Free Republic

Iran has full control of the Gulf, and the U.S. Navy does not belong there, the head of the navy of Iran's Revolutionary Guards, General Alireza Tangsiri, said on Monday, according to the Tasnim news agency. The remarks come at a time when Tehran has suggested that it could take military action in the Gulf to block oil exports of other regional countries in retaliation for U.S. sanctions intended to halt its oil sales. Washington maintains a fleet in the Gulf which protects oil shipping routes. Tangsiri said Iran had full control of both the Gulf itself and the Strait...

Saudi-led coalition airstrikes killed 30 people, including 22 children, in a rebel-held area in northwestern Yemen on Thursday, according to the Houthi-controlled Health Ministry. Four families were evacuating their homes in a vehicle when the airstrikes hit, according to Houthi-owned media. Earlier coalition airstrikes on Wednesday killed four people and injured two, according to two surviving family members who preferred to remain anonymous for security reasons. "Four people were killed in the strike before, that's why they fled. They wanted to save their lives, their children's lives. Is nowhere safe for us?" one survivor said. Both sources did not want...

At just after 8:20 in the morning on the 9th of August, a bomb dropped from a Saudi-led Coalition plane struck a busy market area in the center of Dahyan, in Saada Governorate, Yemen. The bomb impacted close to the middle of the main road through the town, causing massive civilians casualties. Tragically, most of these casualties came from a single bus carrying students aged as young as 6 on a religious field trip. Local health officials put the final death toll at 54, including 44 children. The death toll is backed up by significant amounts of video evidence showing...

Fiona Hill currently serves as the senior director for Russian and European Affairs on the National Security Council. She was part of the U.S. delegation at the table on Monday along with White House Chief of Staff John Kelly, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, National Security Adviser John Bolton, and interpreter Marina Gross. The British-born Russia expert left the Brookings Institution, a D.C. think tank, to join the Trump administration last year...Hill was initially tapped to join the National Security Council under Michael Flynn's leadership. The psychological profile of Putin she co-authored with Clifford G. Gaddy, Mr. Putin: Operative in...

Four Arab countries are backing Donald Trump’s plan for a settlement between Israel and the Palestinian Authority, according to an Israeli newspaper, and are willing to sideline the PA’s President Mahmoud Abbas to see it done. According to a report in Israel Hayom, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt and Jordan told Jared Kushner, the US president’s son-in-law and the man charged with solving the Israel-Palestine issue, and envoy Jason Greenblatt they were behind Washington’s so-called “deal of the century”. Israel Hayom, a daily newspaper owned by billionaires Miriam and Sheldon Adelson, reported that it spoke to officials from...

"The Syrian Air Force has conducted at least 60 airstrikes against terrorist positions in #Daraa this week alone. Main offensive is yet to begin." "Paul Antonopoulos" Twitter 6/21/2018 The Syrian military has been on the attack in the southwest of Syria Daraa region this week seizing two villages east of the stategic M5 highway at it conducted operations against jihadist opposition forces. But the Syrian operations are not the main offensive according to pro-government sources who say that is not happening yet. The United States has warned against such an offensive with a new warning yesterday (June 21st) and Israel...

"We are hours away from the beginning of the #OpBasalt in Daraa and al-Quenitra, a military choice that God knows we were forced to pick, we gave them Ramadan and Eid to accept a peaceful solution, and they didn't, what happen from now on is their responsibility" "WithinSyriaBlog" Twitter 6/18/2018 "The United States remains committed to maintaining the stability of the southwest de-escalation zone and to the cease-fire underpinning it. We also caution the Syria regime against any actions that risk broadening the conflict or jeopardizing the cease-fire" US State Department Statement May 25th, 2018 Its being called "Operation Basalt",...

Syrian government forces used warplanes, helicopters and artillery on Sunday to pound districts of the capital held by the Islamic State group, in a bid to enforce an evacuation deal reached with the militants earlier in the week. Two Palestinian refugees, a father and a son, were killed during the fighting at the Yarmouk refugee camp in Damascus, according to the United Nation’s Palestinian refugee agency, which added that thousands of homes have been destroyed in four days of fighting. Hundreds of IS militants hold parts of the Yarmouk camp and nearby area of Hajar al-Aswad in southern Damascus. They...

A coalition force could fire “air-to-ground or cruise missiles” in the wake of a horrifying chemical attack on innocent civilians in Syria last week. Aviation experts AirLive have reported this evening a “rapid alert notification” warning aircraft in the eastern Mediterranean to be wary of a sudden missile strike. AirLive said the alert was issued by Eurocontrol this evening for a “possible launch … within the next 72 hours”. AirLive said: “According to reports, British forces are mobilising at their bases in Cyprus and Rafale fighter jets could takeoff from St Dizier airbase in France for possible strikes against Syria.”

Saudi Arabia could take part in military action in Syria after a suspected chemical attack that killed at least 60 people in the eastern Ghouta region over the weekend, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman said on Tuesday. “If our alliance with our partners requires it, we will be present,” Prince Mohammed said at a news conference with French President Emmanuel Macron, wrapping up a three-day visit to Paris. Earlier, Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir had told reporters that a number of countries were holding consultations on how to respond to a chemical weapons attack in Syria and called for those responsible...

U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley slammed Russia over a deadly chemical attack on Syrian civilians, saying the country's hands are "covered in blood." "The Russian regime, whose hands are all covered in the blood of Syrian children, cannot be ashamed by pictures of its victims," Haley said during a U.N. Security Council meeting on Monday. "We must not overlook Russia and Iran's roles in enabling the Assad regime's murderous destruction," she continued.

Israel kicked out zero Russian diplomats. Jerusalem’s desire to stay in Moscow’s good graces side is understandable. For a start, many Israeli citizens have deep roots in Russia. More importantly, the government of Vladimir Putin has become a major player in regional affairs, having boots on the ground — and jets in the air — only a few miles from Israel’s borders in Syria. But Israel’s neutrality is being tested by the West’s harsh response to the poisoning of ex-Russian double spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia earlier this month, which much of the world blames Russia for. The...

Paul Streitz has decided to call Sarah Palin by her real name, because she endorsed John McCain (who is trying to win a fifth term as Senator) and said she will campaign for him. Fanatic Palinites, such as the editors of the misnamed „conservatives4palin.com” website (they should rename it „liberals4palin.com”), lambasted him and called him a “backstabber”. “If Paul Streitz’s support of Governor Palin is contingent upon his agreeing with every decision she makes or her selling out her deeply-held values, that’s unfortunate. While all support is appreciated, the governor has never been for sale. Ask the Alaska establishment, who...

WASHINGTON (AFP) - \Barack Obama is trouncing John McCain in the race for the White House -- at least in sales of T-shirts, badges, baseball caps and other campaign merchandise. "Everyone is going for Obama," a sidewalk vendor whose stand was smothered in Obama and McCain T-shirts, along with garb for visitors to Washington, told AFP. "We sell about 70 percent Obama stuff -- way more than McCain," said the vendor, who asked not to be named. Obama-embroidered baseball caps sat in the center of the stand; the absence of a McCain equivalent was striking. "I don't think our wholesaler...

Four (other) authorities interviewed by USA TODAY, including typewriter and type font experts, said the technology existed at the time to create the documents.