Free Republic

Since Hamas’s brutal attack against Israel on Oct. 7 and the resulting Israeli military campaign in the Gaza Strip, tensions and hostilities across the Middle East have reached fever pitch. And with such a complex regional crisis playing out, it should not come as a surprise that the Biden administration is reconsidering its military priorities in the region.It should be cause for significant concern, however, that this could involve a full withdrawal of U.S. troops from Syria. While no definitive decision has been made to leave, four sources within the Defense and State departments said the White House is no...

"I noticed that he threw -- um -- Vivek under the bus. I've seen a candidate run for an office and basically campaign for another candidate in the same race before, but that's what's happened. And the minute he wasn't useful they dropped the hammer on him. That's just the way they are. We're going to go forward as a party. We can go forward in a way that's focused on peoples' issues and a great agenda for America, or we can go forward with Trump, which will be focused, the 2024 election, on legal issues, criminal trials, convictions, on...

In some branches of the military, the shortage of personnel has become even more dire than the deficit in arms and ammunition. One of Zelensky’s close aides tells me that even if the U.S. and its allies come through with all the weapons they have pledged, “we don’t have the men to use them.” Since the start of the invasion, Ukraine has refused to release official counts of dead and wounded. But according to U.S. and European estimates, the toll has long surpassed 100,000 on each side of the war. It has eroded the ranks of Ukraine’s armed forces so...

Tucker Carlson and Don Lemon have hired the same lawyer after leaving their respective networks. Bryan Freedman is known as the go-to lawyer for multimillion-dollar payouts in messy media breakups. He's worked for former TV hosts at ABC, NBC, and CNN, and a long list of celebrities. Fox News host Tucker Carlson and CNN anchor Don Lemon both left their networks on Monday and have just hired the same powerhouse lawyer to handle their departures, according to multiple reports. Neither host has announced a lawsuit or dispute against their employers. But the litigator they've retained — Bryan Freedman — has...

Russia could encircle the war-ravaged city of Bakhmut in Ukraine's Donetsk region by March or April, according to a new assessment by Yevgeny Prigozhin, founder of the Wagner Group, which has been leading an offensive alongside Russian troops against the city since July. In video interviews with Russian media published late on February 15, Prigozhin, who has been sidelined by the Kremlin in recent weeks, appeared to shift expectations on the potential capture of Bakhmut. Prigozhin blasted Russia's "monstrous military bureaucracy" for its failure to seize the city before the end of last year, and warned that Russia should not...

Yevgeny Prigozhin, whose Wagner Group of mercenaries has dominated headlines in Ukraine, has reportedly been sidelined by Vladimir Putin after failing to make good on his promises of military gains. The Institute for the Study of War (ISW) said Prigozhin's "star has begun to set" following his boasts that his forces could capture the Donetsk city of Bakhmut. The think tank said on Sunday that Putin wanted to see what Prigozhin and his previous commander in Ukraine, General Sergey Surovikin could do after the conventional Russian military had suffered disastrous setbacks. "Both efforts failed," the ISW said, as Prigozhin's attempts...

Despite maintaining ‘good relations’ with Moscow, Iran says it will never recognise Crimea and four other regions of Donbas as Russian. During an interview on Thursday, January 19, with the Turkish TV channel TRT World, Hossein Amir Abdollahian, the Minister of Foreign Affairs for Iran confirmed that Tehran did not recognise Crimea and four other regions of Donbas as Russian. This will come as a huge blow to President Vladimir Putin who clearly sees the Republic of Iran as an ally. Abdollahian insisted that Crimea, DPR, LPR, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia, with reference to the observance of international laws, were Ukrainian...

Infamous mercenary organization Wagner Group is feuding with the Russian military over who should get the praise for seizing control of Soledar, a town in eastern Ukraine. Russia's defense ministry said on Friday that its forces had captured the salt-mining town, killing over 700 Ukrainian troops and destroying more than 300 Ukrainian weapons systems over the past three days of battle, according to state media. Russia did not make any mention of Wagner, the paramilitary organization helping Russia fight in Ukraine. Wagner's founder Yevgeny Prigozhin wasn't happy with the apparent snub. Earlier this week, Prigozhin claimed in a statement that...

The Russian Defense Ministry has demoted General Surovikin to deputy head of the united Russian troops in Ukraine & Valery Gerasimov is the new head. This occurs just after his near predecessor Lapin has been promoted.

Vladimir Putin on Tuesday angrily gave marching orders to Russia’s security forces to redouble their efforts to root out traitors and spies working to undermine his regime. -snip- “Maximum composure, concentration of forces is now required from counterintelligence agencies, including military intelligence,” Putin said. “It is necessary to harshly crack down on the actions of foreign special services, promptly identify traitors, spies and saboteurs.” In an uncharacteristic break from the official line that the so-called “special military operation” is going according to plan, Putin admitted the situation was “difficult” in the four regions of Ukraine that were illegally annexed by...

