Free Republic

If Donald Trump doesn’t take the Oath of Office on January 20, 2021, one principal but little-noted reason for this may be that he crossed one of the most powerful and least accountable forces in the nation: the military-industrial complex. As Trump said last September, “the top people in the Pentagon…want to do nothing but fight wars so that all of those wonderful companies that make the bombs and make the planes and make everything else stay happy. But we’re getting out of the endless wars, you know how we’re doing.” Now, however, that Joe Biden has been anointed “President-elect”...

The decision by three Arab states to make peace with Israel can be credited both to efforts by the Trump administration and the recognition by these Sunni states that their security would improve against the ongoing threats they face from Turkey and Iran. Iran and its proxies interfere with Arab states while promoting their Shi’ite revolutionary ideology; likewise, Turkey pushes its Sunni revolutionary ideology of the Muslim Brotherhood throughout the region. Turkey and Iran look to overthrow the Sunni Arab states that do not align with them, such as Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states. The normalization deals between the...

The message was clearly aimed at Gulf states and others that are partnered with the US. Iran has sought to reach out to its Arab neighbors, with Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif warning them that US President Donald Trump will be leaving in 70 days, but Iran’s regime will remain “forever.” He urged them to realize that “betting on outsiders to provide security is never a good gamble.” In Arabic and English, he called for dialogue and to work together. The message was clearly aimed at Gulf states and others that are partnered with the US. Iran was offering them...

Israeli Settlements Minister Tzachi Hanegbi warns that a Biden presidency could ignite war in the Middle East, while Egypt fears Biden would aid the resurgence of Islamists in the region. Hanegbi pointed out that Biden has indicated he will resurrect America’s nuclear agreement with Iran which was cancelled by the Trump administration. For Israel, this would represent an existential threat to national security and drastically increase the chances of war with Tehran. “If Biden stays with that policy, there will, in the end, be a violent confrontation between Israel and Iran,” said Hanegbi. Meanwhile, other Middle Eastern countries such as...

Descendants of the Ottoman genocide are volunteering to fight as Armenia and Azerbaijan remain locked in deadly conflict For many members of the Armenian diaspora, the war is about more than just territory: it is an assault on their ethnic identity BEIRUT: Kevork Hadjian was a much loved opera singer, famous for his mesmerizing voice and the allure he lent to patriotic Armenian anthems. Born and raised in southern Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley, the ethnic Armenian lived for a time in Kuwait before moving to Yerevan, Armenia’s capital, with his family in 2004. An ardent patriot, Hadjian held a special...

Syrian air defenses thwarted an Israeli attack on Aleppo city, Syrian state television said on Friday. The attack reportedly left seven militia men of the Iraqi Hezbollah dead, and the death toll is expected to rise due to the severity of ensuing causalities, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported. The organization added that unidentified jets, which Syria suspects to be Israeli, struck Hezbollah targets five km away from Qallat Al-Rahbah on the outskirts of Al-Mayadeen city in the eastern countryside of Deir Ezzor.

It is against the law for civilians, without elected or appointed positions in our government, to with foreign governments for our government. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3rGCjRLfZ8c This needs to be spread far and wide instantly.

On Sunday, Claudine Aoun Roukoz — head of the National Commission for Lebanese Women and a prominent personality in the country — said that if Israel and Lebanon were to resolve issues involving borders and Palestinian refugees, “I do not mind that the Lebanese state makes peace with Israel…. Are we required to remain in a state of war? I do not have an ideological dispute with anyone, but my dispute is political.” Roukoz has been expressing such views on Lebanon’s national TV. Back on September 24, she wrote: “We all support the principle of peace and I hope to...

DUBAI - Thousands of Muslims, from Pakistan to Lebanon to the Palestinian territories, poured out of prayer services to join anti-France protests on Friday, as the French president’s vow to protect the right to caricature the Prophet Muhammad continues to roil the Muslim world. Demonstrations in Pakistan’s capital Islamabad turned violent as some 2,000 people who tried to march toward the French Embassy were pushed back by police firing tear gas and beating protesters with batons. Crowds of Islamist activists hanged an effigy of French President Emmanuel Macron from a highway overpass after pounding it furiously with their shoes. Several...

Lebanese president's daughter 'doesn't mind' conditional peace with Israel "I defend the interests of my country Lebanon first. Are we required to remain in a state of war?" • Maronite leader: "Lebanon should be the last Arab country to normalize its relations with Israel." Claudine and Mireille Aoun, daughters of Lebanon's President Aoun arrive for a state dinner given at the Elysee palace in Paris (photo credit: STEPHANE MAHE / REUTERS) Claudine Aoun Roukoz, daughter of Lebanese President Michel Aoun and head of the National Commission for Lebanese Women, stressed that she would "not mind" if Lebanon makes peace with...

As forces mass in Europe, the biggest stumbling block to EuropeÂ’s future strategic independence as well as American grand strategy is once again Germany. North Atlantic Treaty Organization allies Turkey and Greece are embroiled in a dispute over Turkish oil and gas exploration in the Mediterranean, and Greece is backed by the French navy. After the French military conducted training exercises with Greek forces in the region on Thursday, Turkey warned France to retreat. Within a day, three things happened in rapid succession.First, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo signed a treaty to relocate troops out of Germany to...

