Free Republic

Gore's, Talbott's Red Russian roots How they 'Hammer'-ed out Washington-Moscow policy Posted: October 3, 2000 Loutchansky's name surfaced again last year, when the Washington Post revealed that first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton's two brothers, Tony Rodham and Hugh Rodham, were involved in a $118 million scheme to grow and export hazelnuts in the former Soviet republic of Georgia. Their partner in the venture was Aslan Abashidze, who said his financial adviser was Loutchansky. Abashidze is a reputed member of a Russian organized crime family.The Rodham brothers at first balked and then agreed to national security adviser Sandy Berger's request that...

"A Kremlin insider warned Thursday that Russia could start a nuclear war if it lost its conventional war in Ukraine. Dmitry Medvedev, deputy head of Russia’s security council and a close ally of President Vladimir Putin, made the threat in a post on the Telegram messaging app...."

Iran announced Saturday the successful test flight of a rocket capable of propelling satellites into space, three months after launching a satellite with the help of Russia. The United States has repeatedly voiced concern that such launches could boost Iran's ballistic missile technology, extending to the potential delivery of nuclear warheads. But Iran insists it is not seeking nuclear weapons and that its satellite and rocket launches are for civil or defensive purposes only. State television reported the "successful suborbital launch of the satellite launcher named Ghaem-100". "The flight test of this launcher using the Rafe solid-fuel vehicle has been...

The United Nations has decided that Israel needs to get rid of its nuclear weapons — if indeed it has any. But the organization has nothing to say about Iran.In a 152-5 vote on Friday, the UN’s General Assembly voted to have Israel dispose of its nuclear weapons and place any nuclear sites within its borders under the watchful eye of the International Atomic Energy Agency. The dissenting votes were from the United States, Canada, Israel, Micronesia, and Palau. Twenty-three nations and the European Union abstained.Fox News reports that it has never been confirmed that Israel has any nuclear weapons,...

"Mike" Device is Tested The first fusion bomb was tested by the United States in Operation Ivy on November 1, 1952, on Elugelab Island in the Enewatak Atoll of the Marshall Islands. Scientists had to work faster and harder in order the meet the short deadline to complete the weapon, but their work paid off when "Mike" was successfully completed on the target date. "Mike" used the Teller-Ulam configuration, liquid deuterium as its fusion fuel and a large fission weapon as its trigger. The device was strictly an experimental, prototype design and not a deliverable weapon: standing over 20 ft....

The United Nations General Assembly's first committee, which deals with disarmament, global challenges, and threats to peace that affect the international community, voted 152-5, on Friday, on a resolution concerning "the risk of nuclear proliferation in the Middle East". The resolution states that Israel must dispose of all its nuclear weapons and place its nuclear sites under the International Atomic Energy Agency's purview. The resolution, which is submitted every year to the UNGA in New York, was submitted by Egypt and sponsored by the Palestinian Authority and 19 counties including Bahrain, Jordan, Morocco, and the United Arab Emirates. Canada, Israel,...

Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei said in an October 19, 2022 address that was aired on Channel 1 (Iran) that in the past, the West had dismissed Iran's missile and drone technologies, but that today admits that they are very dangerous and complains about Iran supplying them to "so-and-so." It should be noted that Khamenei's statement may be a reference to recent reports that Russia has been using Iranian-made drones in Ukraine. Khamenei also said that the drones are the pride of Iran. Later in the address, he said that industrial use of nuclear energy has increased throughout the world,...

Mystery surrounds Russian nuclear tests that were expected to take this week and never materialised, amid claims they are being 'disrupted' from within. Moscow typically carries out large-scale atomic drills dubbed 'Grom' at this time of year and in recent days had issued a number of airspace alerts over its usual testing grounds - heavily suggesting they would be going ahead. But the US says it has received no alert from Moscow about any upcoming tests and there has been no official word from the Kremlin explaining their absence, with the air alerts due to expire Saturday. That has led...

Putin evacuates 60,000 people before Battle of Kherson Vladimir Putin declared martial law in occupied Ukraine, handing him sweeping new powers over civilians Comes after officials ordered evacuation from occupied Kherson, as Ukraine's forces push to re-take city If Putin's army is forced to flee the city, it would be the most humiliating defeat it has yet suffered in Ukraine Fears are growing that Putin may be plotting a nuclear show of force over the Black Sea to save his invasion Experts believe Putin may detonate a nuke at a remote testing ground or above the Black Sea to prove...

U.S. B-52 bombers and around 60 other aircraft are taking part in NATO’s weeks-long nuclear exercise, which kicks off on Monday amid Russian threats of nuclear war. According to a statement by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), 14 countries and up to 60 aircraft will take part in the nuclear exercise known as “Steadfast Noon.” A NATO official said part of the exercise would be held more than 625 miles from Russia, VOA reported. NATO described the exercise as “a routine, recurring training activity” that is “not linked to any current world events.”

