Free Republic

The Pentagon is considering withdrawing nearly all American commandos from Niger in the wake of a deadly October ambush that killed four United States soldiers. Three Defense Department officials said the plans, if approved by Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, would also close military outposts in Tunisia, Cameroon, Libya and Kenya, as well as seven of the eight American elite counterterrorism units operating in Africa. The shift in forces is part of the Pentagon’s defense strategy to focus on threats from China and Russia. But they represent a more severe cut of Special Operations forces in Africa than initially expected, leaving...

KABUL (Reuters) - The head of Islamic State in Afghanistan, Abu Saad Erhabi, was killed in a strike on the group’s hideouts in Nangarhar province on Saturday night, authorities said on Sunday. Ten other members of the militant group were also killed in a joint ground and air operation by Afghan and foreign forces, the National Directorate of Security in Kabul said in a statement. A large amount of heavy and light weapons and ammunition were destroyed during raids on two Islamic State hideouts. The jihadist group’s Amaq’s news agency carried no comment on the issue. Lieutenant-Colonel Martin O’Donnell, a...

ISLAMABAD/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump’s administration has quietly started cutting scores of Pakistani officers from coveted training and educational programs that have been a hallmark of bilateral military relations for more than a decade, U.S. officials say.

"Elements of the U.S. military are clearly aware that much of what the U.S. is doing in Yemen is aiding AQAP and there is much angst about that," said Michael Horton, a fellow at the Jamestown Foundation, a U.S. analysis group that tracks terrorism. "However, supporting the UAE and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia against what the U.S. views as Iranian expansionism takes priority over battling AQAP and even stabilizing Yemen," Horton said.

A U.S. special-operations forces service member was killed and four others were wounded in Somalia Friday after they came under small-arms and mortar fire from suspected members of an al Qaeda affiliate, the Pentagon said. A local service member also died, defense officials said. Three of the wounded U.S. service members and the one local fighter who was wounded in the attack were medically evacuated, the Pentagon said. The fourth wounded U.S. service member was treated in country, the Pentagon said. The attack, at about 2:45 p.m. local time in Jubaland in southwest Somalia, happened during what was supposed to...

The U.S. will take advantage of the temporary cease-fire with the Taliban declared in Afghanistan to train its firepower on ISIS Khorasan and al Qaeda remnants, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said at a news conference at NATO headquarters in Brussels Friday. “Should the Taliban take full advantage of the cease-fire in the best interest of the Afghan people, then many of the surveillance assets we have overhead could be reoriented to ISIS-K, to al-Qaeda, and other foreign terrorists who have no business being in Afghanistan in the first place,” Mattis told reporters. “And obviously, those forces that would have been...

U.S. Marines in Afghanistan killed dozens of Taliban leaders last week using rocket artillery after tracking them to a meeting in volatile Helmand Province, according to the top American general in Afghanistan Wednesday. U.S. Forces Afghanistan said more than 50 Taliban commanders, including the deputy Taliban shadow governor of Helmand was killed. Taliban leaders from six other provinces across Afghanistan were killed as well in the strike in the Musa Qala district of Helmand, according to the statement. Twenty other Taliban leaders were killed in air strikes earlier this month by drones and Air Force A-10 Warthog jets based in...

No-go zones are growing rapidly in the suburbs of all of France's main cities. Shanty towns built by illegal migrants from Africa and the Middle East have sprung up in parts of Marseilles and Paris in the last few years. Islamization is everywhere. In hundreds of mosques, imams deliver fiery anti-Western speeches. Churches are vandalized. The number of rapes is rapidly increasing. Groups of veiled women roam the streets and insult the "immodest", unveiled, women. Macron's most important project since he was elected has been the creation of new Islamic institutions destined to adapt France to Islam -- not to...

The 5 ISIS members caught in the coordinated operation by the SDF and the Iraqi army, and details of the operation have been made public. Details from the coordinated operation by the SDF and the Iraqi army that resulted in the capture of the 5 most wanted ISIS members have been announced. The announcement made by the Iraqi Security Press Center lists the 5 captured ISIS members as: İsmail Alwan Salman El-İthawi (Ebu Zeyd el Iraki), Saddam Ömer Yahya El-Jamal (ubu ruqeya ensari), Muhammed Hüseyin (ebu seyf el şeiti), İssam Abdülkadir El-Zobaie (Ebu Abdul Haq el İraqi), Ömer Şihab Hammad...

President Donald Trump tweeted Thursday that the five most wanted members of the Islamic State terror group have been captured. “Five most wanted leaders of ISIS just captured,” POTUS stated. Five Most Wanted leaders of ISIS just captured! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 10, 2018 According to Fox News, the ISIS leaders were captured in a joint-sting operation conducted by American, Iraqi and Turkish forces.