The Israeli military launched a large-scale multi-front exercise on Sunday morning, simulating war with the Lebanese Hezbollah. Dubbed “Lethal Arrow,” the multi-day general staff drill will see the participation of thousands of troops from various branches of the military including the Air Force, Navy and the Ground Forces as well as from the Intelligence, Technological, Logistics and Cyber Defense directorates. The drill will see activity by IDF fighter jets, attack helicopters and other aircraft and naval vessels as well as physical maneuvers by ground forces. “The aim of the exercise is to improve the IDF’s offensive capabilities at all echelons...

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: ISIS was so successful in 2014 in part because President Recep Tayyip ErdoÄŸan of Turkey is a vocal supporter of the Muslim Brotherhood. Any distance ErdoÄŸan has placed between himself and ISIS is attributable to pressure from Russia, the US, and Europe, not to his rejection of the groupÂ’s Islamist ideology. In view of TurkeyÂ’s increasingly divisive and destabilizing influence in the Middle East, the regionÂ’s biggest concern for the West could be President Recep Tayyip ErdoÄŸanÂ’s burgeoning Islamist tendencies. In order to understand the Turkish role in the threat of ISIS, borne from the Muslim Brotherhood, it...

The US Army said Thursday it carried out a drone strike against Al-Qaeda leaders in northwest Syria near the border, killing 14 jihadists, according to a war monitor. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (OSDH) said the victims included five foreigners and six commanders. "US Forces conducted a strike against a group of al-Qaeda in (AQ-S) senior leaders meeting near Idlib, Syria," said Major Beth Riordan, the spokeswoman for United States Central Command (CENTCOM). "The removal of these AQ-S leaders will disrupt the terrorist organization's ability to further plot and carry out global attacks threatening US citizens, our partners and...

In 2016, Adnan al-Afiyuni, left, led prayers as President Bashar al-Assad made a rare public appearance to celebrate the Eid al-Adha holiday in Daraya outside Damascus [File: SANA] A prominent Syrian Muslim leader in charge of the Damascus region was killed on Thursday when a bomb planted in his car exploded outside the capital, state news agency SANA said. Adnan al-Afiyuni, the Sunni Muslim mufti for Damascus province, was considered to be close to President Bashar al-Assad who hails from the Alawite offshoot of Shia Islam. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) war monitor said the 66-year-old Muslim scholar...

Israel's minister of regional cooperation said Wednesday that he expects normalize relations with another Arab state before the U.S. elections. Reuters reported that Ofir Akunis, who is also a member of Israel's parliament, the Knesset, told Army Radio that the announcement would come before Nov. 3. "I have a reasonable basis to believe that the announcement will come before November 3 - that, if you'll permit me, is what I understand from my sources," he said, according to the news service. "I will be very happy if the announcement will happen - and before the elections in the United States,"...

Had the terrorists targeted non-kosher establishments with non-Jewish victims, Amman would likely have been cooperative.” An FBI “Most Wanted Terrorist” poster for Palestinian terrorist Ahlam Ahmad Tamimi, one of the masterminds of the Aug. 9, 2001 bombing of the Sbarro pizzeria in Jerusalem that led to the deaths of 15 civilians, two of them Americans. Speak to policy analysts or policy-makers about the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan and you’ll frequently encounter a series of truisms. For example, that Jordan is both a friend of the West and a vital, respected component of the Arab world. Or that Jordan’s peace treaty...

US President Donald Trump announced Monday that Sudan would be removed from the US list of State Sponsors of Terrorism in exchange for paying compensation to families of American terror victims. "GREAT news! New government of Sudan, which is making great progress, agreed to pay $335 MILLION to U.S. terror victims and families. Once deposited, I will lift Sudan from the State Sponsors of Terrorism list. At long last, JUSTICE for the American people and BIG step for Sudan!" Trump wrote on Twitter. The Sudanese government has sought to be de-listed as a state sponsor of terror since former President...

Iran is now free to buy a range of previously restricted weapons, its government announced Sunday, hailing a "momentous day" as a 13-year-old U.N. arms embargo on the country was lifted as part of the 2015 Iran nuclear deal — and against vociferous opposition from Washington. The government in Tehran insists that any weapons purchases would be "based on its defensive needs," as allowed under the multilateral deal, from which the Trump administration withdrew in 2018. .. That could mean selling weapons to its proxies, analysts say, including militant and political group Hezbollah, designated by the U.S. as a terrorist...

A Russian fighter jet on Sunday reportedly came dangerously close to an Israeli passenger aircraft while on route from the Greek island of Rhodes to Tel Aviv's Ben-Gurion Airport. The incident occurred when the Israir flight entered Cypriot air space. No casualties or damage were reported. The Russian Sukhoi Su-27 came to within a mile from the Israir Airbus A320, a distance considered unsafe, for several minutes before air traffic controllers in Cyprus warned it away. Russia has fighter aircraft stationed in nearby Syria, where it is assisting the Assad regime in the civil war, leading to crowded skies in...