Free Republic

In a secret operation that took place last week and was made known to the public on Tuesday, IDF Special Forces crossed the border into the demilitarized zone between Israel and Syria and destroyed two outposts belonging to the Syrian army. The operation was carried out following Syria’s continued violation of the disengagement agreement between Israel and Syria from 1974, which determines that a designated buffer zone between the borders would only be occupied by a special UN force called the Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF). Recently, however, the Syrian military returned to the buffer zone in the Golan Heights and...

Two weeks ago the NY Times published a look at President Trump’s tax returns which found he owes about $400 million in debt. Immediately this became a talking point among Democrats. Nancy Pelosi went on MSNBC with Andrea Mitchell and claimed Trump’s debt was a national security risk. Pelosi hinted darkly that Trump may personally owe money to Vladimir Putin: Ms Pelosi said the report showed that “this president appears to have over $400m in debt”.“To whom? Different countries? What is the leverage they have?” she asked, adding: “So for me, this is a national security question.”“The fact that...

Cuba, China and Russia on Tuesday were elected to the U.N. Human Rights Council -- a move that the U.S. branded a “mockery” of the body's intended purpose and as proof that Washington was right to leave the council in 2018. The three countries, all with a history of authoritarianism and human rights abuses, were elected by the U.N. General Assembly, along with countries including Bolivia, France, Mexico, Nepal, Pakistan, Senegal, Uzbekistan and the United Kingdom. Saudi Arabia was on the ballot but failed to drum up enough support to win a seat.

China, Saudi Arabia, Russia, Cuba and Pakistan are tipped to finish top of Tuesday’s election for seats on the United Nations Human Rights Council, prompting disbelief from freedom campaigners and exiled dissidents alike. U.N. Watch, a Geneva-based monitoring group, said allowing these countries anywhere near the council “is like making a gang of arsonists into the fire brigade.”

Lebanon and Israel, formally still at war after decades of conflict, launch talks on Wednesday to address a long-running dispute over their maritime border running through potentially gas-rich Mediterranean waters. The U.S.-mediated talks follow three years of intense diplomacy by Washington and were announced less than a month after the United States stepped up pressure on political allies of the Iran-backed Lebanese group Hezbollah. They also come after the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain agreed to establish full relations with Israel, under U.S.-brokered deals which realign some of Washington’s closest Middle East allies against Iran. Hezbollah, which fought a five-week...

DANA THOMPSON, A FORMER LEGISLATIVE DIRECTOR AND CHIEF COUNSEL TO REP. MAXINE WATERS, REGISTERED AS A LOBBYIST ON BEHALF A HOST OF CHINESE COMMUNIST PARTY-LINKED ENTITIES, THE NATIONAL PULSE CAN REVEAL. Thompson, who also served as Chief of Staff for Democratic Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, was a former Principal at lobbying behemoth Podesta Group before co-founding Fulcrum Public Affairs, the “only 100% Black and Latinx-owned government relations firm in Washington, DC.” While at the Podesta Group, the project of Democratic heavyweights John and Tony Podesta, Thompson registered to lobby on behalf of three Chinese Communist Party-linked entities: a controversial telecommunications...

SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korean leader Kim Jong Un appeared to shed tears at the weekend as he thanked citizens for their sacrifices, in the most striking demonstration yet of how he is relying on his "man of the people" persona to tackle his country's deepening crises. Though the young leader has consolidated his rule over the isolated nation with ruthless purges, North Korea watchers say he has also sought to portray himself as a more traditional political leader than his eccentric father, Kim Jong Il.

Saudi Prince Bandar bin Sultan, one of the most widely recognized and respected Saudi officials in the world, gave a three-part interview to the government-controlled Al Arabiya news network and proceeded to tear down 70 years of myths about the leadership of the Palestinian national movement. Bandar spent 22 years as a Saudi ambassador to the U.S. and is known to speak for the government. It was an extraordinary series of interviews — a brutal assessment of the numerous self-inflicted wounds by Palestinian leaders going all the way back to the 1930s. It was broadcast in Arabic with English subtitles...

SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea unveiled previously unseen intercontinental ballistic missiles at an unprecedented predawn military parade on Saturday that showcased the country’s long-range weapons for the first time in two years. Analysts said the missile, which was shown on a transporter vehicle with 11 axles, would be one of the largest road-mobile intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) in the world if it becomes operational. “This missile is a monster,” said Melissa Hanham, deputy director of the Open Nuclear Network. Also displayed were the Hwasong-15, which is the longest-range missile ever tested by North Korea, and what appeared to be a...

Minutes after the truce took force, the Armenian military accused Azerbaijan of shelling the area near the town of Kapan in southeastern Armenia, killing one civilian. The Azerbaijani military, in turn, accused Armenia of striking the Terter and Agdam regions of Azerbaijan with missiles and then attempting to launch offensives in the Agdere-Terter and the Fizuli-Jabrail areas. Azerbaijan's Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov charged that “conditions for implementing the humanitarian cease-fire are currently missing” amid the continuing Armenian shelling. The latest outburst of fighting between Azerbaijani and Armenian forces began Sept. 27 and left hundreds of people dead in the biggest...

