Free Republic

As Hillary Clinton attempts to fend of a surging Bernie Sanders while addressing serious questions about her handling of sensitive government information during her tenure as the nation’s top diplomat, Donald Trump is busy trying to determine how best to handle a string of bad publicity which paradoxically has him well ahead of GOP rivals in the polls. Trump, whose reputation for being "teflon" and "gaffe proof" has held up nicely since last Thursday’s first Republican primary debate, found himself out of favor with Fox News (an ardently GOP-friendly network) after suggesting that Megyn Kelly was menstruating when she asked...

With British and German forces separated only by a no-man's land littered with fallen comrades, sounds of a German Christmas carol suddenly drifted across the frigid air. "It was a beautiful moonlit night, frost on the ground, white almost everywhere: and at about 7 or 8 in the evening there was a lot of commotion in the German trenches and there were these lights -- I don't know what they were. And then they sang, "Silent Night" – "Stille Nacht." I shall never forget it, it was one of the highlights of my life. I thought, what a beautiful tune,"...

The American government has been asked by the international community to directly intervene in any truce agreement between Israel and Hamas, according to a report in Arabic daily Al-Hayat, and force Israel to agree to Hamas's demands in future ceasefire agreements. Egypt was reportedly behind the guarantee, as rumors swirl that the current conditions being discussed have found support both from the international community at large and from UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon. Israel has denied agreeing to any truce deal proposed so far, however, and diplomatic sources in Jerusalem have emphasized repeatedly that Israel will not agree to any...

Even as Israeli representatives are in Cairo to discuss a truce with Hamas on Tuesday, the terrorist group is taking pains to clarify it has no intentions of desisting from trying to wipe Israel off the map. Hamas's "military wing," the Al-Qassam Brigades, released a statement presenting its position on the ongoing talks in Egypt. "The warriors in Gaza are waiting with Allah's help to renew the fighting, or to return to planning the next campaign. There's no escape. Either jihad or planning (for the next jihad)," declared the statement. The remarks leave no doubts that even in the case...

Israel and the Palestinians agreed on Sunday to an Egyptian proposal for a new 72-hour ceasefire in Gaza starting at 1700 ET, officials from the warring sides said. "Israel has accepted Egypt's proposal," a senior Israeli government official said, adding Israeli negotiators would return to Cairo on Monday to resume indirect talks with the Palestinians if the truce held. The Israeli team had flown home on Friday before a previous three-day truce expired and hostilities in the month-old conflict broke out again. A Hamas official said Palestinian factions had accepted Egypt's call and that the Cairo talks would continue. In...

Sirens have sounded in Ashkelon, Hof Ashkelon, the Eshkol region, and the Gaza Belt area as of 8:00 am Friday, as a 72-hour ceasefire ended between Israel and terrorist organizations in Gaza. Residents of Ashkelon, Ohad, Sohar, Barhiya, Hodaya, Rei’im, Kfar Silver, Mishan, Nir Yisrael, Sde Nitzan, Telmei Eliyahu, Yesha, Mivtahim, Amioz, Hof Ashkelon, Be’er Ganim, Zikim, Holit, Nir Yitzhak, Sufa, Netiv Ha’esreh, Yad Mordehai, and Carmia, have rushed to shelters. “Since 8:00 AM, Gaza terrorists fired a barrage of 5 rockets at Israel,” the IDF Spokesperson’s Office announced at 8:30 am Friday. “Iron Dome intercepted 1 above Ashkelon; more...

Sirens are sounding again at 10:36 am throughout the Eshkol region, after a volley of rockets fired less than one hour after Israel’s Security Cabinet agreed to a cease-fire mediated by Egypt landed in open areas. Two rockets have hit in open areas. No injuries or damage were reported. Sirens sounded at roughly 10:00 am in Ashkelon, throughout the Eshkol region, and in communities near Gaza. Two rockets fell in open areas in the Eshkol region; no injuries or damage have been reported. Israel accepted the truce in a surprise move Tuesday morning, after Hamas categorically rejected the notion of...

Kiev, Ukraine (CNN) -- A shaky truce crumbled Thursday as gunfire erupted at Independence Square, the center of anti-government protests and an increasingly violent crisis that has left at least 48 people dead and hundreds injured in recent days. At least 20 protesters died Thursday, said Oleg Musiy, head of the protesters' medical service. A police officer also was killed, the interior ministry said. It's unclear what prompted the gunfire just hours after the government declared a truce. But CNN crews at the scene reported that as security forces were moving away from the area, a group of protesters pursued...

<p>Kiev, Ukraine (CNN) -- Just before midnight Wednesday, Ukraine's president declared a truce in his nation, as well as the start of negotiations aimed at not only preventing further bloodshed but forging a lasting peace.</p> <p>The statement -- agreed upon with leaders of Ukraine's three top opposition parties -- seemingly offered a welcome respite from the violence and acrimony that's been emanating from the tumultuous Eastern European nation.</p>

The Egyptian-brokered cease-fire agreement between Israel and Hamas does not call for stopping the flow of weapons into the Gaza Strip, a top Hamas leader announced Saturday. Ezat Risheq, member of the Hamas "political bureau," said that reports claiming that the agreement calls for an end to the smuggling of weapons were untrue. Risheq was commenting on reports that claimed that special US army units would be deployed along the border between the Gaza Strip and Egypt to stop the flow of weapons to Hamas and other armed Palestinian groups. The Hamas official claimed that Israel was behind the reports...

