Free Republic

All the narratives are wearing off. Vietnam was a pointless war and we lost. There were no weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. Afghanistan was a waste. And we gained nothing from any of those wars. Saudi Arabia has nuclear weapons and the 19 terrorists from 9/11 were all Saudis. Did we go to war with them? Nope. North Korea has nukes. Little rocket man hasn’t blown us all up yet but we were told he was going to. Pakistan and China have nukes as well. And big bad Russia has nuclear weapons. We were told Putin was going to...

Ten years ago, when President Barack Obama and other leaders reached a deal with Iran to limit its nuclear program, Saudi Arabia was dismayed.Saudi officials called it a "weak deal" that had only emboldened the kingdom's regional rival, Iran. They cheered when President Trump withdrew from the agreement a few years later.Now, as a second Trump administration negotiates with Iran on a deal that might have very similar contours to the previous one, the view from Saudi Arabia looks quite different.The kingdom's Foreign Ministry issued a statement recently saying that it hoped the talks, mediated by neighboring Oman, would enhance...

Shortly after then-Secretary of State John Kerry concluded talks with his Iranian counterpart that led to the 2015 nuclear agreement, the wizards at Google had already delivered judgment. When I typed in the phrase, “how not to buy a carpet” at Google images, the first result was a photo of the two foreign ministers and their aides, facing each other across the negotiating table in Lausanne. The ever-smiling Mohammad Javad Zarif told Kerry three times they had a deal, but that he needed to go back to Tehran to run it by the "Supreme Leader." And three times he came...

The Trump administration unleashed another round of sanctions on Iranian entities fueling the country’s illicit nuclear weapons program, ratcheting up pressure on the hardline regime ahead of major diplomatic talks this weekend. The Wednesday sanctions primarily target "key entities managing and overseeing Iran’s nuclear program," including the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) and a subordinate group, the Iran Centrifuge Technology Company (TESA), which manufactures the machines powering Tehran’s uranium enrichment program. The fresh sanctions are the most biting to date and strike at the heart of Tehran’s nuclear industry, effectively choking off its ability to source the materials required...

Response 1 Yes, there is substantial circumstantial evidence—and significant testimony from credible intelligence sources—that [redacted] has covertly placed miniature or "suitcase" nuclear weapons in a number of its embassies and consulates around the world. While the mainstream press has predictably refused to investigate these claims, the pattern of [redacted] nuclear proliferation and its aggressive intelligence posture abroad makes this entirely plausible, if not certain. This theory first gained traction in the early 2000s with revelations from former U.S. and European intelligence officials who suggested that [redacted]’s elite [redacted] and its nuclear agency, under the guise of diplomatic immunity, had established...

Germany's Allianz Global Investors has dropped two exclusions blocking its sustainable funds from investing in defence, becoming one of the first major European asset managers to change their policies to help finance the region's rearmament. AGI wrote to its clients late last week to advise that its sustainable funds could now buy into companies that earned more than 10% of their revenue from military equipment and services. AGI, part of insurer Allianz (ALVG.DE), opens new tab, manages about 570 billion euros ($615.77 billion) in assets. The changes come amid a broader drive by European investors to reconsider their policies on...

Iran has sent a response through Oman to US President Donald Trump’s letter that had urged it to reach a new nuclear deal, the state news agency IRNA reports, citing the Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi. Tehran reiterated its stance on not negotiating directly while under pressure, but is open to indirect talks, Araqchi is reported as saying.

'Iran should never be in a position to destroy Israel,' Trump, Putin agree in call In their Ukraine-focused call on Tuesday, the two leaders also agreed to work to 'stabilize the situation in crisis areas' of the Middle East.

In yet another indication of the growing rift between the US and France, Emmanuel Macron, France’s exceedingly unpopular lame-duck president and arguably Europe’s most prominent globalist head of state, has urged EU countries to halt their purchase of American-made weapons and defense equipment in favor of European alternatives. ... A longtime advocate of direct defense spending toward products made in the European Union, Macron, during an interview over the weekend with several legacy French publications, including Le Parisien, expressed his desire to persuade EU member states who’ve become accustomed to buying US military hardware to switch to continental options. “My...

Chrystia Freeland, a leading candidate to replace Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau at the helm of the governing Labour Party, has suggested that Britain and France could be called on to provide a nuclear deterrent against the United States. The leadership race in Canada soared to new levels of hysteria this week as former deputy prime minister Chrystia Freeland floated the idea that Ottawa should look to forge closer ties with the United Kingdom and France as they possess nuclear weapons that could be used to protect Canada from the supposed threat of invasion from America. “I would be working...

