Free Republic

The Pentagon is sending ground forces to Iran. Trump administration officials gave a story to the Washington Post that is being repeated everywhere: The Pentagon is preparing for weeks of boots on the ground operations in Iran, a major escalation in President Trump’s goal to dismantle the remaining faction of the murderous Iranian regime, according to a report. Thousands of US Marines would be sent to the Middle East to conduct raids that include Special Operations forces and conventional infantry troops, the Washington Post reported, citing sources. Officials have been discussing plans for sending troops into Iran for weeks. ***...

Oil prices could surge to as high as $200 a barrel if the Iran conflict extends into June and the Strait of Hormuz remains closed, Bloomberg reported, citing an analysis from Macquarie Group. A war lasting through the second quarter could drive historically high real prices, analysts including Vikas Dwivedi said in a note, assigning a 40% probability to that scenario. A separate outlook, with a 60% probability, sees the conflict ending by the end of this month. Brent crude (CO1:COM) is on track for a record monthly gain in March as the war involving the U.S., Israel, and Iran...

Iran’s armed forces headquarters has declared it is ready to close the Strait of Hormuz indefinitely if US President Donald Trump carries out a threat to bomb Iran’s power plants. Its statement Sunday is the latest warning from Tehran of retribution for any attacks on the country’s power industry. Trump said Saturday he would order the bombardment of such infrastructure if the Strait of Hormuz was not fully open to shipping within 48 hours. Iran’s military responded Sunday that if the US threats regarding Iran’s power plants are carried out, the Strait of Hormuz will be completely closed and will...

The neocons are now proposing that we can defeat Iran with air power alone. A few Bunker Busters and it will be all wrapped up. Air power alone will bring victory. This has never happened before, so let’s just say that despite their optimistic forecast, we do ultimately have to put “boots on the ground” to force a final Iranian defeat. Time for a brief comparative geography lesson related to just how many boots might be needed, if Iran doesn’t surrender after we shock and awe them with our air power.

Damage to a critical Qatari facility is threatening to keep energy prices high around the world even if the war in Iran ends soon in what some analysts are calling an “Armageddon” situation. Qatar’s Las Raffan plant supplies a fifth of the world’s liquefied natural gas, which is used for electricity, heating and cooking – but Iranian strikes have damaged the facility, worsening what is already the largest-ever energy supply disruption. “I woke up this morning and thought, ‘No, please no,’” Anne-Sophie Corbeau, former head of gas analysis at BP now at Columbia University’s Center on Global Energy Policy, told...

This morning I went to buy gas in Los Angeles. The price at the pump per gallon was as follows:Unleaded ... $5.3999Plus ... $5.4999Premium ... $5.5999Yet some people here are complaining about gas in their states being $3.50 or $3.60.

President Donald Trump announced Monday that the war in Iran would be over “very soon,” and that oil tankers would be given special U.S. Navy escorts to navigate between the Persian Gulf and global oceans. With gasoline prices and energy inflation already ticking up around the world, the speedy resumption of global petroleum trade has become a matter of urgency for the global economy, according to the world’s largest oil and gas company.The widening conflict in the Middle East has all but immobilized the fossil fuel trade stemming from the region over the past 10 days. Attacks targeting vessels and...

Global oil prices could breach the $100 (£74) a barrel mark within days, and reach $150 a barrel by the end of the month, without a solution ​to the severe disruption in crude flows through the strait ‌of Hormuz, Goldman Sachs has warned. Oil exports via the vital trade route linking the world’s biggest oil producers to buyers in the global market have fallen further than the US investment bank had initially expected after the US-Israeli attack on Iran a little over a week ago. Goldman Sachs had anticipated that flows of crude through the strait would fall to 15%...

Please use the sharing tools found via the share button at the top or side of articles. Copying articles to share with others is a breach of FT.com T&Cs and Copyright Policy. Email licensing@ft.com to buy additional rights. Subscribers may share up to 10 or 20 articles per month using the gift article service. More information can be found at https://help.ft.com/faq/gifting-and-sharing-an-article/what-is-a-gift-article/. https://www.ft.com/content/dbd1d803-ab37-43f1-920f-fce74952313a Recruiters and propagandists who previously worked for Russia’s Wagner Group have emerged as a main conduit for Kremlin-organised sabotage attacks in Europe, according to western intelligence officials. The fighter group’s status has been uncertain since a failed rebellion...

The United States is facing an existential threat. My guess is this summer will be the most violent, damaging domestic summer since the Civil War. And I predict the left will win and come out victorious on the other side. They will, after winning this new civil war, seek to eliminate the last vestiges of republicans. I use a small r because while some Republicans are true republicans, most are not. And when the left wins the war, those RINOs are going to “work with” Democrats to create the illusion that America is still a republic, but it won’t be....

