Free Republic

The president hoped to camouflage what he knew to be against the law in his dealings with Iran.   Did it ever occur to President Obama to ask why he couldn’t just cut a check to the Iranian regime? Outrage broke out this week over the revelation that Obama arranged to ship the mullahs piles of cash, worth $400 million and converted into foreign denominations, reportedly in an unmarked cargo plane. The hotly debated question was whether the payment, which the administration attributes to a 37-year-old arms deal, was actually a ransom paid for the release of American hostages...

Must be nice to be above the law and never have to suffer any consequences for your actions — and indeed, to be on the verge of being rewarded with the Presidency of the United States after years of treasonable carelessness (at best). “Cotton: Clinton discussed executed Iranian scientist on email,” by Jacqueline Klimas, Washington Examiner, August 7, 2016: Hillary Clinton recklessly discussed, in emails hosted on her private server, an Iranian nuclear scientist who was executed by Iran for treason, Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., said Sunday. “I’m not going to comment on what he may or may not have...

The Obama administration is dodging a congressional inquiry into its refusal to designate recent Iranian ballistic missile tests as a violation of an international statute barring such tests, prompting frustration on Capitol Hill from lawmakers who accuse the administration of breaking past promises to enforce the missile ban, according to recent communications sent by the State Department and obtained by the Washington Free Beacon. Lawmakers launched an investigation earlier this month into what they describe as Obama administration efforts to mislead Congress about the nature of last summer’s comprehensive nuclear agreement. The administration’s refusal to say that Iran’s missile tests...

Iran is planning to make its recent capture and release of U.S. Navy sailors into a “tourist attraction.” Commander Ali Fadavi, the head of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard naval forces, said the military is planning on building a statue of the 10 American sailors who were held for a day in January. “There are very many photographs of the major incident of arresting U.S. Marines in the Persian Gulf in the media and we intend to build a symbol out of them inside one of our naval monuments,” he told Iran’s Defense Press news agency,

The Obama administration's State Department has confirmed that the Iran nuclear deal negotiated by Secretary of State John Kerry on instructions from President Obama is a "political" commitment only. And commentators quickly pointed out that means a future president "could repudiate it any time, without violating either domestic or international law." And they note, so, too, could Iran. The confirmation of the legal status of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, the deal with Iran and the U.S., the U.K., France, Germany, Russia, China and the European Union, comes from Julie Frifield, an assistant secretary for legislative affairs in the...

How the Obama administration is facilitating Iran's unprecedented killing binge. President Obama is determined to defend the Islamic Republic as a legitimate government that should receive sanctions relief. He has even overstepped his constitutional authority by signing the nuclear deal (a treaty) in the United Nations Security Council without getting the two-third vote of the Senate. He did not give Congress time to review the nuclear deal as he previously promised. The Obama administration is advocating for a regime that has been on an execution spree on an unprecedented level, according to Amnesty International's latest report. Since the beginning of...

The White House sought to quash concerns that the withdrawal of four of the six top leaders of Gulf nations from a planned summit later this week at Camp David signals strained relations between the administration and countries in that region. Of the six Arab states invited, only two of the those countries — Kuwait and Qatar — plan on sending their top leaders.

Yet another Obama administration thrust in its campaign to stigmatize Binyamin Netanyahu and the newly elected Israeli government came Tuesday, March 24, in the form of a pejorative leak to The Wall Street Journal. "Israeli intelligence was eavesdropping on closed-door nuclear negotiations between Iran and the US and other world powers, then passing the classified information along to the US Congress to try and preemptively scuttle the deal, The WSJ reported, adding from its unnamed sources: "It’s one thing for the US and Israel to spy on each other. It is another thing for Israel to steal US secrets and...

CBS News reports that the Obama administration has asked Israel to stop killing Iranian nuclear scientists. It was widely suspected that Israel had been behind a series of assassinations of key figures in the Iranian nuclear program, but never quite confirmed--until CBS' Dan Raviv cited sources close to Israel's Mossad intelligence agency. Israel and the US have both used a variety of unconventional methods to attack Iran's nuclear program.

I'll be the first person to admit how little I know about foreign affairs. I often think we have entirely too much involvement in the affairs of other countries and want America to be left alone. We need to tend to our own rat killing and for the most part, allow other countries to do the same. That doesn't mean we can not collaborate on certain issues, but I lean more than a little libertarian in my view of foreign affairs. Having said that, there are times when we have to stand by our allies, and we have a strong...

