Free Republic

Oh please do “So Chuck...may I call you Chuck? I just cut this deal with Starmer and he seemed to think he’s the shot-caller around here.”

Face it, Trump’s concerted efforts to “put America first”
does not sit very well in the identity-obsessed Mideast.

According to the NY Times, for years, Israel’s military planners have acknowledged that wiping out Iran’s nuclear program would be difficult for them in large part because some of Iran’s key facilities—like the Fordow enrichment plant—are buried inside mountains.

Iran’s fortified sites are designed to withstand conventional airstrikes, meaning the second-class Israeli military.....for all its bold talk.....desperately needs the US’ specialized bunker-busting bombs to do the job.

Trump was not pleased when Netanyahu came to the WH -—hat in hand-—to hear that Israel wanted to inveigle him into the Iran situation, meaning the US would incur Iran’s wrath, and would get the blame for bombing Iran........thus endangering the safety and security of American families.

Yeah, that’s a lot of gall. Someone who was involved in the coverup criticizing people involved in the coverup. Has Tapper admitted to any responsibility?

Netanyahu is invariably seen as “rushing” to call Biden to congratulate him on
“winning” 2020........calling within 12 hours after Arizona was called for Biden.

Netanyahu sealed the deal, sucking up bigtime....addressing
Biden as “President” Biden.......not president-elect.

Trump viewed foreigner Netanyahu’s calling Biden as a disrespectful act
against disconsolate Americans, up in arms wrt a clearly stolen election.

Maybe Harvard will donate to Smithsonian?

Oddly enough the rooms of NA provide a solution with no govt money

VIDEO: POWs Survive a Toxic Gas Ambush

FOOTAGE: Ukrainian POWs Survive a Toxic Gas Ambush, Break Free, and Kill All Russian Captors!
RFU News — Reporting from Ukraine
661K subscribers
May 13,2025
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WEQo8k-K_mA

I am Ukrainian. On this channel I will give you the latest news about the war in Ukraine.

“Today, there is interesting news from the Zaporizhia direction.

Here, a Ukrainian clearing operation almost turned into a disaster when Russian paratroopers committed yet another war crime. What followed was a dramatic and daring rescue mission that showcased the coordination and resilience of Ukraine’s special forces.

The Ukrainian operation began as a standard preventive and sabotage raid, aimed at preempting Russian attempts to establish forward positions and conduct close-range reconnaissance on Ukrainian defenses. Such missions, often spearheaded by elite units like Artan from the Ukrainian Main Directorate of Intelligence, involve precise collaboration between drone operators and ground teams, and typically aim not only to eliminate threats but also to capture Russian soldiers for intelligence gathering.

This mission focused on a suspected Russian observation point near the village of Stepove, where Ukrainian drone surveillance has detected enemy movement. Drone operators identified three Russian paratroopers from the 247th Air Assault Regiment taking cover in the ruins of an old structure. Initial drone strikes forced the Russian troops to relocate, creating confusion and inflicting damage. As the enemy regrouped, three Artan special purpose unit operatives, with callsigns Ketsa, Anubis, and Klyuchyk, moved in to finish the job and secure prisoners.

However, the situation took an unexpected turn. During close combat, the Russian paratroopers deployed an unknown chemical agent, incapacitating all three Ukrainian soldiers and taking them as prisoners of war. The use of such a substance is a clear violation of international conventions and has turned the mission into crisis mode. With the Ukrainians struggling due to the poisonous attack, the Russians began retreating across open terrain, hauling them toward a settlement under Russian control.

Fortunately, the Ukrainian drone operators were still observing. The open terrain gave them a clear line of sight, and the withdrawal path became a kill zone. As the Russian group reached their first point of cover, Ukrainian FPV drones struck with precision. One Russian paratrooper was neutralized instantly. Amid the chaos, Ukrainian soldier Ketsa managed to break free and crawl to a nearby destroyed building, hiding while still suffering from chemical burns.

Later, he recalled that he waited for the right moment before slipping away to find and wait for what would happen. He also shared that his chest was burning from the Russian gas but still felt incredibly relieved when the Ukrainian FPV drones arrived, signaling that they had not been left behind.

Drone operators continued their assault, and a second Russian was eliminated shortly afterward. The third attempted to take cover under an abandoned truck but was hunted down and killed by a final precise FPV drone strike.

With the area momentarily secured, a Ukrainian reconnaissance drone approached the two remaining Ukrainians, with call signs Anubis and Klyuchyk, delivering instructions from their unit commander. Under guidance from the drone team, the two soldiers navigated back through hostile territory, evading detection. Ketsa, who had gone hiding alone, waited until after nightfall to make his way back, finally reaching Ukrainian lines hours later.

The returning fighters didn’t come back empty-handed. Along with enemy weapons taken as trophies, they brought back critical intelligence collected during the mission. All three are now undergoing treatment for chemical burns but are in stable condition. The unit commander underlined the importance of this event for the fighting spirit of his unit and praised the work of his soldiers.