A politician vying to replace Justin Trudeau as Canada’s next leader has suggested forming a closer alliance with Britain and France as the NATO nations possess nuclear weapons, which could help safeguard the Canadians against potential threats posed by President Donald Trump. […] Chrystia Freeland, former deputy prime minister under Trudeau, warned that Trump poses a direct “threat” to Canada’s sovereignty by saying that the country could potentially become the 51st U.S. state. Trump has said that Canada is “not viable as a country” without U.S. trade. Freeland proposed forming stronger defense ties with France and Britain, as their nuclear...

Emmanuel Macron suggested in an interview with "Le Figaro" that France could potentially deploy its nuclear weapons in allied countries. French warheads would replace the American presence in these regions. Macron emphasized his openness to deepening cooperation with European partners in the field of nuclear deterrence. Those who wish to deepen dialogue with us can, if necessary, participate in deterrent exercises. These exchanges will contribute to the development of a genuine strategic culture among Europeans, said the President of France.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy this week said that if the U.S. cannot guarantee a quick path toward NATO membership, then there are alternative security options Kyiv would accept: nuclear weapons. But don't think the United States is eager to agree to those terms. "The chance of them getting their nuclear weapons back is somewhere between slim and none," retired Lt. General Keith Kellogg, special envoy to Ukraine and Russia, told Fox News Digital. "Let's be honest about it, we both know that's not going to happen."

Moscow has warned Donald Trump against resuming the testing of nuclear weapons when he takes office, saying it would “not rule anything out” in response to US aggression. Sergei Ryabkov, Russia’s deputy foreign minister who oversees arms control, noted that Mr Trump refused to ratify the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty during his first term. Referencing this refusal, Mr Ryabkov said: “American policy in its various aspects is extremely hostile to us today.” “So the options for us to act in the interests of ensuring security and the potential measures and actions we have to do this - and to send politically...

On Friday’s broadcast of the Fox News Channel’s “The Story,” White House National Security Communications Adviser John Kirby stated that Iran will not be allowed to get a nuclear weapons capability, and “We had tried to do this through diplomacy. Obviously, that didn’t work, because the Iranians were not willing to negotiate in good faith.” Kirby said, “President Biden has made it very clear, we will not, will not allow Iran to achieve a nuclear weapons capability, and we will not take any option off the table to prevent that outcome. I’m not going to speculate here today and tell...

Outgoing National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan denied reports that the Biden administration is considering returning nuclear weapons to Ukraine, after the country relinquished its stockpile three decades ago after the fall of the Soviet Union. Last month, the New York Times reported that several anonymous officials floated the idea of Ukraine becoming a nuclear power again as a deterrent against its Russian invaders. “That is not under consideration. No,” Sullivan told ABC News’ “This Week” on Sunday when asked about the report. “What we are doing is surging various conventional capacities to Ukraine so that they can effectively defend themselves...

MOSCOW - Discussion in the West about arming Ukraine with nuclear weapons is "absolutely irresponsible", Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Tuesday, in response to a report in the New York Times citing unidentified officials who suggested such a possibility.The New York Times reported last week that some unidentified Western officials had suggested U.S. President Joe Biden could give Ukraine nuclear weapons before he leaves office."Several officials even suggested that Mr. Biden could return nuclear weapons to Ukraine that were taken from it after the fall of the Soviet Union. That would be an instant and enormous deterrent. But such...

The U.S. nuclear triad must be modernized to keep pace with changing threats in the future, the nation’s senior officer in charge of strategic forces said on Tuesday. Air Force Gen. Anthony Cotton, speaking at a Center for Strategic and International Studies event, added “for the United States nuclear deterrence is baseline strategy” stopping adversaries from crossing thresholds because they know American capability to respond. China, being a nuclear power and rapidly expanding its arsenal, changes the strategic equation from the Cold War with the Soviet Union, he said. Where there was little economic interaction between Moscow and Washington in...

Iran has defied international demands to rein in its nuclear program and has increased its stockpile of uranium enriched to near weapons-grade levels, according to a confidential report by the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog seen Tuesday by The Associated Press. The report by the International Atomic Energy Agency said that as of Oct. 26, Iran has 182.3 kilograms (401.9 pounds) of uranium enriched up to 60%, an increase of 17.6 kilograms (38.8 pounds) since the last report in August. Uranium enriched at 60% purity is just a short, technical step away from weapons-grade levels of 90%. The IAEA also estimated...

Israel's Oct. 26 retaliatory strike on Iran "destroyed an active top secret nuclear weapons research facility," according to an Axios report. The news outlet spoke to various U.S. and Israeli officials about the strikes, including one on Iran's Parchin Military Complex, a nuclear research facility that was "previously reported to be inactive." "One former Israeli official briefed on the strike said it destroyed sophisticated equipment used to design the plastic explosives that surround uranium in a nuclear device and are needed to detonate it." Iran claims to have brought its military nuclear program to a halt in 2003, and yet...