Free Republic

0:00Introduction 1:10 What Would Happen if the US Went to War With Iran? 9:13 The Real Reason the US Invaded Iraq 15:38 The Military Power of Iran 22:25 The Global Coalition Iran Has Formed Because of the US 26:37 Is This Evil or Stupidity? 31:10 How Trump Exposed Regime Change Wars 41:37 Caldwell’s Experience in the Marine Corps 50:31 The Impact of the Iraq War on Veterans 1:00:59 How Caldwell Helped Pete Hegseth Become Secretary of Defense 1:08:21 The Real Reason Caldwell was Fired 1:11:30 Was Caldwell the Source of the Leaks? 1:22:09 How Caldwell Was Escorted Out 1:23:41 Who...

Dan Caldwell was one of the strongest voices at the Pentagon opposing war with Iran. Then he was falsely accused of leaking classified documents and fired. (0:00) Introduction (1:10) What Would Happen if the US Went to War With Iran? (9:13) The Real Reason the US Invaded Iraq (15:38) The Military Power of Iran (22:25) The Global Coalition Iran Has Formed Because of the US (26:37) Is This Evil or Stupidity? (31:10) How Trump Exposed Regime Change Wars (41:37) Caldwell’s Experience in the Marine Corps (50:31) The Impact of the Iraq War on Veterans (1:00:59) How Caldwell Helped Pete...

The deep state is in a state of chaos after Pete Hegseth fired three Department of Defense aides who were allegedly involved in the leaking of classified government information earlier this year, along with the departure of Hegseth’s chief of staff from his role following an extended period of turmoil within the agency. For context, on April 18, 2025, Hegseth terminated three Defense aides — a senior adviser named Dan Caldwell, Deputy Chief of Staff Darin Selnick, and Chief of Staff to the Deputy Secretary of Defense Colin Carroll —and removed Chief of Staff Joe Kasper from his position. All...

Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth shared detailed plans about a military operation against the Houthis in Yemen on a second Signal group chat that included his wife, lawyer and brother, three people familiar with the chat told CNN.The revelation comes as some of Hegseth’s closest advisers have begun sounding the alarm about the secretary’s judgment, including his former press secretary, John Ullyot, and three former senior officials Hegseth fired last week — his top adviser Dan Caldwell, deputy chief of staff Darin Selnick, and Colin Carroll, who served as chief of staff to the deputy secretary of defense.

Dubai -- US airstrikes targeting an oil port held by Yemen’s Houthi rebels killed 74 people and wounded 171 others, the group said Friday, marking the single-deadliest known attack under President Donald Trump’s new campaign targeting the rebels. Assessing the toll of Trump’s campaign, which began March 15, has been incredibly difficult as the US military’s Central Command so far has not released any information on the campaign, its specific targets and how many people have been killed. Meanwhile, Yemen’s Houthi rebels strictly control access to areas attacked and don’t publish information on the strikes, many of which likely have...

Astonishing news out of Israel today and confirmed by at least one Israeli TV network that Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) Gen. Esmail Qaani, commander of the crack Quds Force, is in Jerusalem after being identified as an Israeli intelligence asset.There's no doubt that Qaani was under suspicion. On Sept. 27, 2024, Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, one of the most well-guarded people in the world, was killed when at least 80 bombs were dropped on a bunker in Beirut, where Nasrallah was meeting with top aides. Qaani was placed under house arrest and interrogated, according to Middle East sources. Qaani...

The IRGC’s new missile bases on key islands near the Strait of Hormuz give Tehran the power to lock down a critical maritime chokepoint—and challenge US military primacy. Strategic Islands Armed The IRGC has deployed air & coastal missile systems on Greater Tunb, Lesser Tunb, & Abu Musa—3 critical islands west of the Hormuz Strait, gateway for 20% of the world’s energy trade. 600 km Strike Zone IRGC Navy commander Alireza Tangsiri says Iran can now strike “enemy bases, vessels, and assets” within 600 km—covering much of the Persian Gulf & beyond. What’s Deployed? Tangsiri didn’t name the systems, but...

Amid tensions with the US, Iran on Saturday flexed its military muscle by installing its missile systems on the three disputed islands near the Strait of Hormuz. As per reports, the weapons were deployed on Greater Tunb, Lesser Tunb, and Abu Musa near the Strait of Hormuz, a globally vital shipping lane. Iran's claim that fortifying the islands can help "target enemy bases and vessels" is seen as an answer to the US and its allies in the region. But, through the move, Tehran also seeks to reassert its ownership over the three islands. The islands located along a globally...

Among many other things, Angleton discusses counterintelligence methods, how the agency managed defectors, and compartmentalization within the CIA. "Since World War II, the British have never caught an agent where the lead didn't come from" the U.S. Pg 29 foreign intelligence services operating in America Pg 58 amassing large amounts of information about U.S. citizens Pg 62 "practically all intelligence operations have political objectives." Pg 64 Angletons said there's no question that foreign governments attempted to influence U.S. elections Pg 69

The newly declassified JFK file revealed that former CIA counterintelligence chief James Angleton testified under oath in an executive session before the Church Committee in 1975 about deep intelligence ties between the United States and Israel. The testimony, given in a top-secret executive session, was part of the Senate Select Committee’s broader investigation into intelligence operations. Though much of the session was focused on Cold War espionage and Soviet defections, one line of questioning zeroed in on allegations that U.S. intelligence may have assisted Israel’s covert nuclear program. Angleton, who served from the agency’s founding until late 1974, confirmed a...

