Free Republic

Houthi attacks on commercial shipping and US Navy vessels in the Red Sea threaten the global economy, endangering the vital Suez Canal trade route. As if 14 such attacks in the past month, and against Israel directly, were not enough, Iran has now joined the fray... This marks the first time since October 7 that Washington has directly blamed Iran... Just after Christmas, however, Iran committed the classic “Washington gaffe” – i.e., telling the truth accidentally – when the Revolutionary Guard Corps reportedly described Hamas’s barbaric assault as “one of the acts of revenge for the assassination of General [Qassem]...

Former Vice President Mike Pence warned this week that if Russian forces are not repelled in Ukraine, U.S. military service members may have to step up to the fight. "I’m convinced that if the Ukrainian military doesn’t stop and repel that Russian invasion, it’s not going to be too long before that Russian army crosses a border that our men and women in uniform are going to have to go and fight under our NATO Treaty," Mr. Pence said during a town hall-style interview with NewsNation on Wednesday. "I truly believe it. Whether that's Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, ... Poland, I...

Former Vice President Mike Pence has claimed populism is a pathway to “defeat for the Republican Party.” Former President Donald Trump, the current 2024 GOP frontrunner, is known for his populist positions, which brought him support from many disenfranchised leftists and independents. Pence made the comments during a Wednesday appearance on “America’s Newsroom” on Fox News. “Well, look, you look at this Republican field, whether it’s my former running mate or some of his imitators, and there is a push in this Republican primary to to move us away from our party’s historic commitment to American leadership on the world...

A super-PAC aligned with former Vice President Mike Pence has launched a new ad in Iowa accusing former President Donald Trump of being “an apologist for villains and dictators.” The advertisement, launched Thursday from Committed to America, a group Pence supports, includes clips of Trump shaking hands with Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. “America doesn’t stand with thugs and dictators. We confront them,” a narrator says in the ad as Trump’s footage plays. “Or at least we did.”

If Ukraine is defeated in the war, the U.S. will have to send troops to fight Russia's further aggression, former Vice President Mike Pence said on the Hugh Hewitt Show on July 5."I have no doubt that if (Russian dictator) Vladimir Putin overran Ukraine, it would not be too long... before the Russian military crossed a border where we would have to send our fighting men and women to fight against them," the Republican presidential candidate said.Pence called for speaking the truth about Russian war crimes, referencing his June 29 visit to Kyiv's suburbs Bucha and Irpin where massacres against...

The filings also show that Pence has earned big sums on the speaking circuit, collecting a total of $3.4 million for 32 speeches between January 2022 and the end of April this year. Pence announced his candidacy for the White House in early June. The most lucrative engagement: A $550,000 honorarium for a February 2022 appearance at a world summit underwritten by the Universal Peace Federation in Seoul, South Korea. The group was established by the late Rev. Sun Myung Moon – the Korean evangelist and businessman who founded the Unification Church – and his wife, Hak Ja Han. According...

Tory chair of defence committee says cost of replacing kit sent to Ukraine and high inflation had created ‘a really grim picture’ Britain’s armed forces would “last about five days” if there was a war, a senior Conservative MP has claimed, as pressure increases on the chancellor to boost defence spending in next month’s Budget.Tobias Ellwood, Tory chair of the Commons defence committee, told the Financial Times that high inflation and the cost of replacing equipment sent to Ukraine had created “a really grim picture” and left military supplies seriously depleted.Jeremy Hunt has vowed to consider the case for more...

WASHINGTON ― The U.S. defense-industrial base is not ready for a battle over Taiwan, as it would run out of key long-range, precision-guided munitions in less than one week, according to a new report by the Center for Strategic and International Studies.U.S. military aid to Ukraine has helped prevent a Russian victory against the neighboring nation, but that assistance has depleted Pentagon stockpiles and shown that the American defense industry cannot surge for a major war, the think tank found.“As the war in Ukraine illustrates, a war between major powers is likely to be a protracted, industrial-style conflict that needs...

US Congressman Mike Gallagher, a Republican member of the House Armed Services Committee, delivered a stark warning to American citizens yesterday in response to a new report by the Heritage Foundation that ranked the US Navy “very weak” in terms of capacity and under immense strain to maintain readiness.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken says democratic principles are on the decline around the world while human rights abuses are on the rise. The US State Department issued a dire warning about the state of democracy in several countries. While speaking about the department’s 46th Annual Report on Human Rights Practices in nearly 200 countries around the world, Secretary Blinken said there was a trend in backsliding in 2021. “For many years running, we have seen an alarming recession of democracy, the rule of law, respect for human rights in many parts of the world,” he stated. “In the time...

Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., called to "destroy the ruble and crush the Russian oil and gas sector" in response to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s aggression in Ukraine. Graham made the call in a tweet thread posted after Putin's national address in which he recognized the independence of the separatist Donetsk People's Republic and Luhansk People's Republic areas of Ukraine. "When it comes to thugs like Putin disrupting world order and destroying democracies – enough is enough," Graham wrote. RUSSIA-UKRAINE: PUTIN TO RECOGNIZE INDEPENDENCE OF UKRAINIAN BREAKAWAY REGIONS: LIVE UPDATES "Putin’s decision to declare eastern Donetsk and Luhansk as independent regions...