Free Republic

United States troops have resumed large-scale counterterrorism missions against the Islamic State in northern Syria, military officials say... On Friday, American soldiers and hundreds of Syrian Kurdish fighters... reunited to conduct what the Pentagon said was a large-scale mission to kill and capture ISIS fighters in Deir al-Zour province, about 120 miles south of the Turkish border. “Over the next days and weeks, the pace will pick back up against remnants of ISIS,” Gen. Kenneth F. McKenzie, the commander of the military’s Central Command, told reporters... When the dust settles on all of the troop movements, General McKenzie said he...

WASHINGTON -- John F. Kerry yesterday defended the idea of leaving the Democratic National Convention in July without a formal nomination as his party's presidential candidate, saying that there is ample political precedent to support it and that Republicans are complaining about the move because "someone might have a way of neutralizing their advantage." The Massachusetts senator told the Globe: "One thing I can tell you is that on Wednesday night, the [candidate for] vice president of the United States will be nominated and give a speech, and on Thursday night I will give my speech."

BOSTON - Already facing an array of disruptions to traffic and transit patterns during July's Democratic National Convention, angry Bostonians lashed out Monday after learning that the four-day event might not even yield a nominee. John Kerry's campaign has said the Massachusetts senator might delay the nomination in order to gain equal financial footing with President Bush. But the suggestion, coming on the heels of convention organizers' release of a detailed list of road and mass transit closures, has only inflamed the ire of city officials and business owners. "It's one thing to hold the neighborhood hostage because of a...