Gaza truce agreed, Hamas says, to take effect in hours By Nidal al-Mughrabi and Jeffrey Heller | Reuters – 30 mins ago GAZA/JERUSALEM (Reuters) - An Egyptian-brokered ceasefire in the Gaza conflict will go into effect later on Tuesday, a Hamas official said. There was no immediate Israeli comment. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said earlier he was open to a long-term deal to halt Palestinian rocket attacks on his country. "An agreement for calm has been reached. It will be declared at 9 o'clock (1900 GMT) and go into effect at midnight (2200 GMT)," Hamas official Ayman Taha told Reuters...

I had a bad night last night, one filled with dreams and memories of my time in combat – six months of front line duty with the 15th Infantry Regiment, four of them as a scout for which I foolishly volunteered. Tomorrow is the 10th of June. Sixty years ago, on the 10th, I was on a daytime patrol. I never enjoyed those, you always got shot at by someone and if you have once heard a bullet go past your head from a sniper, you would just as soon not have another one. Anyway, after returning safely, I was...

Attention "Anyone But Obama" (ABO) FReepers! If you go to the thread at the link you will will see that JimRob has "declared a truce" and hundreds of ABO FReepers are now vigorously defending their belief, which I share, that the ineligible Marxist Manchurian MUST BE DEFEATED to preserve the Republic...without fear of "the ZOT"! Please consider a DONATION not just to fund renewal of expression and amplification of your ABO views, but let's over-achieve this FReepathon to get JR his new equipment! IMO, Free Republic and FReepers could be vital in swing states in rallying just enough conservatives to...

A couple of stories surfaced recently that should be of concern to voters that are analyzing how a Romney presidency would differ from the current administration. President Obama has a track record that can be examined to get a grasp of his agenda, but Governor Romney needs to further explain his positions on two key areas that many voters would expect to see a divergence with our present leader. The reports bring in to question whether or not Romney would be any different from the administrations over the past 12 years when it comes to dumping billions of taxpayer dollars...

My FRiends, we might as well face the reality that we the combined pro-life conservative movement and tea party coalition have lost this round (the presidential election) in the larger battle to reclaim our constitution and our inalienable rights. Rove, Romney and the GOP-e have successfully destroyed and driven off each and every pro-life conservative tea party candidate from the race and all have surrendered to the Romney camp. It is no secret that Romney is not one of us. There is absolutely no doubt that he has never accomplished a single conservative thing in his entire political career (one...

Daniels Closer to 2012 Bid, But Has He Overcome Abortion Truce? Indianapolis, IN -- Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels appears closer than ever to indicating he will seek the Republican nomination for president, but, for pro-life voters, one key question remains about his talk of an abortion truce. http://www.lifenews.com/2011/05/13/daniels-closer-to-2012-bid-but-has-he-overcome-abortion-truce/

Rick Santorum Chides Daniels on Abortion-Social Issues Truce Washington, DC -- In an interview with conservative radio talk show host Hugh Hewitt, potential Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum slammed Mitch Daniels, also a potential GOP hopeful, on his abortion-social issues truce. http://www.lifenews.com/2011/02/04/rick-santorum-chides-daniels-on-abortion-social-issues-truce/

Somalia's president marked the beginning of Ramadan Saturday by calling for a truce with Islamic militants and talks to end the country's bloodshed. President Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed told VOA Saturday he believes peace and stability are attainable through dialogue, and he called on militants to lay down their weapons. Somalia's fragile transitional government is engaged in a fierce battle to regain large parts of the country from Islamist militants led by the al-Shabab group. In the capital of Mogadishu, heavy fighting between government forces and insurgents has killed at least 100 people since Thursday, many of them civilians. Residents...

Hamas officials in Cairo have proposed a year-long truce with Israel and an opening of the crossings into the Gaza Strip, in the latest round of diplomatic meetings to build on a fragile ceasefire in the Gaza Strip. Hamas official Ayman Taha told reporters in Cairo on Sunday that his delegation was briefed by the Egyptians on an Israeli proposal for a year-and-a-half long truce with only partial opening of the border, which they rejected. Instead, Taha says the group made a counter offer of a year with open borders, which they now must discuss with their leadership in Damascus.

The Hamas government in the Gaza Strip lashed out at rival militants after two Qassam rockets were fired at southern Israel yesterday, causing no injuries but further straining the shaky truce between Israel and Hamas that went into effect last Thursday morning. In view of the continued rocket fire, Israel will keep the crossings into the Gaza Strip closed today, for the third straight day. The Fatah-affiliated group Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade claimed responsibility for yesterday's rocket fire and demanded that the cease-fire be extended into the West Bank. In a statement carried by the official Palestinian news agency Maan, Hamas...