Free Republic

RealRobert@Real_RobNHere it is:The United States Senate under John Thune is officially the world’s number one sponsor of terror.CIA and counterterrorism expert, Sarah Adamsvconfirm the U.S. taxpayer is paying Taliban martyrs’ families.Every Taliban martyr who died during the war, U.S. taxpayers are paying them a stipend.Ten months ago, the House passed Rep. Tim Burchett’s No Tax Dollars for Terrorists Act—to stop sending $40 million every week to the Taliban.The bill to stop it has been sitting on @LeaderJohnThune’s desk for nearly a year.In other words, some non-governmental, government funded organization is sending the kickback right back into the back pockets of...

Mike Steger@stegerMGWe’re watching the world reset in real time.This isn’t chaos.It’s strategy.Iran. China. India. The Middle East.All moving at once.Most people can’t see it yet. ransomnote: Below are a few of my notes and some images from the video.At the start of the video, Steger said that Trump's vision exceeds that of others and his strategies work because people can't even imagine what he intends so they can't fight its implementation. Trump thinks bigger than anyone else dares, he outflanks any effort to sabotage the deal. They can't sabotage a deal they can't even imagine exists.I found the entire video...

Edmund Fitton-Brown @EFittonBrown Oh dear. Iskandar323 picked the wrong jurisdiction in which to become one of the world’s leading pro-Hamas propagandists. The #UAE takes a dim view of foreigners who abuse their hospitality by supporting terrorist groups. It would be a pity if the Emiratis learned his identity. Quote WikiBias @WikiBias · Mar 23 Investigations have revealed that Iskandar323, the recently banned editor, who worked to rewrite Jewish history and whitewash the Iranian regime and Hamas, is an English journalist based in the United Arab Emirates. Our eyes are wide open for all others. More to come.

President Donald Trump announced Thursday that Israel and Lebanon have agreed to a 10-day ceasefire. “I just had excellent conversations with the Highly Respected President Joseph Aoun, of Lebanon, and Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu, of Israel. These two Leaders have agreed that in order to achieve PEACE between their Countries, they will formally begin a 10 Day CEASEFIRE at 5 P.M. EST,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “On Tuesday, the two Countries met for the first time in 34 years here in Washington, D.C., with our Great Secretary of State, Marco Rubio. I have directed Vice President JD Vance and...

Iran's military has threatened to block marine traffic in the Red Sea, the Persian Gulf, and the Sea of Oman if the U.S. blockade in the Strait of Hormuz continues, escalating tensions in an already volatile region and raising alarms about global trade and energy supplies.***Maj. Gen. Ali Abdollahi, a senior commander in Iran's Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters, warned that continued U.S. enforcement actions against Iranian shipping could trigger sweeping retaliation. "If the aggressive and terrorist America continues its unlawful actions of maritime blockade in the region and creates insecurity for Iranian commercial ships and oil tankers, this action will...

Iran closed the Strait of Hormuz again Wednesday in response to Israeli attacks against the Hezbollah terrorist group in Lebanon, casting doubt over whether an already precarious ceasefire to end more than a month of war will hold. The United States and Iran both claimed victory after reaching the agreement, and world leaders expressed relief, even as more drones and missiles hit Iran and Gulf Arab countries. Israel also intensified its attacks in Lebanon, hitting several commercial and residential areas in Beirut without warning. At least 112 people were killed and hundreds were wounded in one of the deadliest days...

Tuesday on CNBC’s “Squawk Box,” Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) said the evidence that Iran was an imminent threat to the United States was not there.Co-host Joe Kernen said, “You have such a tough job. I asked Senator Scott, and he said, I love Senator Paul because you never waver, but everybody wavers. I was going to ask you about war powers, and the Constitution is messy, and to stick with it as you do in the real world, it’s hard. I don’t know why you even have this job. It must be so difficult at this point for you, right?...

Mossad head David Barnea addressed the campaign against Iran, intelligence operations in the heart of Tehran, and the continuation of activities in Iran. Barnea delivered his remarks at a Holocaust Remembrance Day ceremony, warning that threats to the existence of the Jewish people are not a thing of the past. He opened with a stark warning against international complacency: “The naïve are mistaken in thinking the Holocaust is a thing of the past-that in today’s reality genocide cannot occur, that calls for destruction cannot exist, and that hatred threatening a people’s existence cannot arise. The Iranian threat has steadily intensified...

The US and Iran have failed to reach an agreement after 21 hours of talks in Pakistan. I can’t say I’m surprised. After all, we didn’t have to wait for the negotiations to finish to make an informed guess of the outcome. We needed merely to consider the shape of things beforehand to know that Donald Trump’s hoped-for new world order would fall into new world chaos. America and Iran agreed on a ceasefire conditional on the Islamic Republic’s complete opening of the Strait of Hormuz. It has so far refused to honour that condition. Earlier this week, President Trump...