The main purpose of US President Barack Obama's visit to Israel in the spring is to warn Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu against attacking Iran, unnamed officials told Army Radio on Sunday. According to the officials, the urgency of the trip is because in his speech to the United Nations in September, Netanyahu had flagged the spring of 2013 as a significant time in the context of the Iranian nuclear threat.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad tried Thursday to entice Egypt into a new alliance that could reshape the turbulent Middle East, speaking of forging “comprehensive” and “unfettered” relations after decades of distrust. A warming of ties between the two regional heavyweights could have uncomfortable repercussions for the U.S. and its wealthy Gulf allies, giving Iran a foothold to spread its influence in Egypt. In turn, Egypt could gain an avenue to influence the fate of Syria, a key ally of Iran, as well as economic benefits. … Ahmadinejad’s visit is the first by an Iranian president in 30 years and he...

A Chicago lawyer is the key player behind the secret talks between the US and Iran. Yedioth Ahronoth reported Monday. A close friend of Michelle Obama, Valerie Jarrett is assisting the US government communicate behind the scenes with the representatives of Iran's supreme leader Ali Khamenei. Jarret, who was born in the Iranian city of Shiraz, is a senior advisor to US President Barack Obama. Last month, The New York Times reported that the US government is engaged in secret talks with Iran aimed at establishing a direct line of communication once the US presidential elections are over. The National...

Soon after he took office, President Barack Obama began a process ultimately designed to reestablish full US diplomatic relations with Iran, including a reopening of embassies, an Israeli daily reported Sunday. The initiative, part of a wider shift in America’s diplomatic orientation, aimed at reaching understandings with Tehran over suspending its nuclear program, Maariv claimed, citing “two Western diplomats very close to the administration.” The initiative led to at least two US-Iran meetings, the report said. Israel was made aware of the contacts, and opposed them. But Iran rebuffed the “diplomatic hand” offered by the White House, Maariv reported.

Last week, Reza Kahlili, a former Revolutionary Guard member wrote that Iran had reached a deal with the Obama Administration to preserve portions of its nuclear program. Hossain Ebrahimi told reporters yesterday that Obama sent the regime a secret message. On Saturday, the Iranian regime confirmed this report. The Iranian regime revealed on Saturday that the Obama Administration sent them a secret message through the Swiss Embassy recognizing their nuclear rights. The Swiss government, acting through its Embassy in Tehran, serves as protecting power for U.S. interests in Iran. Fars News reported, via Weasel Zippers: Senior Iranian parliamentary sources revealed...

Last week, Reza Kahlili, a former Revolutionary Guard member wrote that Iran had reached a deal with the Obama Administration to preserve portions of its nuclear program. Hossain Ebrahimi told reporters yesterday that Obama sent the regime a secret message. On Saturday, the Iranian regime confirmed this report. The Iranian regime revealed on Saturday that the Obama Administration sent them a secret message through the Swiss Embassy recognizing their nuclear rights. The Swiss government, acting through its Embassy in Tehran, serves as protecting power for U.S. interests in Iran. Fars News reported, via Weasel Zippers: Senior Iranian parliamentary sources revealed...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States has renewed 180-day exceptions on Iran sanctions for Japan and 10 European Union nations due to their continued reductions of purchases of Iranian crude oil, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Friday. Clinton said the exceptions would apply to Japan, Belgium, the Czech Republic, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Spain and the United Kingdom.

David Plouffe, a senior White House adviser who was President Obama’s 2008 campaign manager, accepted a $100,000 speaking fee in 2010 from an affiliate of a company doing business with Iran’s government. A subsidiary of MTN Group, a South Africa-based telecommunications company, paid Plouffe for two speeches he made in Nigeria in December 2010, about a month before he joined the White House staff. Since Plouffe’s speeches, MTN Group has come under intensified scrutiny from U.S. authorities because of its activities in Iran and Syria, which are under international sanctions intended to limit the countries’ access to sensitive technology. At...

That’s a good question — and according to former VP Dick Cheney’s contacts, Barack Obama didn’t lack for options to keep the highly-classified drone from falling into the Iranian military’s hands. In an interview with CNN’s Erin Burnett, Cheney wonders why Obama didn’t order an air strike on the downed aircraft while he still had the chance: (VIDEO AT LINK) “The right response to that would have been to go in immediately after it had gone down and destroy it,” he said on CNN’s “Out Front with Erin Burnett.” Instead, Cheney said, “he asked nicely for them to return it....

A couple of days ago Conunderground.com was the first to point out that the circumstances surrounding the “crash” of the top secret RQ170 Sentinel drone simply didn’t add up. And we were tight! The story continues to develop and it doesn’t look good! To recap, first we were told that Iran might’ve shot it down and then the story changed to “the drone crashed on Iranian soil ” After realizing that the Iranians were about to parade a perfectly functional drone with nary a scratch on it, the official story changed to “the drone landed because it wants to live”...