Free Republic

It costs U.S. taxpayers nearly $65,000 to resettle one Middle Eastern refugee over the first five years, which is 12 times what it would cost to care for that same refugee in a neighboring country in the region, according to a new study. The Center for Immigration Studies cites “heavy welfare use” as the main reason why refugees are so costly to resettle. This flies in the face of oft-quoted comments by U.S. mayors who claim refugees add to their tax base and promote economic growth, making for a more “culturally diverse” and “economically resilient” city. The CIS study indicates...

Once it became clear that Moscow and Tehran had jointly planned the incursion in Syria with Russia promising full air support and Iran pledging ground troops from Hezbollah, its various Shiite militias, and the IRGC, we immediately suggested that Iraq was next on the agenda after the Assad regime is restored. For those unfamiliar with the situation on the ground, we encourage you to read “Who Really Controls Iraq? Inside Iran's Powerful Proxy Armies,” in which we outline the extent to which Tehran effectively controls both the Iraqi military and the politicians in Baghdad.The US allows this because i) there’s...

They cut off the 12-year-old boy's fingertips, but still he refused to convert to Islam. They then “severely beat him,” reports the group Christian Aid Mission, “telling his father they would stop the torture only if he, the father, returned to Islam. When the [father] refused, relatives said, the ISIS militants also tortured and beat him and … two other ministry workers. The three men and the boy then met their deaths in crucifixion.” Perpetrated by Islamic State (IS) jihadists, the above crime occurred near Aleppo, Syria, just last month. But it’s a scene that has been replayed over and...

Political responses to crises are often tardy and embarrassingly fad-driven, as with the current global outcry over the image of a three-year-old Syrian boy washed up on the Turkish shore. He was hardly the first innocent victim of one of this century's most brutal wars. Where has the world been for the last 54 months?

Fréjus-Toulon, Gap and Embrun, Bayonne, Avignon, Ajaccio, and now Digne ... So far, six bishops have decided that the bells will ring in all the churches of their diocese on Saturday, August 15, 2015. The faithful are called to gather in front of their churches at noon to show their brotherly support of the Eastern Christians who are prey to the wickedest persecutions because of their faith. A year after the fall of Mosul and Qaraqosh This initiative comes exactly a year after the dramatic events that Aleteia was among the first to relay, as early as August 7, 2014 :...

From Left to Right: Mati Weiderpass, Ted Cruz, Kalman Sporn and Heidi Cruz at a literal fireside chat in Mr. Weiderpass’ apartment.The organizer of the controversial 'Ted Cruz fireside chat' on strange alliances and misguided boycotts.A nuclear-armed Tehran presents an urgent threat to freedom. Opposing the Iran deal are two unlikely allies, Saudi Arabia and Israel. And it’s just the latest sign of a thaw in a relationship that proves the wisdom of the old Sanskrit proverb, “the enemy of my enemy is my friend.” Saudi Arabia officially dropped the Arab boycott against Israel in 2005 as a condition of...

This weekend ISIS released a new video showing some 30 Ethipioan Christian men being beheaded in Libya for refusing to convert to Islam (or to pay a tax for refusing to do so). This comes two months after 21 Egyptian Coptic Christian men were martyred at the hands of ISIS for the same reason. Christians and other religious minorities are being targeted, and their future in the Middle East is in peril. Raymond Ibrahim, author of Crucified Again: Exposing Islam’s New War on Christians (2013) and The Al Qaeda Reader (2007), and Shillman Fellow at the David Horowitz Freedom Center...

The United States plans to continue its efforts to pursue a nuclear deal with Iran, but will not allow Tehran to run amok and do as it pleases, said Secretary of State John Kerry. If needed, the US will respond forcefully to Iranian efforts to destabilize the Middle East, Kerry said in an interview. "Iran needs to recognize that the United States is not going to stand by while the region is destabilized or while people engage in overt warfare across lines - international boundaries - in other countries,” Kerry told PBS in an interview Wednesday. The US is “well...

This is the time of the year when Christians the world over -- more than 2 billion of us -- reflect upon the crucifixion and resurrection of our Lord. In light of the tragic massacre of Christian college students in Kenya on Thursday, and the ongoing threat against Christians in other nations, this Holy Week we are calling upon Christians to also reflect upon the crucifixion, beheading, stoning, enforced slavery, sexual abuse, human trafficking, harassment, bombing and displacement of hundreds of thousands of Christians -- and others -- whose faith alone has made them a target of religious extremists. Countless...

Today, April fool's day first, Obama was abducted by aliens from Venus who were concerned about His warlike stance toward the peaceful Islamic Republic of Iran.Mars is the god of war, Venus is the goddess of peace. Aliens from Mars had been slightly disturbed that Obama's efforts to give Iran nuclear weapons might fail, but had seen that her status as a nuclear power was inevitable and hence did nothing. Aliens from Venus were equally pleased with the prospects of Iranian nuclear weapons but were very concerned that Obama, by failing adequately to praise Iranian attempts to extend its hegemony over the entire Middle East and...