U.S. President Donald Trump announced today (Sunday) a dramatic escalation in the confrontation with Iran, declaring a full naval blockade of the Strait of Hormuz. The move comes just hours after reports of the unsuccessful conclusion of a round of talks between the American and Iranian delegations in Pakistan, and after the White House made clear it would not tolerate illegal transit fees being collected in the strait’s international waters. Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform: "Iran promised to open the Strait of Hormuz, and they knowingly failed to do so. This caused anxiety, dislocation, and pain to many...

Donald J. Trump @realDonaldTrump Iran’s Navy is laying at the bottom of the sea, completely obliterated - 158 ships. What we have not hit are their small number of, what they call, “fast attack ships,” because we did not consider them much of a threat. Warning: If any of these ships come anywhere close to our BLOCKADE, they will be immediately ELIMINATED, using the same system of kill that we use against the drug dealers on boats at Sea. It is quick and brutal. P.S. 98.2% of Drugs coming into the U.S. by Ocean or Sea have STOPPED! Thank you...

Turkey’s president has threatened to invade Israel over its continued bombardment of Lebanon.Recep Tayyip Erdoğan accused Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, of being “blinded by blood and hate” and said there was “no reason” not to attack.The speech came after Turkish prosecutors filed indictments against 35 top Israeli officials, including Mr Netanyahu, seeking a total of more than 4,500 years in prison.

Quite a lot. Still listening. As always, Tousi is informative.

Rep. Kat Cammack (R-Fla.) suggested Wednesday that Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) should have less access to President Trump as the conflict with Iran persists. “I absolutely think he should have his Oval Office credentials revoked,” Cammack told Migrant Insider’s Pablo Manríquez as she departed the Capitol. Graham, a staunch foreign policy hawk who has openly supported the U.S. military operation in the Middle East, is a frequent guest at the White House and often travels with Trump. On Monday, he and Sen. Bernie Moreno (R-Ohio) met with the president and newly minted Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin — before the...

Donald J. Trump @realDonaldTrump Based on conversations with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Field Marshal Asim Munir, of Pakistan, and wherein they requested that I hold off the destructive force being sent tonight to Iran, and subject to the Islamic Republic of Iran agreeing to the COMPLETE, IMMEDIATE, and SAFE OPENING of the Strait of Hormuz, I agree to suspend the bombing and attack of Iran for a period of two weeks. This will be a double sided CEASEFIRE! The reason for doing so is that we have already met and exceeded all Military objectives, and are very far along...

As the United States turns its focus away from Asia and dials in on the Middle East, China is reportedly ramping up its deployment of naval power on the high seas. The Chinese navy and coast guard have deployed 100 vessels in the East and South China Seas, according to information that two Taiwanese security officials told Reuters. China’s presence is highly heightened when compared with the usual strength in the theater of about 50-60 ships, according to a statement that one official provided to Reuters. However, these ships are nowhere to be seen on the map. They are all...

The dust of conflict has settled. The fever of the moment has yielded to the cooler discipline of strategic reflection. It is time to ask, with unflinching clarity, what the United States and its partners should do with the Islamic Republic of Iran. Tehran’s propaganda organs were quick to claim victory. That claim, however theatrical, must be taken seriously -- not because it reflects battlefield reality, but because it reveals an uncomfortable truth: the regime cannot, or will not, abandon the terrorist and extremist doctrines that have defined it for more than four decades. No amount of quiet concessions extracted...

A massive wave of hostile suicide drones has breached the national airspace of Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates, targeting vital facilities and US military bases across the region. A major escalation has erupted in the Gulf as air defense systems in Kuwait and Dubai were forced into action to intercept a large scale wave of hostile suicide drones. Multiple vital facilities and US military bases have reportedly come under heavy attack, with massive explosions being heard throughout the United Arab Emirates. This sudden surge in violence suggests a significant expansion of the regional war, as national airspaces were breached...

Trump proposed a joint U.S.-Iran system to tax ships in the Strait of Hormuz, a critical artery for global energy flows. The idea emerges amid fragile ceasefire negotiations and broader discussions on sanctions relief and nuclear constraints. The proposal underscores the high economic stakes, with potential implications for oil prices, global trade, and regional stability. President Trump has floated the prospect of a “joint venture” with the Iranian leadership on administering a tax on ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz in a new peace deal for the region. Trump said both the US and Iran could jointly tax ships...

Megyn Kelly on "Piers Morgan Uncensored" discussed the damage sustained by the Trump political coalition, the global economy, and U.S. allies, after 40 days at war with Iran. “The question is now not, who has Trump lost. The question is who remains," she said about the MAGA coalition. "He’s underwater with men, including young men and young people. The young person coalition that Charlie Kirk delivered to the president is gone. They’ve abandoned Donald Trump." "These battles in the Middle East have been fought now for 20-plus years, and we continue to learn the same lesson over and over. It’s...