Overall, this event is a vivid example of how dynamic frontline operations can rapidly shift. Even a well-planned raid can turn dangerous, especially when the enemies use banned methods like chemical weapons. Yet Ukraine’s ability to rapidly adapt, coordinate across units, and act decisively prevented a potential disaster. What could have become a tragic loss instead turned into a remarkable success - a battlefield rescue executed in real time, under fire, with precision and grit.”

2. Today, there are a lot of important updates from the Pokrovsk direction.
MAY 13,2025
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g7nyMqD8yvE

Here, a Russian mechanized column barely cleared its staging area before Ukrainian incendiary drones swooped immediately to engage them. The strike caught the vehicles in the open, setting equipment and fuel ablaze in mere minutes before the assault had even started.

The goal of the Russian forces in this area is to establish a foothold in Myrnograd to initiate large-scale urban combat in the Pokrovsk-Myrnohrad agglomeration. This is because the southern part of Myrnohrad is distant and detached from the core part of the city, where the bulk of Ukrainian forces are stationed, making it more vulnerable to Russian assaults.

To establish a foothold in Myrnohrad the Russians decided to accumulate forces in Hrodivka from which they would launch a direct mechanized assault towards the town. This is enabled by a 5 kilometer section of a paved asphalt road between Hrodivka and Myrnohrad, allowing the Russian tanks and BMPs to utilize their full speed to reach the city and dismount stormtroopers for urban fighting quickly.

The main tactical disadvantages of the Russian forces in this area is the industrial zone of the nearby coal mine in the southern part of Myrnohrad, which includes high-rise buildings of mineshaft elevators that provide fortified concrete observation points that overlook the Russian route of attack. Additionally, two elevated terrikons in the area allow for additional observation points to overlook all Russian movements around Myrnohrad, together with firing positions.

Forward Ukrainian positions in the fields before the city include two powerful strongholds built in 2015 and heavily reinforced with concrete bunkers, trenches, and dugouts overlooking the Hrodivka road. Any Russian advance along this route faces deadly ATGM fire from these fortifications. To compound the threat, Ukrainian engineers have scattered anti-tank mines across the road, forcing Russian units to slow and use mine rollers on their lead vehicles, which exposes them further to Ukrainian strikes.

To properly advance and evade Ukrainian fire the Russians would need to maneuver across the fields; however, the Ukrainians anticipated this and built a network of anti-tank ditches and dragon teeth across the fields, effectively turning the Russian road of attack into a killzone. This means that the Russians would be forced to attack Myrnohrad by driving slowly along the paved road and deactivating anti-tank mines, since the surrounding fields are covered with anti-tank ditches and dragon teeth, while the Ukrainians positioned at the terrikon, industrial zone, and trench strongholds have a firing solution on them.

Geolocated combat footage from the area reveals how a Russian mechanized platoon, consisting of a tank and two BMPs, was immediately detected by the Ukrainian forces stationed at observation points as soon as they left Hrodivka and exposed themselves on the road. The lead tank was equipped with a mine roller, with the rest of the convoy moving slowly, meaning that Ukrainians detected them within minutes. As the Russians just started their assault and were not yet within range of Ukrainian soldiers at trenches and terrikon that are armed with ATGM, the Ukrainian FPV drone operators immediately reacted and struck the Russian vehicles engines, effectively immobilizing them.

This led to a panic among Russian soldiers in the convoy as they thought that they would advance faster if they moved on foot rather than vehicles, only to expose themselves to Ukrainian FPV drones right after leaving their tanks and BMPs, leading to quick eliminations, while others fled to the rear. This left the Russian vehicles abandoned and damaged, but at risk of possible recovery by the nearby Russian forces, so the Ukrainian drone operators targeted open hatches left by the Russian vehicle crews with incendiary drone-dropped grenades that finished them off and blew them up.

Overall, the Russians launched a poorly calculated assault that almost completely ignored the strong networks of fortifications made by the Ukrainians, which forced the Russians in a narrow kill zone where the Ukrainians destroyed an entire mechanized platoon in minutes. This assault is direct result of the intensification of Russian assaults across the Pokrovsk direction, and it is the first Russian mechanized assault here after months of stalemate near Myrnohrad, meaning that attacks here will continue shortly.

“PUT THEM IN A CRATE”

Yeah, one each. 84 x 28 x 23.

Many years ago I visited the Ronald Reagan library. It just happened to have one of those Magna Carta’s on display.

Geez....Not even close. Net and Trump are good friends. Biden was trying to run Net’s war...and even denied him weapons...

“There’s hurricanes in Florida
And Texas needs rain.”

There’s a holdup in the Bronx, Brooklyn’s broken out in fights...

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-election-2020/justin-trudeau-canada-biden-world-leaders-trump-b1675895.html

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-election-2020/justin-trudeau-canada-biden-world-leaders-trump-b1675895.html

BS....I’ll post a link

Perhaps one day they will embrace it

It’s looking like we don’t have to worry about cheap gas in my area.