Free Republic

Ukraine has pushed the Russian Navy into a largely passive stance in the Black Sea in recent months. This was in sharp contrast to the beginning of the war when they dominated the area. In the past few days there has been a significant change in the pattern however. Today the Black Sea near Sebastopol was busy with submarines and warships. Open sources, including analysis of Sentinel 2 satellite imagery from the European Space Agency, shows the increased activity. When the Sentinel 2 satellite passed over at 10:47 am local time there were a number of ships outside the harbor....

THANK YOU, ITALY by Allan Wall I recently returned from a tour in Iraq with my National Guard brigade. Among the mementos of my sojourn there is a shield-shaped plaque emblazoned with “Italia” (in both Roman and Arabic letters), a map of Iraq and the inscription “Operazione Antica Babilonia” – the Italian military mission in Iraq. On the back are the names of some of the Italian soldiers with whom I was privileged to serve. You don’t hear much about this in the mainstream media, but Operation Iraqi Freedom is still an international coalition. Our allies there are making valuable...