconquered. In the undated clip, posted on Telegram, Mr Zelensky described it as proof that Ukraine will return every inch of its territory taken...

The US withdrawal from Afghanistan was wrong and based on an "imbecilic" slogan, former PM Tony Blair has said. He described the decision to withdraw troops from the country as "tragic, dangerous and unnecessary". Mr Blair, who sent troops into Afghanistan 20 years ago, said UK involvement in Afghanistan was not a "hopeless endeavour" despite the Taliban takeover. And the sacrifice made by British troops "was not in vain", he added. Mr Blair said achievements in the country over the past 20 years - including a generation growing up without Taliban rule - was a "good cause" that "matters today,...

Why the Afghan Army Fell to the Taliban - The Bulwark https://t.co/veqSOSCA8K— Jeb Bush (@JebBush) August 17, 2021 "The reality is that, while Trump and Pompeo made this bed, Biden and Antony Blinken chose to sleep in it."