Free Republic

"When I see armed terrorists in Toyotas storming into another country to massacre innocent civilians, I think of only one thing." "Members of Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Forces, an umbrella group that includes several Iran-aligned Shi’ite militias, were seen in the streets of Abadan, according to video published by state-affiliated media."

Pastor X - You don’t understand the extreme version of Shia Islam that is in charge here. It’s a death cult...It has many committed followers at a high level look up into the sky and say, “let the bomb come for me—its quick and paradise is waiting” ...These believers can welcome the absorption of great pain and loss of life for their cause. Pastor T. - The regime is structured a bit like the house church movement...It decentralized the lines of authority...There is no head to cut off.... Pastor I. - The government knows it has powerful allies like China...

Article originally published in "The Telegraph"I remember, during the Iraq-Iran war in the 1980s, seeing teenagers and old men being given green keys to Paradise and marched off to be cannon fodder for the Iraqi guns. When they were killed (or “martyred”), their parents or children, and the whole neighbourhood, were ordered to celebrate their martyrdom with lights and religious music.Since childhood, I have been familiar with the Shia celebrations of Muharram, when the martyrdom of Hussain, grandson of the Prophet of Islam, at the hands of a so-called usurper of the Caliphate, Yazid, is mourned with weeping, chanting, self-flagellation...

Iran has been at war with the United States and Israel for 47 years now. We didn’t start it; they did. But we are finally getting around to finishing it. In the first week of the 2026 action, we demolished over 3000 major targets in Iran, largely succeeding at the goal of decapitating the mullahs’ regime and eliminating their military capacity. Our airstrikes are rapidly wiping out their launch sites, their arms factories, their air force and naval vessels, while making a valiant effort to do all this without causing innocent civilian casualties. (As in any war, there are going...

…Amid seismic changes in the Middle East, where new alliances are forming and old powers waning, Iraqi leaders face a daunting task: navigating relations with US-blacklisted pro-Iranian factions. The US has held significant sway over Iraqi politics since leading the 2003 invasion that ousted long-time ruler Saddam Hussein. But another spectre also haunts Iraq’s halls of power: Washington’s arch-foe, Iran. Iraq has long been caught between the two, with successive governments negotiating a delicate balance… A US State Department spokesperson, speaking on condition of anonymity, said: “Iraqi leaders know well what is and is not compatible with a strong US-Iraq...

Following the 12-day war, Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, spends most days snoozing and getting “high,” an outrageous post from the Mossad’s Farsi social media account mysteriously claimed. “How can a leader lead when they sleep half the day and spend the other half high on substances?” the post asked. The statement came from a bizarre new premium X account that launched in recent weeks, claiming to be the official Farsi-language spokesperson — the official dialect of Iran — for the cunning Israeli intelligence agency, with regular posts trolling the Iranian regime. “Using drugs and speaking to spirits are...

"The dogs bark, the caravan moves on." That Middle Eastern proverb could well describe the events surrounding production of the world's most-hyped dud firecracker, the Iraq Study Group Report. After immense agonies in the mainstream media (MSM), those like myself who predicted the report, once released, would largely be ignored by President George W. Bush, are being proven right and neoconservatives who support a continued commitment to the transformation of Iraq have exhibited renewed influence. Only a couple of lines in the report were worthy of comment. One appears on page 29 of the printed version: "Funding for the Sunni...

A New Jersey man with sympathies toward the Iranian government was arrested and accused of stabbing famed novelist Salman Rushdie on Friday, according to law enforcement sources briefed on the investigation. Hadi Matar, 24, was arrested after he stormed the stage at the Chautauqua Institution in Western New York and allegedly stabbed the author in the neck. Sources told The Post that an initial investigation suggests Hadi is sympathetic to the Iranian regime and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard.

A fatwa is an interpretation of Islamic law issued by a Marja--a title given to the highest level of twelver Shia religious cleric. ================================================================== Tehran: Iran's top Shiite cleric has issued a 'fatwa' or religious decree against US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, calling them "enemies of God". The decree from Grand Ayatollah Naser Makarem Shirazi called on Muslims across the world to unite and bring down the American and Israeli leaders for threatening the Islamic republic leadership. "Any person or regime that threatens the Leader or Marja (May God forbid) is considered a 'warlord' or...

New York needs a wakeup call. Desperately. The AP reports that democrats are fretting about Zohran Mamdani's rise in the mayoral race. Many progressives cheered the emergence of the young and charismatic Mamdani, whose candidacy caught on with viral campaign videos and a focus on the cost of living. But the party’s more pragmatic wing cast the outcome as a serious setback in their quest to broaden Democrats’ appeal and move past the more controversial policies that alienated would-be voters in recent elections. And it's not just Republicans Lawrence Summers, the Treasury Secretary under former Democratic President Barack Obama, aired...

