Free Republic

The top US military commander for the Middle East says he has presented US President Donald Trump with military plans to strike Iran and is prepared to do if so ordered. “I have provided the secretary of defense and the president a wide range of options,” Central Command head Gen. Michael Kurilla says during testimony before the House Armed Services Committee. Kurilla was responding to Representative Mike Rogers of Alabama, the chairman of the committee, who asked if CENTCOM was prepared to respond with overwhelming force if Iran does not permanently give up its nuclear ambitions. “I take that as...

Another day, another leak. More information on the second Hegseth Signal chat group was leaked to NBC News. As previously reported, three Hegseth aides placed on leave amid a probe into leaks were officially fired last Friday. Following the terminations, contents of another Signal group chat with Pete Hegseth were leaked to The Wall Street Journal. “Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth created a Signal chat with his wife, his personal lawyer and others, and posted sensitive military information into it, people familiar with the matter said Sunday, a revelation that has added to the increasing scrutiny of the novice leader,” The...

U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) Commander General Michael Kurilla is in Israel Monday on a pre-planned visit that would not have happened had President Donald Trump not made the decision to include Israel in CENTCOM. The U.S. divides military policy geographically, with different countries assigned to different areas based on their location. But Israel, while in the Middle East, had long been included in U.S. European Command (EUCOM), in deference to Arab hostility towards the Jewish state. Pro-Israel groups had argued that being in EUCOM put Israel at a disadvantage, because U.S. military officials in the Middle East had closer ties...