Somehow, I doubt this will help Gina Haspel to a winning vote on confirmation. Fox Business Channel host Maria Bartiromo caught up with former VP Dick Cheney and discussed the renewed debate over enhanced interrogation techniques (EITs) that took place in the nominee’s confirmation hearing yesterday on Capitol Hill. Haspel got criticized for not condemning the practices as immoral even though she affirmed that she would not implement them even if ordered to do so by the president.Cheney said that’s exactly what Donald Trump should do — bring back the waterboard and everything else: Former Vice President Dick Cheney...

President Donald Trump tweeted Thursday that the five most wanted members of the Islamic State terror group have been captured. ___________________________________________ Five Most Wanted leaders of ISIS just captured! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 10, 2018 ___________________________________________ According to Fox News, the ISIS leaders were captured in a joint-sting operation conducted by American, Iraqi and Turkish forces ___________________________________________ Fantastic victory for Pres. Trump and Defence Sec. Mattis after joint U.S.-Iraqi-Turkish sting operation captures 5 top ISIS leaders. pic.twitter.com/8ybfe4pS4I — Josh Caplan (@joshdcaplan) May 10, 2018 ___________________________________________ Trump’s comments came just hours after he celebrated the release of three American...

Former Vice President Dick Cheney told FOX Business’ Maria Bartiromo that he is in favor of restarting the enhanced interrogation program that helped foil terrorist plots in the U.S. “If it were my call I would not discontinue those programs. I'd have them active and ready to go,” Cheney said during an interview broadcast Thursday on “Mornings with Maria.” "And I'd go back and study them and learn (excerpt) The former vice president doesn’t classify the interrogation tactics as torture because the techniques used on 9/11 architect, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed were also used on U.S. training officers, he said. “You...

President Trump's pick to lead the CIA, Gina Haspel, was adamant throughout her confirmation hearing on Wednesday that she would not restart previous "enhanced interrogation" techniques used by the Agency in the aftermath of the attacks on 9/11. But in questioning from various senators, Haspel would not explicitly say if those past techniques were immoral or wrong. "My parents gave me a moral compass, I would never ever take CIA back to an interrogation program," she told the committee. Under questioning by California Democratic Sen. Kamala Harris, Haspel again would not explicitly say if past techniques at the CIA were...

Five Most Wanted leaders of ISIS just captured!https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/994586105822564353

The alleged mastermind of the 9/11 attacks, like the Senate intelligence panel's Democrats, has come out against President Donald Trump's nomination of Gina Haspel to lead the CIA. Both Mohammed and the Democrats question whether Haspel, a longtime CIA agent, is fit to run the agency given her involvement in the torture of prisoners following the attacks in 2001. Haspel is due to appear Wednesday before the Senate Intelligence Committee for her confirmation hearing. The Al-Qaeda leader, who was captured in March 2003 and was reportedly tortured, asked a military judge Monday at the U.S. prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba,...

When President Donald Trump threatened to send missiles at Syria — despite Russia's promises to counter-attack— all eyes turned towards the US Navy's sole destroyer in the region. But that may have been a trick. Pundits openly scoffed at Trump's announcement of the strike days in advance, especially considering his criticism of Barack Obama for similar talk, but the actual strike appeared to go down well. In April 2017, two US Navy destroyers in the eastern Mediterranean steamed into the region, let off 59 cruise missiles in response to suspected gas attacks by the Syrian government, and left unpunished and...

The President’s Syrian Mistake The war-hungry neocon crowd just keeps repeating the same discredited dirty trick The moment Donald Trump became president-elect, the political and governmental establishments of the United States, in particular the intelligence agencies, commenced nonstop efforts to stall, co-opt and dilute the policies on which Trump ran, and was ultimately elected. On trade, immigration, tax policy and regulatory reform President Trump has managed to accomplish more than many of his critics and even some of his supporters had thought possible. It is vital to note that some of the president’s policy advisors and even White House aides...

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan welcomed U.S., British and French forces’ airstrikes on Syria, saying that the operation sent a message to Syrian counterpart Bashar al-Assad. “With the joint operation by U.S., U.K. and France on Saturday, the Syrian regime received the message that its massacres wouldn’t be left unanswered,” Erdogan told his ruling AK Party supporters in an Istanbul meeting. “The innocent Syrian people should have been defended long ago,” Erdogan added.

The Pentagon confirmed later that the airstrikes, conducted along with French and UK forces, targeted chemical weapons facilities in Syria. The White House released its assessment of the attacks late Friday evening, not long after Trump announced the military action. President Donald Trump on Friday night announced targeted strikes on Syria to retaliate against a suspected chemical-weapons attack on a rebel-held town nearly a week ago. The Pentagon confirmed later that the airstrikes, conducted along with French and UK forces, targeted chemical weapons facilities in Syria. The White House released its assessment of the attacks late Friday evening, not long...