The former head of the Defense Intelligence Agency on Sunday described President Obama's Middle East policy as one of "willful ignorance," saying the administration needs a clearer strategy for dealing with conflicts emerging across the region. Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn said during an interview on "Fox News Sunday" that recent developments in the Middle East are moving in a bad direction for the United States, with Iran "clearly on the march" to influence events in a "regional sectarian war." “At the end of the day, we have just this incredible policy confusion — never mind what our strategy is to...

The heads of Arab League countries meeting in Egypt have agreed to create a joint Arab military force. The League has been meeting in Sharm el-Sheikh amid a crisis in Yemen and the threat of jihadists who have made major gains in Iraq, Syria and Libya. However, establishing the make-up and remit of the force could take months, analysts say. A 10-nation, Saudi-led coalition is currently carrying out air strikes against rebels in Yemen.

The United States is considering letting Tehran run hundreds of centrifuges at a once-secret, fortified underground bunker in exchange for limits on centrifuge work and research and development at other sites, officials have told The Associated Press. The trade-off would allow Iran to run several hundred of the devices at its Fordo facility, although the Iranians would not be allowed to do work that could lead to an atomic bomb and the site would be subject to international inspections, according to Western officials familiar with details of negotiations now underway. In return, Iran would be required to scale back the...

MYTH “One million Palestinians were expelled by Israel from 1947–49.” FACT The Palestinians left their homes in 1947–49 for a variety of reasons. Thousands of wealthy Arabs left in anticipation of a war, thousands more responded to Arab leaders’ calls to get out of the way of the advancing armies, a handful were expelled, but most simply fled to avoid being caught in the cross fire of a battle.Many Arabs claim that 800,000 to 1,000,000 Palestinians became refugees in 1947–49. The last census taken by the British in 1945 found approximately 1.2 million permanent Arab residents in all of Palestine....

The International Criminal Court has begun considering whether to investigate alleged war crimes in the occupied Palestinian territories. The Hague-based ICC said on Friday it had "opened a preliminary examination into the situation in Palestine". It is an automatic step taken by the court upon a referral. The Palestinians have asked the ICC to investigate Israeli "crimes" since June 2014. Israel and the US have strongly criticised the Palestinians' move. After the Palestinians applied to join the ICC, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said they had chosen "a path of confrontation" and that Israel would "not sit idly by". Israel...

With the arrival of approximately two million people from around the world in Saudi Arabia for the annual hajj pilgrimage, there are a group of pilgrims who were not welcomed. The Saudi government has banned the entry of travelers from three countries currently dealing with the Ebola epidemic: Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone. The decision to reject visa requests from these countries has affected 7,400 people, according to the Associated Press. Hospitals in Saudi Arabia are also preparing in the event of an outbreak by setting up isolation and surgery units as well as dispatching medical staff to airports. Despite...

For the second time on Tuesday evening, a rocket was launched at central Israel from the Gaza Strip. An Iron Dome battery intercepted a projectile over the greater Tel Aviv area. Sirens sounded in various cities in central Israel on Tuesday night and blasts were heard in Tel Aviv. The air raid siren was activated in cities including Rishon Lezion, Bat Yam, Holon and Bnei Barak, but not in Tel Aviv. Earlier on Tuesday evening, the Iron Dome rocket defense system intercepted a projectile near Tel Aviv over the city of Rishon Lezion, as air raid sirens sounded in central...

obama-is-a-terrorist-A recent Gulf News report sheds some light on how and why the United States helped bring the Muslim Brotherhood and its Islamist allies to power, followed by all the subsequent chaos and atrocities in the Mideast region. Large portions of the report follow with my commentary interspersed for added context: Dubai: For the past decade, two successive US administrations have maintained close ties to the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, Tunisia, Syria and Libya, to name just the most prominent cases. The Obama administration conducted an assessment of the Muslim Brotherhood in 2010 and 2011, beginning even before the events...

The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) publishes a weekly webzine, The Islamic State Report. The latest issue is headlined “Smashing the Borders of the Tawaghit.” (“Tawaghit” are non-Muslim creations.) ISIS, citing the Sykes-Picot Treaty of 1916 between the British and French, boasts that it is destroying the “partitioning of Muslim lands by crusader powers.” That may seem like a quixotic task for a relatively small band of irregulars, but in trying to redraw the map of Iraq and Syria, ISIS has hit upon a weak link in the chain holding the nations of the Middle East together. It...

The Obama Administration has led America down the wrong road.An article at Front Page Magazine presents two excellent YouTube videos. The first video knits together the multiple kerfuffles in the Middle East -- Libya, Afghanistan, Syria, Iraq and, indeed, the entire Middle East. The discussion of Iraq begins at 00:08:00. [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WUz9-fhF9uw] Video link President Obama discusses the Middle East with His chief military adviserThe second video suggests why libruls make themselves dangerously unaware of the evils of Islam. [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xn0km52dCIg] Video linkWhy do librul feminists tend to ignore female genital mutilation? Do they lack compassion or simply hope to ignore what is...