Republicans have faced a bitter blow after a set of special election results on Sunday morning revealed that a former GOP stronghold has flipped to the Democrats. On the state level, Democrat Taylor Rehmet flipped the 9th District in the Texas State Senate, defeating Republican Leigh Wambsganss in a runoff.The Fort Worth-area district went for Donald Trump by 17 points in 2024 - and the sweeping win this weekend could offer warning signs for Republicans ahead of this November's midterm elections. The president had urged his supporters to vote for Wambsganss in Saturday's election in a Truth Social post.Rehmet, a...

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — When U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement flooded Minneapolis, Shane Mantz dug his Choctaw Nation citizenship card out of a box on his dresser and slid it into his wallet. Some strangers mistake the pest-control company manager for Latino, he said, and he fears getting caught up in ICE raids. Like Mantz, many Native Americans are carrying tribal documents proving their U.S. citizenship in case they are stopped or questioned by federal immigration agents. This is why dozens of the 575 federally recognized Native nations are making it easier to get tribal IDs. They’re waiving fees, lowering the...

Peter Schiff: ‘The dollar is going to collapse, the dollar is going to be replaced by Gold. We are headed for an economic crisis that will make the 2008 financial crisis seem like a Sunday school picnic.’

Financial writer and precious metals expert Bill Holter (aka Mr. Gold) has been predicting record high gold and silver prices. We are nowhere finished with record prices for the metals happening every week and sometimes every day. Mr. Gold now has a new prediction about paper exchanges not being able to deliver physical metal. Holter says, “We exploded through $100 per ounce silver, and we went through $5,000 per ounce on gold, but that’s not the story. The story is there are already over 40 million ounces standing for delivery in January. January is a non-delivery month. If you go...

With roughly two-thirds of the United States under some form of winter weather alert, energy experts are warning that a surge in heating demand could deplete America's natural gas reserves. Why It Matters The United States relies on natural gas as its primary residential heating fuel and as a major source of electric power, so an extreme cold blast can simultaneously push up demand and constrain supply, creating rapid drawdowns from storage that help balance the system. Analysts said the expected demand surge, combined with possible production declines from freeze-related disruptions, could produce one of the largest weekly declines in...

For four decades, the Pacific coast of Panama has counted on a reliable seasonal pulse of cold, nutrient-rich water that powers local fisheries and cools coral reefs. In early 2025 that pulse all but vanished. Scientists report that the Gulf of Panama’s usual upwelling failed for the first time in the instrumental record, a breakdown they see as a warning about how quickly climate disruption can unsettle tropical seas. During most years from roughly December to April, strong northerly trade winds sweep across Central America and into the Gulf of Panama. Those winds push aside warm surface waters so that...

The mysterious “flying Pentagon” was spotted in Los Angeles, igniting a flurry of social media speculation and conspiracy theories about serious trouble ahead. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth was aboard the aircraft, commonly known as the “Doomsday Plane” when it touched down at Los Angeles International Airport Thursday night. Hegseth is currently traveling on his “Arsenal of Freedom” tour, which aims to spotlight the U.S. defense industrial base and boost military recruiting, the Department of Defense confirmed to the Post. Also aboard the plane was right-wing internet personality Laura Loomer. Posting on social media, Loomer said Hegseth called enlistees at...

Clairvoyant Baba Vanga, long believed by devotees to have foreseen events such as 9/11 and the COVID-19 pandemic, predicted alien visitors and the outbreak of World War III for this year. The blind Bulgarian mystic, who died in 1996 at age 85, was said to have predicted humanity’s first-ever encounter with extraterrestrial life would take place in November 2026, according to The Mirror. She warned that a colossal alien spacecraft would enter Earth’s atmosphere, though she did not elaborate on the visitors’ intentions. The blind Bulgarian mystic Baba Vanga predicted alien visitors and the outbreak of World War III for...

Following the unprecedented seizure of Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro, Donald Trump has launched a sweeping series of warnings from Air Force One. Colombia, Cuba, Greenland, Iran and Mexico have all been placed on notice, with Trump signalling potential military or economic action. The White House argues national security demands firmness, while allies and rivals alike react with alarm. As tensions rise across regions, Trump’s post-Maduro strategy is rapidly reshaping global diplomacy.

Asteroid 2024 YR4, has sparked concern about its chance of hitting Earth in December 2032. How worried should we be? Scientists Warn Asteroid YR4 May Impact Earth - What We Know So far | 20:22 Dr Ben Miles | 2.17M subscribers | 462,064 views | February 23, 2025 0:00 The Discovery 2024 YR4 0:56 How to Spot an Asteroid 3:07 Ad Read 4:33 Why Are We So Bad at Predicting Asteroid Impacts? 11:42 How Much Damage Could YR4 Do? 13:04 How Could We Stop Asteroid YR4? 16:34 Conclusion