Free Republic

A decapitation strike, in theory, bypasses conventional battles to take out the leadership of a regime. It’s the sort of thing that the United States explores in theory, but is careful about in practice. And that’s reason #412 why we never win wars anymore. On paper, decapitation strikes, depending on how they’re implemented may violate international law. And so rather than take out Saddam, we spend years and countless lives to usher in democracy. You’re not supposed to target officers. Too bad the other side doesn’t play by those rules or care about them.

It is safe to say that Thursday was most definitely not a slow news day. We began with all of the Los Angeles madness that's been at the top of the charts since the weekend. We got to branch out, though, when California Senator Alex Padilla decided to make a fool of himself. Just when I thought that's what I would be leading off with this morning, Israel unloaded on Iran, which Catherine covered:The Israel Defense Forces [IDF] confirmed that it has bombed Iran's nuclear assets in a preemptive strike against the Islamic regime that has vowed to wipe Israel...

Iran officially announced its withdrawal from nuclear negotiations with the United States- a decision that comes amid heightened hostilities following Israel’s large-scale military strikes on Iranian nuclear and military sites and Tehran’s retaliatory drone barrage. The now-collapsed talks were aimed at reviving the 2015 nuclear agreement, which had limited Iran’s nuclear activity in exchange for sanctions relief- a deal the US exited in 2018 under the Donald Trump administration.

U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday gave a fulsome endorsement of Israel's strikes against Iran's nuclear and military targets, saying that there was "much more to come" if Iran fails to give up its uranium enrichment program.

Israel targets Iran: IRGC, Iran military chiefs killed, Khamenei threatens revenge Tehran planning 'a harsh response,' Iranian security source says • IDF hits Natanz nuclear site • IDF attacks on Iran expected to continue 'for days at a time'. June 13, 7:24 AM Israel expecting Iranian response over coming hours ByJERUSALEM POST STAFF Israel is expecting retaliatory strikes from Iran to begin over the coming hours, Israeli media reported on Friday morning, citing defense assessments. June 13, 7:20 AM Iran can't have nuclear weapon, Trump says after Israeli strike By Reuters. US President Donald Trump said that Iran cannot have...

Israel’s precision strikes on Iranian nuclear infrastructure on June 12th were a necessary and proportionate act of preemptive self-defense, not a reckless escalation. The action came after the IAEA reported Iran had amassed enough near-weapons-grade uranium for at least three nuclear bombs, crossing a long-established red line.

Several European leaders urged Israel and Iran to de-escalate after Jerusalem launched a “pre-emptive” strike on Iranian military leaders and facilities over night. Iran’s Ayatollah has vowed “harsh punishment” in revenge after Israel launched targeted strikes overnight and launched a flight of suicide bomb drones, but European leaders urged both sides to stay their hands and engage in diplomacy. The United Kingdom, which has given Israel the cold shoulder in many respects since the new left-wing government took power last year rushed to assert it was “not involved in what happened overnight” and said its goal is to “prevent escalation”....

Russia said on Friday that Israeli strikes on Iran were unprovoked and in breach of the United Nations charter, accusing Israel of wrecking diplomatic efforts to strike a deal to allay Western concerns about Tehran's nuclear programme. -snip- "Russia is concerned and condemns the sharp escalation in tensions between Israel and Iran," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told state media. President Vladimir Putin was getting real-time reports on the situation from Russia's SVR foreign intelligence service and the foreign and defence ministries, Peskov said. In a detailed statement drawn up at Putin's behest, the Foreign Ministry fiercely condemned Israel and blamed...

An ally of Russian president Vladimir Putin has said that "a full-scale war" in the Middle East is possible following Israel's airstrikes on Iran. -snip- Konstantin Kosachev, vice-speaker of Russia's upper house of parliament, made clear that Russia would stand by its ally, Iran. "Israel's actions cannot be justified from a legal, political, military or moral point of view. The only hope, albeit illusory, of avoiding a full-scale war is a consolidated condemnation of this operation by the international community," he said, according to Russia's official TASS news agency. "We can and must hope for another demonstration of restraint from...

I gave Iran chance after chance to make a deal. I told them, in the strongest of words, to “just do it,” but no matter how hard they tried, no matter how close they got, they just couldn’t get it done. I told them it would be much worse than anything they know, anticipated, or were told, that the United States makes the best and most lethal military equipment anywhere in the World, BY FAR, and that Israel has a lot of it, with much more to come - And they know how to use it. Certain Iranian hardliner’s spoke...

President Trump on Friday called on Iran to go back to the negotiating table and cut a nuclear deal "before there is nothing left" after Israel attacked its nuclear sites. -snip- The Trump administration wants to use the war Israel started to get the Iranians back to the nuclear talks when they are in a weaker position. A U.S. official said White House envoy Steve Witkoff still wants to meet Iran's foreign minister Abbas Araghchi on Sunday for the planned sixth round of the nuclear talks. But the Iranians said they are not going to participate. -snip- "I gave Iran...