MOSCOW - The Russian and Egyptian Navy are preparing to conduct maneuvers, the first of their kind in the Black Sea. According to the press office of the Russian Southern Military District, representatives of the two armies held a three-day conference in Novorossiysk on the preparation of the joint exercises "Friendship Bridge - 2020", which will be held for the first time in the Black Sea. The Black Sea is an inland sea located between the southeastern part of Europe and Asia Minor. It connects with the Mediterranean Sea through the Bosphorus Strait and the Sea of ​​Marmara, and it...

Many unreleased pieces of evidence have been sought by Congress dating back to 2017. Pesident Trump earlier this week vowed complete and final transparency in the Russia probe, ordering the declassification (without redaction) of all relevant documents that show how the false Russian collusion narrative was created by Hillary Clinton operatives and then investigated for three years by the FBI. With less than four weeks to Election Day 2020, there is little time to complete the mission so that voters can understand the foreign influence, dirty tricks and misconduct that began in the last presidential election and continued for years.....

Since Nixon went to China in 1972, the accepted approach to China has been that we Americans must entice China to abandon communism for a capitalist economy that will bring freedom in its wake.  China, however, opted for a fusion of mercantilism and fascism, floating on a sea of industrial espionage and fraud, money-saving pollution, slave labor, and unfair dealing.  While President Trump has been fighting back, in 2020, America's fully socialist Democrat party, accidentally or on purpose, sided with China against America.  I'm prepared to offer four pieces of evidence to support this assertion. The Wuhan virus is a man-made disease.  In...

Defense Secretary Mark Esper met with Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune today in the first visit of a Pentagon chief to the North African country since 2006. It was also the highest-level US diplomatic meeting with the new Algerian president since longtime ruler Abdelaziz Bouteflika was ousted amid popular protests last year. The meeting came a day after Esper signed a 10-year road map for defense cooperation agreement with Tunisia's defense minister and one day before an expected stop in Morocco. The trip is the latest sign that the United States sees strategic opportunity in bolstering its partnerships in North Africa...

Turkey supports efforts for a peaceful solution to the conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh as long as they account for Azerbaijan's legitimate demands, a spokesman for the Turkish presidency said. "We call on the Minsk Group to come up with a timetable and a new proposal that is actionable, that has specific guidelines to end the current round of hostilities but most importantly also a way to end the occupation of Azeri lands by Armenia, which has been the root cause of this problem," government spokesperson Ibrahim Kalin told Al Jazeera. "The Minsk Group, which was established almost 30 years ago, has...

A spokesperson for the EU responded today (Thursday) to the report according to which the European Union links aid to PA to financial ties with Israel. According to the report, European Union leaders told the Palestinian Authority that they will refuse to provide financial aid as long as it refuses to accept tax revenues collected by Israel. "The EU and its Member States are and continue to be the largest international financial supporter of Palestinians. The EU is a firm supporter of the Palestinian Authority", the spokesperson said to Arutz Sheva. "The EU and many partners in the international community...

Former National Security Adviser John Bolton said on Monday’s broadcast of CNN’s “The Situation Room” that President Donald Trump has been a “useful idiot” in his dealing with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Chinese President Xi Jinping, and North Korean Kim Jong-un. Anchor Wolf Blitzer asked, “Lieutenant Colonel Vindman also told The Atlantic magazine President Trump is in his words, Vladimir Putin is a useful idiot. Do you agree with that characterization?

For the first time in a century, there are no rigs searching for oil in Venezuela. Wells that once tapped the world’s largest crude reserves are abandoned or left to flare toxic gases that cast an orange glow over depressed oil towns. Refineries that once processed oil for export are rusting hulks, leaking crude that blackens shorelines and coats the water in an oily sheen. Fuel shortages have brought the country to a standstill. At gas stations, lines go on for miles. Venezuela’s colossal oil sector, which shaped the country and the international energy market for a century, has come...

Last week, Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe declassified information to the effect that U.S. intelligence agencies “obtained insight into Russian intelligence analysis alleging that U.S. Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton had approved a campaign plan to stir up a scandal against U.S. Presidential candidate Donald Trump by tying him to Putin and the Russians’ hacking of the Democratic National Committee.” Ratcliffe also indicated at that time that CIA Director John Brennan briefed President Obama and others on the intelligence. Today Ratcliffe declassified documents relating to last week’s communication, including handwritten notes by John Brennan.

ussian President Vladimir Putin said Wednesday that he could work with Joe Biden in a new administration, citing common ground he shared with the Democrats over a shared embrace of Soviet ideology. Bloomberg News reported that while Putin praised President Donald Trump for improving relations, he was prepared to work with Biden if he won the U.S. election. He cited Biden’s support for new arms reduction treaties — such as the lopsided New START under President Barack Obama.