Free Republic

The modern international order rests on a foundational promise: states must resolve disputes peacefully, and force may be used only as a last resort and only within the bounds of law. The US helped build this system after World War II, embedding these principles in the UN Charter and in its own Constitution. Yet the US military operations in Venezuela in January 2026 and in Iran on February 28, 2026 represent a sharp break from these commitments. Both actions were undertaken without United Nations authorization and without congressional approval, raising profound questions about legality, constitutional governance, and the erosion of...

There are reports on social media and in the Israeli press that a US Airstrike whacked the new Supreme Leader of Iran within hours of him being named as Khamanei's successor. https://sundayguardianlive.com/world/israel-iran-latest-news-update-is-iran-new-supreme-leader-ayatollah-alireza-arafi-killed-after-succeeding-ayatollah-ali-khamenei-173446/

Increasingly, countries that were once U.S. allies are aligning themselves with America’s enemies. The signs were obvious two decades ago, and the insightful Mark Steyn—the conservative Canadian author—addressed them then. In numerous books, written in his sharp, convincing style, he warned that America would soon become isolated in its fight against Islamist jihad. Today, that loneliness appears to be fully realized. His 2006 book America Alone: The End of the World as We Know It, convincingly argued that much of the Western world would not survive the 21st century. Europe, with its declining birthrate, would be the first to go—thanks...

Six people were killed and about 15 more were injured (Sunday) at the scene of a missile strike in the Beit Shemesh area, following the launches from Iran towards Israel. A 10-year-old girl and another person were seriously injured in the strike. MDA teams are providing medical treatment at the scene and are working to evacuate the injured to hospitals. Hadassah Hospital prepared for a mass casualty incident. The missile struck the roof of a shelter where people had gathered in response to the red alert sirens. It was also reported that in the latest barrage, a 50-year-old man was...

...November 20, 1979, and Islam's holiest site... had been taken over by more than 200 armed militants. The weeks-long siege of the Grand Mosque, led by Juhayman, an anti-monarchy Islamist, would see gunbattle inside the mosque and in the holy city...Masjid al-Haram's armed seige came to become a watershed moment for the Muslim world. It turned Saudi Arabia into a hardcore Sunni nation, creating a huge rift with post-revolution Iran. The Islamic revolution in Iran in 1979, the same year as the seige of Mecca, turned a moderate Iran into a radical Shia country.The creation of two radical power centres...

Pope on Iran: Peace not built with mutual threats or death-dealing arms Speaking at the Angelus on Sunday, Pope Leo XIV expressed “deep concern” over recent events in the Middle East and Iran.“Stability and peace are not built with mutual threats, nor with weapons, which sow destruction, pain, and death, but only through a reasonable, authentic, and responsible dialogue,” he said.The Pope warned of an immense tragedy if violence escalates out of control.“Faced with the possibility of a tragedy of enormous proportions,” he said, “I address to the parties involved a heartfelt appeal to assume the moral responsibility to stop...

Austin mass shooter Ndiaga Diagne toting a rifle and wearing a hooded sweatshirt emblazoned with “Property of Allah.”

"At least three people have been killed and 14 more wounded in a mass shooting in Austin, Texas on Sunday morning. Police said the shooter, who has not been identified, was also killed in the horror episode by officers returning fire. The shooting unfolded at the Buford's bar in the 600 block of Rio Grande Street just before 2am on Sunday, officials said. Austin Police Chief Lisa Davis said 17 victims were located at the scene - 14 were taken to hospital, and three victims were pronounced dead on scene. Three of those hospitalized remain in critical condition. ..."

A former New York City resident who killed two people and wounded 14 others at a packed Austin, Texas, bar was possibly motivated by the US attacks on Iran, sources told The Post. The FBI is investigating the shooting as a possible ideologically motivated act of terrorism, the sources said. The killer, who is a US citizen from Senegal, had a Quran in his car and clothing described as Islamic garb when he opened fire on Buford’s Backyard Beer Garden near the University of Texas-Austin campus, according to sources familiar with the investigation. The gunman has a history of arrests...

In the wake of Iranian Supreme Leader Aylatollah Khamenei coming down with a killer headache after getting a U.S. warhead on his forehead, on Saturday, The Washington Post published one of their infamous glowing remembrances of Islamic terrorists. The paper fondly remembered the brutal Islamic dictator as a “avuncular figure” with an “easy smile” and love for “Persian poetry.” Readers might remember when The Post fluffed up the former leader of ISIS as an “austere religious scholar”; well, they're back at it again with Khamenei in their obituary titled: “Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s supreme leader, is dead at 86.” The...

