Free Republic

Microsoft has terminated a set of services for the Israeli military after an investigation suggested Israel was using the company’s cloud computing technology for mass surveillance of Palestinians. In a statement posted the company’s blog, Microsoft President Brad Smith said the company had “ceased and disabled a set of services to a unit within the Israel Ministry of Defense.” The move comes after an investigation by The Guardian and Israel’s +972 Magazine in early-August reported that Israel’s military intelligence unit, known as 8200, relied on Microsoft Azure to store millions of phone calls made by Palestinians in Gaza and...

Before Israel launched an unprecedented wave of strikes against Iran’s nuclear facilities and top military leaders this week, its spies were already on the ground in enemy territory. Israeli intelligence agency Mossad had smuggled weapons into Iran ahead of the strikes, according to Israeli security officials, and would use the weapons to target Iran’s defense from within. The officials said Israel established a base for launching explosive drones inside Iran, and the drones were later used to target missile launchers near Tehran. Precision weapons were also smuggled in and used to target surface-to-air missile systems, clearing the way for Israel’s...

According to CNN reports, Pentagon brass met recently to discuss and plan how to override President Trump’s 47 orders. This smells like treason. The military-industrial complex is infuriated that the first president in 40 years who did not start a war while in office has returned to power. This latest report that the failed Pentagon brass who surrendered to the illiterate Taliban barbarians, donated billions of dollars in US weapons, and abandoned Bagram Air Force Base, are plotting against Trump 47 is not a complete surprise. Retired General Mark Milley, the former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, openly...

Russia carried out a test of an intercontinental ballistic missile that appears to have failed while President Joe Biden was in Ukraine on Monday, according to two US officials familiar with the matter. Russia notified the United States in advance of the launch through deconfliction lines, one official said. Another official said that the test did not pose a risk to the United States and that the US did not view the test as an anomaly or an escalation. The test of the heavy SARMAT missile – nicknamed the Satan II in the West and capable of delivering multiple nuclear...

As the war in Ukraine has passed the six-month mark, US and European officials say Ukraine has successfully used a method of resistance warfare developed by US special operations forces to fight back against Russia and bog down its vastly superior military. The Resistance Operating Concept was developed in 2013 following Russia's war with Georgia a few years earlier but its value was only realized after Russia's invasion of Ukraine's Crimean peninsula in 2014. It provides a blueprint for smaller nations to effectively resist and confront a larger neighbor that has invaded. Russia's nearly bloodless takeover and annexation of the...

The latest test of a US hypersonic weapon failed after an “anomaly” occurred during the first test of the full system, the Pentagon said Thursday.The test, carried out at the Pacific Missile Range Facility in Hawaii, was supposed to launch the Common Hypersonic Glide Body atop a two-stage missile booster. The booster is designed to launch the system and accelerate it to hypersonic speeds in excess of Mach 5, at which point the glide body detaches and uses its speed to reach the target. It was the first time the entire system was tested, called an All Up Round test....

(CNN)Several hundred US troops have left Afghanistan, on the same day President Joe Biden decided not to extend the August 31 evacuation deadline, Pentagon press secretary John Kirby confirmed Tuesday evening. "These troops represent a mix of headquarters staff, maintenance and other enabling functions that were scheduled to leave and whose mission at the airport was complete. Their departure represents prudent and efficient force management. It will have no impact on the mission at hand," Kirby said in a statement, confirming CNN's earlier reporting from two defense officials that the US' troop withdrawal from Afghanistan had kicked off. The fact...

A barrage of about 200 rockets were launched from Gaza towards Israel on Monday, the Israeli army said, hours after a botched Israeli operation in Gaza left a Hamas commander and an Israeli soldier dead. Eleven people in Israel were injured by the rocket fire, prompting retaliatory ground and airstrikes by the Israeli military that left at least three Palestinians in Gaza dead, the Palestinian health ministry said. The Israeli army said that about 60 rockets were intercepted by the Israel Defense Force's (IDF) Iron Dome aerial defense system, with many other rockets falling on open ground. Sirens continued to...