Russia's leading war hawks rallied behind the humiliating decision for Moscow's forces to retreat from the Ukrainian city of Kherson this month, but the commander who argued in favour of the move is now under growing pressure to prove it was worth it. Sergei Surovikin, nicknamed "General Armageddon" by the Russian media for his reputed ruthlessness, on Nov. 9 recommended Moscow's forces quit Kherson and the west bank of the River Dnipro where they were dangerously exposed. Surovikin, a 56-year-old veteran of wars in Chechnya and Syria who has been decorated by President Vladimir Putin, argued the withdrawal, completed two...

Russia removed a top military commander in Ukraine following criticism from some of President Vladimir Putin’s top allies over the officer’s responsibility for a recent chaotic retreat in the country’s northeast that underscored Russian weaknesses on the battlefield. Col. Gen. Alexander Lapin, responsible for the Central Military District, Russia’s largest, was the last of Russia’s regional commanders still in place amid Moscow’s faltering invasion. It was unclear whether he had been suspended or removed from his post. Gen. Lapin was the top Russian commander for a part of Ukraine’s northeast that Kyiv’s forces retook in a lightning offensive in September....

Vice President Harris said in an interview with the Los Angeles Times on Friday that the Biden administration “didn’t see omicron coming," referring to a coronavirus variant that has rapidly made its way across the U.S..... ...Harris, however, defended the Biden administration’s response to COVID-19 amid concerns from health officials who worried that the president may have claimed victory against the virus too soon, telling the newspaper “we have not been victorious over it.” “I don’t think that in any regard anyone can claim victory when, you know, there are 800,000 people who are dead because of this virus,” she...

Donald Trump and his allies have stayed quiet on Matt Gaetz Their silence is deafening as Gaetz struggles to save his political career Gaetz was one of Trump's top allies on Capitol Hill Trump, who has not been shy about blasting out statements on an array of matters, has yet to send one out on Gaetz Anyone that has ever spent 10 minutes with the guy would realize he's an unserious person,' one former Trump campaign aide told Politico of Gaetz

I predicted this. I just heard on the Radio, GOP Leader McCarthy says he’s ready to Oust Gaetz and remove him from Committee’s, if allegations are True. Wow, That didn’t take long. (Married) Swalwell’s Mistress and Chinese Spy talked him into running for President - and he’s on the Intelligence Committee.

Washington (CNN)A federal grand jury on Thursday indicted Greg Craig, a prominent Democratic attorney who worked for two presidents, charging him with false statements and concealing material information in connection with work he performed for Ukraine. An indictment in the case against Craig, which originated in special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation, has been expected for several weeks, with Craig's own lawyers saying Wednesday they anticipated such an outcome. Craig, 74, is the highest-profile Democrat to be indicted in a matter stemming from Mueller's work, which resulted in charges against numerous Republicans connected to President Donald Trump. The case is being...

<p>As I was taking deep breaths and preparing myself to make my case to the crowd, I felt two hands on my shoulders. I froze. “Why is the vice-president of the United States touching me?”</p> <p>I felt him get closer to me from behind. He leaned further in and inhaled my hair. I was mortified. I thought to myself, “I didn’t wash my hair today and the vice-president of the United States is smelling it. And also, what in the actual fuck? Why is the vice-president of the United States smelling my hair?” He proceeded to plant a big slow kiss on the back of my head.</p>

Fox News's Andrew Napolitano said late Tuesday there is “no evidence” to support President Trump’s “Spygate” theory that the FBI planted spies during his 2016 presidential campaign. Napolitano, the news network's senior judicial analyst, said on "The Story With Martha MacCallum" that Trump’s lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, is making a “baseless” claim. “The allegations by Mayor Giuliani over the weekend, which would lead to us believe that the Trump people think that the FBI had an undercover agent who inveigled his way into the campaign and was there as a spy on the campaign, seem to be baseless,” Napolitano said. There...

WEST PALM BEACH FLORIDA-Nikki R. Haley, the ambassador to the United Nations, fired back at the White House on Tuesday, denying that she had been confused when she announced on Sunday that the Trump administration would impose new sanctions on Russia. "With all due respect, I don't get confused," she told Dana Perino of Fox News. She was responding to a comment earlier in the day by Larry Kudlow, the president's new economic advisor who was briefing reporters in Florida before President Trump's meeting with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe of Japan. "She got ahead of the curve,” Mr. Kudlow said....

Former FBI Director James Comey's public feud with President Trump is growing strikingly personal. {snip} The vindictive tone of Comey’s observations stunned Washington, raising concerns even among those who know and respect the former FBI director. “I’m troubled by it,” said Ron Hosko, a former FBI official who worked under Comey. “It seems very, very personal, vengeful … even if true.”{snip} Rep. Pete King (R-N.Y.) told reporters Friday his opinion of Comey has changed in light of the new excerpts, saying they reveal a “personal vendetta against the president.” “Comey’s saying all these things about the president. … To me...