Dramatic night as Saudi sources now claims Iranian intel ship Zagros (SIGINT) was sunk by U.S. forces at the same time the IDF conducts wide-ranging strikes in Gaza after Israel discovers Hamas was plotting another major Oct 7 style attack. Gaza ceasefire officially over, according to the Prime Minister’s office. Reuters is also reporting ballistic missile movement at IRGC bases in Iran. There were also reports from Yemen (video) that several senior IRGC members were eliminated in US attacks on Houthi targets.

Sanaa - A Shiite militia on Sunday set a three-day deadline for political parties to resolve the power vacuum in Yemen since the president and prime minister offered to resign last month. The Huthis and their allies urged parties "to reach a solution and fill the vacuum" within three days or "the revolutionary leadership" would "take care of the situation of the state". ... The militia, which overran Sanaa in September, seized the presidential palace and key government buildings on January 20, plunging the country deeper into crisis and prompting President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi and his premier to tender their...

Shocking video shows an Iranian woman stripping down and jumping naked onto a police car in an apparent protest of the Islamic Republic’s tougher punishments for women refusing to completely cover up. The explicit footage shared on social media shows the defiant woman yelling at armed officers as she stands on the hood of their car in the busy streets of Mashhad, Iran’s second-largest city. She then climbs onto the car’s windshield, where she sits and spreads her legs, video shared by Iranian journalist and activist Masih Alinejad shows. ... Iran’s repressive laws on women’s dress have been a point...

Netanyahu: ‘Hamas are the new Nazis’. "The core of new antisemitism is the attempt to ... undermine [Israel's] right to self-defense," Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar said. JNS Staff. (Jan. 27, 2025 / JNS). Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday called on the “civilized” world to up its effort to combat Jew-hatred, while labeling the Hamas terror group the “new Nazis.” “On International Holocaust Remembrance Day, I call on all civilized nations to confront antisemitism wherever it appears—on college campuses, city streets or international forums like the [International Criminal Court],” Netanyahu tweeted. “Founded in the shadow of the Holocaust, the...

A top Iranian general has accused Russia of lying to Tehran by saying its jets were attacking Syrian rebels while they were instead bombing the open desert. In a rare break from Iran's diplomatic line on Syria, Brig. Gen. Behrouz Esbati partially blamed Moscow for the fall of Bashar Assad's government during a speech at a mosque in Tehran. An audio recording of the speech was published on Tuesday by Abdullah Abdi, a journalist in Geneva who reports on Iran. "We were defeated, and defeated very badly. We took a very big blow, and it's been very difficult," Esbati said...

A daring Israeli commando raid deep into Bashar Assad's Syria in early September not only destroyed an Iranian factory producing missiles for Hezbollah to shoot into Israel, it may have been a test of a concept that puts all of Iran's nuclear facilities at risk. On the night of September 8-9, a 120-man unit of elite Israeli Air Force Shaldag commandos in CH-53 attacked the underground factory in the Masyaf area of Syria, west of Hama, using a combination of landing and fast roping. This is a video of US Marines fast roping from the same type of helicopter used...

Recent reports in the Arabic and Turkish media and social media claim that Turkey intends to establish new military bases in Syria as part of a defense agreement with the new Syrian government formed by Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS) under the leadership of Ahmed Al-Sharaa (aka Abu Muhammad Al-Joulani). Turkey has been the primary supporter of HTS, which has a jihadist background “Damascus and Ankara are drafting a mutual defense agreement that includes the establishment of two bases in Homs and Damascus and the deployment of an air defense system against Israeli attacks.”

White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan presented President Biden with options for a potential U.S. attack on Iran's nuclear facilities if the Iranians move towards a nuclear weapon before Jan. 20, in a meeting several weeks ago that remained secret until now, three sources with knowledge of the issue tell Axios. Why it matters: A U.S. strike on Iran's nuclear program during the lame duck period would be an enormous gamble from a president who promised he would not allow Iran to develop a nuclear weapon, but who would also risk handing a fresh conflict over to his successor....

The Iranian rial has sunk to its lowest value in history in the five weeks since the re-election of former US President Donald Trump, the Associated Press reported. The rial traded at 703,000 to the dollar on November 5, the date of the 2024 U.S. presidential election. It now trades at 777,000 to the dollar, a loss of about 10 percent. The incoming Trump Administration is expected to renew its maximum pressure campaign against Iran, including the enforcement of powerful economic sanctions. Last week, The Wall Street Journal reported that Trump and members of his incoming administration have begun reviewing...

Khamenei is buried under the rubble of defeat, yet he still plots new schemes to create chaos and incite war, despite no longer having the power or energy to carry them out. On December 11, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei delivered his first speech following Syrian president Bashar al-Assad’s fall, broadcast as a pre-recorded message. Its significance rested solely on the propaganda spread by his supporters. During the 51-minute ramble, he offered no ideas, messages, or meaningful content. His speech was riddled with delusions – a chaotic and unsettling display. Khamenei’s arguments came across as childish and riddled with lies...