Free Republic

Only a mainstream media thatÂ’s been blinded by hatred of Trump could be this disappointed their predictions of all-out war with Iran havenÂ’t come true. The last few days have been an ongoing spectacle of media bias and incompetence in the coverage of the Qassem Suleimani strike and its fallout.Mainstream outlets, suffering mightily from Trump derangement syndrome, practically rooted for a wider conflict with Iran in the hopes it might damage Trump, then evinced genuine disappointment when Iran backed down after half-heartedly lobbing a few short-range ballistic missiles in the direction of U.S. troops stationed in Iraq, which inflicted...

The Obama administration made public its case that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad was responsible for a chemical-weapons attack outside Damascus, bracing Americans for potential strikes in the coming days. President Barack Obama said he hasn't made a decision on military strikes on Syria, even as U.S. forces continued a buildup in the Middle East on Friday and the White House took the rare step of releasing a detailed U.S. intelligence assessment. The U.S. findings, based on intercepted communications, satellite images and human spying, were released to underpin Mr. Obama's assertions that the Assad regime was responsible for the attack, which...

ISRAELI Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has ordered more intense strikes on Lebanon, ratcheting up retaliation against Hezbollah guerrillas following the capture of two Israeli soldiers in a cross-border raid. The move came at a late-night meeting of security chiefs and followed Israel's blockading of Lebanese ports, the bombing of Beirut airport and strikes against two military airbases. "The decision was made to intensify Israel's operations in Lebanon," Army Radio quoted political sources as saying after Mr Olmert met with Israeli security chiefs. Israeli airstrikes and shelling have already killed at least 55 Lebanese civilians since the two soldiers were captured...