Free Republic

Last year’s controversial Iran nuclear deal has sparked an atomic arms race, claimed Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon following a meeting with Jordan’s King Abdullah. Ya’alon revealed that Israel had indications suggesting that certain Arab countries were now actively pursuing nuclear weapons, reports the Telegraph. The Defense Minister declined to specify which countries or how Israel had ascertained they were working to create their own atomic arsenals. The Sunni Arab world has long feared the specter of a nuclear capable Iran, and now that the Iran deal effectively permits the Islamic Republic to resume its atomic program with no limits...

Ignoring recent US sanctions on Iran's ballistic missile program, Iranian Armed Forces Chief of Staff Maj. Gen. Hassan Firouzabadi on Monday announced planned "massive missile drills," to be held by the end of February. Firouzabadi was quoted by the semi-official Fars News Agency saying the "missile wargames" are set for the first half of the Iranian month of Esfand, which spans from February 11 to March 5. A key weapon being developed by Iran is its nuclear-capable medium-range Emad missiles, which Tehran recently vowed to upgrade. Emad is said to have a 1,700 kilometer range, putting Israel and much of...

Any ground operation in Syria will lead to "a full-fledged, long war", Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev told Euronews TV station in an interview. Major powers agreed on Friday in Munich to a pause in combat in Syria, which killed at least 250,000 people. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said that if the peace plan fails, more foreign troops could enter the conflict. Commenting on Kerry's words, Medvedev said: "These are futile words, he should not have said that for a simple reason: if all he wants is a protracted war, he can carry out ground operations and anything...

Russia said on Saturday a Syria ceasefire plan was more likely to fail than succeed, as Syrian government forces backed by Russian air strikes took rebel ground near Aleppo and set their sights on the Islamic State stronghold of Raqqa province. International divisions over Syria surfaced anew at a Munich conference where Russia rejected French charges that it was bombing civilians, just a day after world powers agreed on the "cessation of hostilities" due to begin in a week's time. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry reiterated accusations that Russia was hitting "legitimate opposition groups" and civilians with its bombing...

<p>President Obama declared last year that “There is no military solution in Syria.” Sadly, Russia’s Vladimir Putin has now proved him wrong by imposing one.</p> <p>Aleppo, Syria’s largest city and the last rebel stronghold, is about to fall, thanks to withering Russian air bombardment backing government and Iranian troops. That effectively secures Bashar al-Assad’s hold on power in at least a large rump of Syria.</p>

I remember a lot of people speculating about what would have happened in the world if Jimmy Carter had been elected to a second term. Many believed that the Soviets would have taken advantage of Carter's weakness and confusion to confront NATO, believing that the U.S. would be paralyzed into inaction. Something similar could happen today, according to some analysts. Vladimir Putin's saber-rattling at Turkey could become more than bluster if the Russian strongman doesn't think that the U.S. and NATO would go to war if Moscow attacked Turkey. The Russians are beginning military exercises in the region immediately adjacent...

Moscow and Tel Aviv are planning to sign a free trade agreement in the near future, Russian Deputy Agriculture Minister Sergey Levin told journalists on Friday. "Such decisions aim at maximizing cooperation between Russia and Israel in terms of agriculture and new technologies; creation of joint ventures, as well as the prospects of a free trade zone agreement which the government expects to sign with Israel as soon as possible," Levin said following Russian Deputy Prime Minister Arkady Dvorkovich's meeting with Israeli businessmen. Israel's Minister of Agriculture Uri Ariel also expressed hopes the two countries would sign the agreement soon....

Further illustrating what would at least appear to be the incredible absurdity of what passes for U.S. government "foreign policy," Sunni jihadist "rebels" in Syria backed by al-Qaeda and the Obama administration have been battling against Shia militias that have also been backed by Obama. Both sides are fighting with American weapons, according to news reports. How much money U.S. taxpayers forked over to arm the two warring Islamic factions was not immediately clear. But the enormous human tragedy on the ground is getting worse quickly.The latest battle between feuding Obama-backed forces was first reported by the far-left Daily Beast,...

Syria's fragile peace deal descended into farce today after President Bashar al-Assad vowed to retake the entire country despite attempts by world powers to broker a ceasefire. In a rare interview published just hours after U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry announced a planned truce, Assad said he would continue to fight 'terrorism' regardless. He also warned it could take a 'long time' to defeat opposition groups, including Western-backed rebels, because so many countries were involved in the conflict. Assad said his regime's eventual goal was to retake all of Syria, large swathes of which are under the control of...

"Thank you Russia! Thank you Hezbollah! Thank you Iran!" shouts the man, as he passes us in the busy square. Nearby, a photograph of Bashar al-Assad beams down from the front of the town hall, and banners in support of the Syrian President hang outside the main mosque. This is Nubl, a mostly Shia, pro-government town in Syria, so close to the border with Turkey that on the way here our phones constantly switched to Turkish mobile networks. Until two weeks ago Nubl and its neighbor al-Zahra were under siege; various rebel factions, including the al-Nusra Front and others linked...

