Free Republic

Claimed victims in image were killed by IDF, but they really were victims of Syria’s dictator Ilhan Omar, the Democrat representative in Congress for a suburban district in Minneapolis, long has insisted that “disinformation” be struck from the conversations Americans have about issues. Apparently that would be, however, only “disinformation” with which she disagrees. That’s apparent because she was caught over the weekend spreading “disinformation,” or a lie, about the war that the Hamas terrorists launched against Israel a week ago. In that initial assault, the terrorists broke into Israeli territory and killed an estimated 1,200 individuals immediately, including babies...

France and Russia have agreed to send 50 metric tons of medical aid to government-controlled eastern Ghouta in Syria, French officials said on Friday. A Russian cargo plane arrived late Friday in Chateauroux in central France to take the aid, which includes medical supplies and other essential goods, to a Russian military base in northwestern Syria. It will then be transported to eastern Ghouta, which the Syrian government retook from rebel forces in April. Once in Syria, the cargo will be distributed by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) with the help of the Syrian...

Iran's President Rouhani, Turkey's President Erdogan, and Russia's President Putin shake hands as they meet in Ankara on Wednesday and pledge to create a 'lasting ceasefire' in Syria. Russia and Iran are strategic partners, with Russia providing military and financial support in return for influence over the Middle East. Putin supplies both countries with sophisticated military equipment. President Erdogan recently signed a $2.5 billion arms deal with Russia for S-400 sophisticated anti-aircraft missiles, which has caused consternation among Turkey's fellow Nato members. And Russia helps both countries on energy. It is also building Turkey a $20 billion nuclear power station,...

This is the horrifying scene left behind after Syrian regime forces reportedly bombed a bunker in eastern Ghouta with Napalm overnight, burning at least 37 civilians to death. Images circulated online by the Syrian Civil Defence, a rescue group otherwise known as the White Helmets, showed volunteers pulling charred bodies from the ruined shelter. Rebel group Failaq al-Rahman, which controls the town of Arbin, said around 125 people, mostly women and children, were inside the shelter when the bomb exploded just before midnight when a ceasefire was supposed to take effect.

Video at link.

Britain would consider joining US military strikes against the Syrian government if there is evidence chemical weapons are being used against civilians, Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson said on Tuesday. Johnson said he hoped Britain and other Western nations would not stand by in the event of a chemical attack, voicing support for limited strikes if there is "incontrovertible evidence" of the Syrian's government involvement. "If we know that it has happened, and we can demonstrate it, and if there is a proposal for action where the UK could be useful then I think we should seriously consider it," Johnson told...

"I will say what Russia and what Iran and what Syria have done recently is a humanitarian disgrace," Trump told a news conference at the White House on February 23. "What those three countries have done to those people is a disgrace," he added. Earlier, the United States criticized Russia over the bombing of eastern Ghouta, saying Moscow had a "unique responsibility" for more than 400 people being killed in the Damascus suburb this month.

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron on Friday asked Russian President Putin to support a U.N. Security Council resolution calling for an immediate, month-long ceasefire in Syria. The two European Union leaders appealed to Putin -- whose military intervention in Syria gave President Bashar al-Assad the upper hand in the seven-year-old conflict -- to stop bombardments of the rebel-held pocket of eastern Ghouta. Warplanes from Assad’s government forces and their allies pounded the densely populated enclave east of the capital Damascus for a sixth straight day on Friday. “France and Germany call for an...

Syria's army and rebels were locked in talks Wednesday night to reach a 15-day ceasefire in the Eastern Ghouta region east of the capital, a monitor and a security source told AFP. These are the first known talks aiming for a truce in the region and are likely being brokered by Russian or Iranian mediators, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. If agreement is reached, "a ceasefire in Eastern Ghouta would begin at 6:00 am (0400 GMT) Thursday and will last 15 days," Observatory head Rami Abdel Rahman said. A senior Syrian security source told AFP "talks are ongoing...

We asked Joshua Landis, director of the Center for Middle East Studies at the University of Oklahoma, and Aram Nerguizian, senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, to weigh in on the state of the Syrian army and how it can respond to the challenge from ISIS. Syria Deeply: What is the state of the Syrian army? Joshua Landis: In Damascus, ISIS has gone to war with the Islamic Front in the Ghouta area and has been squeezed out of Ghouta, and is now trying to open a new front in Qalamoun, the range of mountains near...