Reacting to the outcome of the New York City Democratic primary, Raheem Kassam warned WarRoom viewers that the election of Zohran Mamdani represents a radical shift in the city’s politics. “New York City did not take one small step towards it yesterday, it took one giant leap towards it yesterday,” he said, referencing the rise of Islamist-aligned, hard-left political figures and the subtitle of his book No Go Zones: How Sharia Law is Coming to A Neighborhood Near You, which predicted much of what is happening with Islam in America today. Mamdani, a self-identified follower of Twelver Shia Islam, is...

Chaos in Lebanon between Hezbollah "refugees" and Christian families.Hezbollah terrorists are trying to steal Christian properties, causing mass fighting. They think they're above the law.pic.twitter.com/AhQPdHlTnr— 𝗡𝗶𝗼𝗵 𝗕𝗲𝗿𝗴 ♛ ✡︎ (@NiohBerg) October 24, 2024

When Syria’s civil war erupted, Iran’s powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) recruited, trained, and deployed thousands of Shi’ite fighters to prop up the regime of President Bashar al-Assad. Among them was the Fatemiyoun Brigade, comprised mainly of Afghans from the country's Shi'ite Hazara minority. From 2011, the IRGC recruited thousands of Afghan migrants and refugees within its own borders and covertly drafted hundreds of Shi'a inside Afghanistan. The majority of Muslims in Afghanistan are Sunni, but around 15 percent of its population -- mainly Hazara -- are Shi’a with religious links to the Shi'ite majority in Iran. With the...

The long, convoluted, and somewhat disgusting history of KSA to the present day.

Commanders and advisors from Iran’s elite Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps are on the ground in Yemen and playing a direct role in Houthi rebel attacks on commercial traffic in the Red Sea. The IRGC has stationed missile and drone trainers and operators in Yemen, as well as personnel providing tactical intelligence support to the Houthis, U.S. and Middle East officials told Semafor. The IRGC, through its overseas Qods Force, has also overseen the transfer to the Houthis of the attack drones, cruise missiles, and medium-range ballistic missiles used in a string of strikes on Red Sea and Israeli targets in...

The actor converted to Catholicism after filming Abel Ferrara's 'Padre Pio.'Shia LaBeouf has been received into the Catholic Church after taking the sacrament of confirmation, and is reportedly considering becoming a deacon. The Catholic News Agency reports that the Transformers star was confirmed Sunday by Bishop Robert Barron of Winona-Rochester, Minnesota. “We are thrilled to share that our dear friend Shia LaBeouf has fully entered the Church this past weekend through the sacrament of confirmation,” the Capuchin Franciscans from Western American Province said in a statement posted to Facebook. Friends, please join me and the Capuchin friars in continued prayer...

The Alrasool Islamic Center of Utah is a vital place of worship for members of the Shi'a Muslim faith throughout the Intermountain West, not just for Salt Lake County's congregation. The 129-year-old building that originally housed members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the only place of worship available for members of the Islamic sect in Idaho, Nevada and Wyoming. It also helps many refugees coming into the region from the Middle East in addition to the Utahns it serves.

The current conflict between the Jewish State and the Muslims of Gaza is in no small part fueled by the tenets of Islam. Islam hates Jews. It hates Christians. It hates Baha’i. It hates … all non-Muslims. Non-Muslim Muslim apologists beware -- you're next, even if you are too stupid and naïve to see it coming. Islam is a cult. : Absolute authoritarianism without accountability. Zero tolerance for criticism or questions. ... A belief that former followers are always wrong for leaving and there is never a legitimate reason for anyone else to leave (apostacy is punishable by death). Followers...

Why are individuals who claim to be peaceful Muslims not distancing themselves from Imam Husham Al-Husainy and his anti-American and dangerous rhetoric, but rather endorsing and promoting it? In a remarkable display of power, nearly 5,000 Shia Muslims gathered in Dearborn, Michigan, to commemorate the 40th day of Imam Husayn (A.S) in a significant religious observance known as Chehlum or Arbaeen. This event, which takes place 40 days after Ashura, commemorates the martyrdom of Imam Hussein ibn Ali, the grandson of Prophet Muhammad, during the Battle of Karbala. Dearborn, often referred to as the Arab capital of North America, has...

Late last week, a bulldozer toppled a minaret that has watched over the city of Basra, Iraq, for nearly three centuries, leaving local residents dismayed.Minarets like this one serve as the beacons from which Muslims are called to prayer five times each day. At roughly 36 feet tall, this particular minaret has stood since 1727. Cultural officials say that the initial plan had been to preserve and relocate the Siraji Mosque's minaret, which was reportedly contributing to traffic jams, according to Reuters.Officials from the Sunni Endowment Office, which oversees Sunni religious sites, say they had no knowledge of the impending...