Russia said on Tuesday that four Ukrainian regions whose annexation it proclaimed last month are under the protection of its nuclear arsenal. The statement from the Kremlin came at a moment of acute tension, with both NATO and Russia expected to hold military exercises shortly to test the readiness of their nuclear weapons forces. Asked by reporters if the regions were under Moscow's nuclear umbrella, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said: "All these territories are inalienable parts of the Russian Federation and they are all protected. Their security is provided for at the same level as [it is for] the rest...

Alarmed by the increasingly dangerous rhetoric regarding the Ukraine-Russian war, former President Donald Trump has offered to try "to negotiate peace before we lapse into World War III." President Biden objected to "this unwanted intrusion. I won the 2020 election, not Trump. I represent the will of the people. What Trump wants doesn't matter. What I want does. We are confronting Putin's threat to use nukes in Ukraine and countering it with our threat to nuke Russia if he does." Biden went on to point out that "all the great thinkers are with me on this. European Union foreign policy...

Our thousands of nuclear weapons were designed, tested and built in the 1960s, ’70s and ’80s to win the Cold War. None of these weapons has been tested since 1992, over a quarter century ago. Nor has a single new weapon been designed, tested or built during this same period. The tens of thousands of active nuclear weapons scientists in our three nuclear weapons labs have never designed, tested and built a nuclear weapon. Nuclear weapons are the most complex systems ever created by man. The detonation of a nuclear weapon is so complex that there are many activities and...

President Joe Biden said on Thursday evening that Vladimir Putin was not joking about using nuclear weapons in Ukraine - and said the risk of of Armageddon is the highest it has been since the Cuban missile crisis. He delivered his doomsday warning at a fundraising event for Democrats at the New York home of James Murdoch, son of media mogul Rupert. It comes amid growing fears that Putin is backed into a corner and could use tactical nuclear weapons to push back advancing Ukrainian forces.

President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky said that NATO countries should launch preventive strikes against Russia to prevent Moscow from using nuclear weapons. “What should NATO do? Eliminate the possibility of Russia using nuclear weapons ... Preemptive strikes, so that they know what will happen to them if they use it. And not vice versa - wait for Russian nuclear strikes, ”he said, speaking via video link at the Lowy Institute (Australia). The Kremlin has repeatedly noted that Russia can use nuclear weapons only in accordance with the provisions of its nuclear doctrine. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that the...

Russia-Ukraine War: A train operated by the country's nuclear programme was seen in central Russia over the weekend, the report said. A Russian convoy transporting equipment for Moscow's nuclear weapons programme was reportedly on the move, the Telegraph said. Vladimir Putin could be preparing a nuclear test to send a “signal to the West” amid Ukraine war, the report said. A train operated by the country's nuclear programme was seen in central Russia over the weekend, the report said adding that it was heading towards the front line in Ukraine. The train is said to be linked to the 12th...

In a Sunday editorial in the state-owned Global Times, Beijing warned that allowing the country into the alliance—as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has requested—would lead to an inevitable escalation in the conflict, prompting Russian President Vladimir Putin's threats to use nuclear arms against the West. While unlikely—U.S. national security adviser Jake Sullivan stated in a White House press briefing last week that NATO should delay talks on allowing the country into the alliance—the newspaper warned "all European countries will tremble under the shadow of a possible nuclear war" should it take place, and called for the Western alliance to withdraw...

Well....if you can't dazzle em with brilliance. Baffle em with...nukes? A huge freight train moving specialist military equipment associated with a nuclear-arms wielding division of Russia's Defence Ministry has been spotted on the move, prompting fears of an escalation in Putin's war. A series of BPM-97 armoured personnel carriers (APCs) and other military vehicles were seen travelling through central Russia in a clip posted on the Telegram messaging app by pro-Russian channel Rybar on Sunday. The APCs are thought to have been upgraded with more capable turrets, reinforced ambush and mine-proof armour and an air purification system designed to allow...

Retired Gen. David Petraeus predicted Sunday that the U.S., along with NATO allies, would “take out” Russian forces if Russian President Vladimir Putin decided to use nuclear weapons in his war against neighboring Ukraine. During an appearance on ABC’s “This Week,” Petraeus told co-anchor Jonathan Karl that western powers have to take Russia’s nuclear weapons threats seriously, noting National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan’s recent remarks that US officials have warned the Moscow of “catastrophic consequences” if the Kremlin deploys nuclear weapons. “And what would happen?” Karl asked. “Well, again, I have deliberately not talked to Jake about this. I mean,...

it's been over 80 years since a major conflict has broken out in europe the 0:06 conflict has broken out in europe the 0:08 result has left many with a deep sense 0:10 of uncertainty nearly 70 percent of 0:12 americans surveyed by the american 0:14 psychological association feared that we 0:16 are at the beginning stages of world war 0:19 iii the prospect of nuclear conflict 0:21 once unthinkable is now a very real 0:23 possibility today we're going to explore 0:25 the unthinkable how would the united 0:27 states respond during a nuclear conflict 0:30 what's america's nuclear...