Forbes Breaking News. Feb 28, 2026. Israeli UN Ambassador Danny Danon speaks at a UN Security Council meeting following the U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kSnwleH5DzE >> Mr. President, for 47 years, the Islamic regime in Iran has led crowds in chanting Marjbar Israel Marjbar America. do you want to translate these chants? Your leaders have been chanting it for years in public events in your parliament. Marjbar Israel Marjbar America. They mean death to Israel, death to America. Israeli and American flags were painted on roads so they could be trampled. Our flags were burned in public squares. LThis is...

Minnesota Congresswoman Ilhan Omar was blasted after wrongly claiming the US has previously attacked Islamic countries during Ramadan. Omar, 43, belligerently ranted on X on Thursday evening ahead of the attacks on Iran. She claimed the US bombed Iraq in 1990 during Ramadan. 'And it's sickening to know that the US is again going to attack Iran during Ramadan,' Omar, who is Muslim, wrote.

The United Nations chief condemned the U.S.-Israeli airstrikes on Iran on Saturday and called for an immediate return to negotiations “to pull the region, and our world, back from the brink.” Secretary-General António Guterres told an emergency meeting of the U.N. Security Council that everything must be done to prevent further escalation. “The alternative,” he warned, “is a potential wider conflict with grave consequences for civilians and regional stability.” Guterres said the U.S. and Israeli airstrikes violated international law, including the U.N. Charter. He also condemned Iran’s retaliatory attacks for violating the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Bahrain, Iraq, Jordan,...

French President Emmanuel Macron called President Trump’s attack on Iran “dangerous” and urged both sides to go back to the negotiation table. “The ongoing escalation is dangerous for all,” he said in a statement posted on social media. “It must stop. The Iranian regime must understand that it now has no other option but to engage in good faith in negotiations to end its nuclear and ballistic programs, as well as its regional destabilization activities. This is absolutely necessary for the security of all in the Middle East.” He also called for an urgent meeting of the United Nations Security...

Today is the 10th day of Ramadan 2026 and the 2nd Friday Muslim communal day of worship.Taraweeh refers to special Sunnah (a type of optional or non-obligatory ritual prayer performed by Muslims in addition to the 5 daily obligatory prayers. These prayers are associated with the practices of the Islamic Prophet Muhammad and are considered commendable.) prayers performed exclusively during the Islamic month of Ramadan. The prayers involve the recitation of long portions of the Quran, consist of any number of even rak'a (cycles of prostration in an Islamic prayer), however most of the time either 8 or 20, and...

Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar on Friday condemned Israel’s recent actions in the occupied West Bank of converting the territory’s areas into “state property”, highlighting that the country’s “expansionist mindset” held no regard for international law. The minister made the statement while addressing a meeting of the executive committee of the Organisation of Islamic Council (OIC) in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. The meeting was taking place against the backdrop of the Israeli government approving a proposal to register large areas of the occupied West Bank as “state property” for the first time since the occupation of the territory...

Pakistan carried out airstrikes on Afghanistan’s two largest cities on Friday, including the capital, Kabul, according to officials from both nations, escalating months of tension and border skirmishes into an open conflict. Beyond Kabul, home to six million people, the strikes hit the southern city of Kandahar — where the Taliban’s supreme leader, Sheikh Haibatullah Akhundzada, lives — and the border province of Paktia, according to Zabiullah Mujahid, a spokesman for the Taliban government. Pakistan launched the strikes hours after Afghan troops had attacked Pakistani border positions, according to Afghan and Pakistani officials. The Afghan attacks were described as retaliation...

Military experts said such construction techniques are associated with groups known for building tunnels in the Middle East, including Hamas and Hezbollah ynet|02.25.26 | 18:07 Polish border authorities have uncovered several underground tunnels allegedly used to smuggle migrants from Belarus into Poland, and officials suspect the structures may have been built with the help of specialists from the Middle East, according to a report Wednesday in Britain’s Daily Telegraph.

Let’s take a little break from poop swastikas and other campus micro/macro aggressions to examine a real conflict from abroad. France has finally found something in the clash of cultures to take a stand on…wine. Ahead of Iranian President Hassan Rouhani’s landmark European trip kicking off this weekend, French officials reportedly nixed plans for a formal meal in Paris with President François Hollande following a dispute over the menu. The Iranians, according to France’s RTL Radio, insisted on a wine-free meal with halal meat — a request based on Islamic codes that amounted to culinary sacrilege in France, a nation...

A lunch between the French and Iranian presidents in Paris was scrapped today because France refused to remove wine from the menu. Iran's President Hassan Rouhani has been on a tour of Europe, signing billions of pounds worth of business deals with different nations, after economic sanctions against the country were lifted. He was due to dine with President Francois Hollande at an upmarket restaurant in the French capital.