Free Republic

KIEV, Ukraine — The Ukrainian government dispatched its highest-level police and security officials to the eastern part of the country Monday in an effort to put down separatist violence described as inspired by Russia and following a script that played out in Crimea. “The plan is to destabilize the situation,” Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk told an emergency cabinet meeting Monday morning. “The plan is for foreign troops to cross the border and seize the country’s territory, which we will not allow.” On Sunday, pro-Russian demonstrations in the eastern cities of Kharkiv, Donetsk and Luhansk that had been orderly the last...

Yesterday, the Senate Intelligence Committee voted overwhelmingly 11-3 in releasing to the public its 2012 report which concluded a 3-and-a-half year investigation into the CIA detention and interrogation program, implemented after 9/11. Senator Dianne Feinstein: “The Senate Intelligence Committee this afternoon voted to declassify the 480-page executive summary as well as 20 findings and conclusions of the majority’s five-year study of the CIA Detention and Interrogation Program, which involved more than 100 detainees. The purpose of this review was to uncover the facts behind this secret program, and the results were shocking. The report exposes brutality that stands in stark...

A mix-up with daylight saving time may have caused a car bomb to blow up in the face of a bumbling bomber in Dublin. The unidentified bomber was seen fleeing from the wreckage of a ruined Volvo SUV on Sunday evening, while “dripping in blood” after the device that was attached to the vehicle went off early. Clocks in Ireland were turned ahead on Sunday night. “It would appear that the bomber got his timings wrong. It could be a case where he didn’t put his watch forward on Sunday [at 1am] and the timer went off too soon,” the...

Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas did not announce his walkout from the negotiations with Israel or directly turn down the package of far-reaching Israeli concessions which US Secretary of State John Kerry assembled with Binyamin Netanyahu early Wednesday, April 1. He simply turned his back on the commitment he made ahead of the talks to refrain from unilateral applications to UN bodies while they were in progress. As soon as the US Secretary flew off to Brussels, he sent out applications for “the independent Palestinian state” to join 12 UN agencies as members. This was after the Palestinian leader upped his...

Architect of Palestinian intifada, Pollard in peace-talks deal TEL AVIV – The U.S. consideration to free convicted Israeli spy Jonathan Pollard is tied to the release from Israeli jail of Marwan Barghouti, the accused architect of the Palestinian intifada, the terror campaign that began in September 2000, according to informed diplomatic sources here. The deal is being discussed between Secretary of State John Kerry and Israeli and Palestinian leaders. Besides the freedom of Barghouti, the U.S. is also demanding that Israel agree to a final-status framework deal on all core issues in exchange for releasing Pollard. Core issues include the...

While Vladimir Putin's actions in Crimea are worthy of international censure, a more imminent threat to world peace is impasse over Iran. There has been a sense in recent days that this was no ordinary week in the life of the planet. Our already bloodstained 21st-century history — unfolding once again in uncertain and threatening ways — seemed to be opening a new chapter. Two events last Tuesday in world capitals more than 2,000 kilometres apart best symbolized this. But which of these events do you think poses the greatest potential danger to world peace? In Moscow, a preening, self-satisfied...

The latest issue of Al-Qaeda's Inspire magazine contains an article about using car bombs in U.S. cities as well as abroad during election seasons, both presidential and congressional, as well as on Christmas and New Years Eve. The cities and areas listed in the piece include Washington, D.C., New York, Northern Virginia, Chicago, and Los Angeles.

In the wake of the largest Gaza rocket attack on Israel since late 2012, Israeli Strategic Affairs Minister Yuval Steinitz and Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman criticized former Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's 2005 disengagement from Gaza, in which Israel relinquished control of that territory to the Palestinian Authority before it was eventually seized by the terrorist group Hamas. About 10,000 Jewish Israelis had to relocate from their homes in Gaza. In addition to Hamas, several smaller Islamist terror groups are present in Gaza today, including Islamic Jihad, which is responsible for the latest rocket barrage. “Sooner or later we will...

It is a case that has some Florida International University students concerned after an audio device was found inside one of the rooms where Muslim students use for prayer.

Take a close look at the pictures of the Iranian men who used stolen passports to board the Malaysian Airlines plane that has been missing since Saturday. Notice anything off about it? Some, particularly on social media, have pointed out that the men appear to have the same bottom half, suggesting that the images were Photoshopped. Look at the position of their feet. Look at the shadows. Look at the shape of the bag, especially in the context that the man on the left doesn’t appear to be holding the same shape of bag in his top half. After the...

Teacher orders boy, 10, to remove Help for Heroes wristband worn in memory of Lee Rigby 'because it might cause offence' By Mark Duell PUBLISHED: 04:33 EST, 12 March 2014 A teacher allegedly ordered a 10-year-old boy to take off his Help for Heroes wristband because it could cause offence. Tracy Tew was shocked when her son Charlie was put on a report card at Maldon Primary School in Essex after he refused to take off the charity rubber bracelet sold to honour injured soldiers. Charlie wears the wristband - bought at the Colchester Military Festival - in honour of...