Harald Kujat, former chief of staff of the Bundeswehr (German army) inspecting Ukrainian troops in Kiev in 2004. File photo: DPA Top German general praises Russian bombing in Syria Published: 12 Feb 2016 12:46 GMT+01:00 Russian bombing in Syria against opponents of the brutal regime of President Bashar al-Assad has "enabled the peace process" to get started, a former top-ranked German general said on Friday. "With its military intervention, Russia has enabled the peace process," Harald Kujat, former chief of staff of the Bundeswehr (German army) told the Passauer Neue Presse. Kujat argues that the Syrian civil war was in...

Pope Francis if the first Rome and Patriarch Kirill of the third Rome are to release a joint declaration to touch on the single most important issue of shared concern between the Catholic and Orthodox churches today: the plight of Christians in Iraq and Syria and Africa who are being killed and driven from their homes by Islamists. I guess that makes Putin's Russia the defacto defender of Christendom. Two Romes have fallen, but the third stands, and a fourth there will not be." The Russian Monk Philotheus c. 1520 I have not seen the declaration yet to post it...

The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) condemned the deadly mass shooting in San Bernardino, California and condemned U.S. Presidential candidates, they accused of Islamophobia. Speaking at a news conference in Jersey City, New Jersey on Thursday (December 3), Nihad Awad, the executive director of CAIR said, "We are heartbroken and horrified by the vicious attack in San Bernardino and our thoughts and prayers go out to the victims and their families."

Dubbed 'super confessors', for one year only they can absolve sins usually only pardoned by the pope himself. And on Wednesday over 1,000 of these "missionaries of mercy", handpicked by Pope Francis, were sent forth to win back the hearts of those who have left the Catholic Church and open the door to repentant sinners across the world. There are certain evils the Vatican ranks above other sins, from attempting to assassinate the pope to defiling the Eucharist -- the rite of consuming consecrated bread and wine in Church -- by spitting it out or using it in a...

Moscow (AFP) - Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny announced he had filed a lawsuit against President Vladimir Putin on Thursday over alleged graft, accusing him of ordering huge loans to a firm owned by his son-in-law. "I sued Putin over Putin's son-in-law and I am sure that I will win," Navalny wrote on his blog, accusing the Russian leader of violating anti-corruption legislation to benefit Kirill Shamalov, who recently married the Russian leader's daughter Katerina. Citing public records and statements, Navalny said that Shamalov came to own a stake in petrochemical company Sibur shortly before Putin allegedly ordered that it...

At the core of the American strategic dilemma is that the Russian military adventure, which Mr. Obama dismissed last year as ill-thought-out muscle flexing, has been surprising effective... Testifying on Capitol Hill on Tuesday, the director of national intelligence, James R. Clapper, offered a sobering picture of Russia’s success, even if it proves a temporary one. “Putin is the first leader since Stalin to expand Russia’s territory,” he told a Senate committee. In Russia’s first major overseas military effort since its humiliation in Afghanistan 35 years ago, he said, “Its interventions demonstrate the improvements in Russian military capabilities and the...

The upcoming meeting between Pope Francis and Russian Patriarch Kirill will not only be a historic religious event, but could also have major benefits to Christians around the world, the French newspaper Le Journal du Dimanche reported. In an attempt to defend Christians in the Middle East and other parts of the world where they're being persecuted, Pope Francis wants to ask Russian President Vladimir Putin for help. According to Pope Francis, Putin is "the only one with whom the Catholic Church can unite to defend Christians in the East." With the help of Putin, Pope Francis hopes to reach...

Bahrain's king hands 'sword of victory' to Putin after Syria talks MEE staff Tuesday 9 February 2016 15:40 UTC Last update: Tuesday 9 February 2016 17:20 UTC King Hamad expresses hope for 'imminent victory' after presenting Russian president with sword made of Damascus steel Bahrain's King Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa presented Russian President Vladimir Putin with a "sword of victory” made from Damascus steel during a visit to Russia that included talks with his host about the crisis in Syria. King Hamad and Putin exchanged gifts during a meeting at the Russian leader's residence in Sochi on the Black Sea...

Putin’s war cost Russia its centuries-long shared identity with its neighbour. Now, Kyiv risks betraying the spirit of the Maidan revolution. When the Russian inquest finally comes, the answer will be clear. It was President Vladimir Putin who lost Ukraine – after a millennium of shared east Slav identity. When the Ukrainian inquest into who lost the ­Euromaidan’s “Revolution of Dignity” finally comes, the answer, on the present evidence, will also be clear. It was an elite core of politicians and oligarchs who first worked a miracle in fighting Russia’s military Goliath to a stalemate – only to revert to...

A recent US intelligence report said that Daesh (also known as ISIL/Islamic State) is degrading. Two coalitions - one led by the US and the other by Russia - have been involved in fighting the terrorists. It is high time to figure out some differences between the two approaches. The Common Goal Russia, the United States, and Syria have one common enemy - the terrorist group Daesh. In September 2014, US President Barack Obama pledged to destroy Daesh with massive airstrikes. "Our objective is clear: We will degrade, and ultimately destroy, ISIL through a comprehensive and sustained counterterrorism strategy. We...