The spokesman for the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) says the construction of Arak heavy water production plant in the country’s Markazi (Central) Province has made a nearly 90-percent progress. In an interview with Iran’s Arabic-language Al-Alam News Network, Behrouz Kamalvandi said Arak heavy water complex has been “built [using] indigenous knowledge and technology and [its construction] has made an 87-percent progress.” “Given the concerns that they have about reprocessing (at the Arak plant), the possibility exists for the reprocessing not to take place for a certain period of time; however, in the long run, when the concerns are...

TEHRAN (FNA)- Lieutenant Commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Brigadier General Hossein Salami underlined that Iranian military commanders are prepared to attack and destroy the Zionist regime of Israel as soon as they receive such an order. “Today, we can destroy every spot which is under the Zionist regime's control with any volume of fire power (that we want) right from here,” Salami said, addressing a conference in Tehran on Tuesday dubbed ‘the Islamic World's Role in the Geometry of the World Power’. “Islam has given us this wish, capacity and power to destroy the Zionist regime so...

Manifestly the Pentagon never received the memo that Islam is at war with Western Civilization. Or, that Islam is a brutally misogynistic ideology bent on the wholesale murder of women who dare show a little ankle. Oh, and did I forget to mention that its founder, Mohammed–had an unquenchable penchant for little girls? In short: Islam is evil. With that established–allow me to enlighten you as to what insanity our Pentagon is currently engaged in. The Islamic Society of North America (ISNA) just announced that it will be providing our military with chaplains for active-duty service. That’s right–our Pentagon is...

New information on two passengers from Malaysia Air Flight MH370 — which disappeared without a trace off the coast of Vietnam on Friday — raises the possbiilty the plane was bombed as a terrorist test run. If confirmed, the guilty organization’s silence means more attacks may be forthcoming. While reports remain unsettled, most agree that two unknown individuals purchased tickets for the flight stolen fake Italian and Austrian passports. More ominously, the tickets were purchased together through an Iranian middleman, known to a travel agent only as “Mr. Ali.” Terrorist organizations usually claim responsibility for their attacks, especially successful ones....

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu warned Monday, March 10, that because the world chooses to slide over Iran’s concealed nuclear program, the next Klos C ship may not carry missiles but “nuclear suitcases.” They would not only reach an Israeli port, he said, but any port in the world. He spoke at Israel’s naval base in Eilat at the presentation of the 60 missiles, 181 mortar shells and hundreds of bullets unloaded from the Klos C that was apprehended by Israeli commandos on the Red Sea opposite Sudan last week. Present too were defense minister Moshe Ya’alan, chief of staff Lt....

Masoud Jazayeri says the ‘low-IQ’ president’s ‘all options are on the table’ remarks are a farce; warns against US strike President Barack Obama is a “low-IQ US president,” whose threat to launch a military offensive should nuclear talks fail is an oft-cited punchline in the Islamic Republic, particularly among children, an Iranian general said on Tuesday. “The low-IQ US president and his country’s Secretary of State John Kerry speak of the effectiveness of ‘the US options on the table’ on Iran while this phrase is mocked at and has become a joke among the Iranian nation, especially the children,” General...

An Egyptian court decided on Tuesday to ban all activities of Palestinian Hamas movement and confiscate its headquarters in Cairo, state-run Ahram website reported. A lawsuit was filed against the movement to ban its activities and designate it as a terrorist group, after the ouster of Islamist president Mohamed Morsi last July. Hamas is an offshoot of the Muslim Brotherhood and is well known for its support to the group, from which Morsi hails. More than 60 members of the group are facing trial on jailbreak charges, along with Morsi and top leaders of Brotherhood. They are accused of facilitating...

The Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee in Russia’s parliament, Mikhail Margelov, said on Monday that his country expects all economic sanctions against Iran to be removed immediately, Israeli daily Ma’ariv reported. “There have been important developments. President Hassan Rouhani has openly declared that Iran has no intention to develop an atomic bomb,” Margelov said. ”Furthermore, Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei, has issued a decree that prohibits the building of a bomb, calling it ‘a sin.’ ” As a result of these public statements, Marglov concluded, “The conditions have now been met to justify the full lifting of sanctions on...

Let’s all give thanks to Obama and his magical “reset” button. The whole world is on fire. Hope and change. Lots of change. “Israeli Navy reports Hizbullah has acquired and deployed Russian cruise missile,” Special to WorldTribune.com, February 28, 2014 (thanks to Christian) TEL AVIV — Israel has determined that the Iranian-sponsored Hizbullah acquired an advanced Russian cruise missile.