Free Republic

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Gunmen shot dead two protesters in Iraq's southern city of Nassiriya overnight and a Baghdad district became a battlefield on the third day of a drive by security forces to end months of demonstrations against the largely Iran-backed ruling elite. Clashes over the weekend had already killed at least five protesters. Rockets also hit the U.S. embassy compound in Baghdad's fortified Green Zone housing government buildings. Ambassadors of 16 countries in Baghdad including the United States, France and Britain condemned the use of live fire by Iraqi security forces and called for a credible investigation into the...

In mid-October, Iranian Major-General Qassem Soleimani met with his Iraqi Shi’ite militia allies at a villa on the banks of the Tigris River, looking across at the U.S. embassy complex in Baghdad. The Revolutionary Guards commander instructed his top ally in Iraq, Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, and other powerful Pro-Iran militia leaders to step up attacks on U.S. targets in the country using sophisticated new weapons provided by Iran, two militia commanders and two security sources briefed on the gathering told Reuters. The strategy session, which has not been previously reported, came as mass protests against Iran’s growing influence in Iraq...

TEL AVIV: Five days ago, an undisclosed intelligence agency intercepted a telephone call made by the head of Iran’s Quds Force, Maj. Gen. Qassem Soleimani, in which he was heard ordering his proxies in Iraq to attack the U.S embassy in Baghdad, as well as other Israeli and American targets, with the aim of taking hostages, Israeli sources say. It’s unclear whether this was a lapse in tradecraft on the part of the usually savvy Soleimani or whether the notorious Iranian military leader’s phone calls were being routinely intercepted. Nor is it clear whether it was the US or another...

"This baseless and highly partisan inquiry violates all past historical precedent, basic due process rights, and fundamental fairness" That's part of the letter from White House counsel Pat Cipollone to the Democrat controlled House Judiciary Committee Sunday evening..... Friday's terrorist attack front and center in the British election campaign. Two dead and three wounded in the stabbing attack on London Bridge..... On Friday night in London's Stamford Hill neighborhood a visitng rabbi assaulted and left bleeding on the ground.... At least 14 killed in an attack on a church in the African nation of Burkina Faso...... Police in the Netherlands...

"The Horowitz report is just the beginning of the unraveling of the plot to destroy Donald Trump" That's the view of former CIA employee Larry Johnson in response to recent mainstream media reporting.... The House Judiciary Committee chairman Democrat Congressman Jerry Nadler sending a letter to President Trump today..... A stabbing attack at London Bridge with two killed and the attacker shot dead..... Later Friday in the evening a stabbing attack reported in the Netherlands in The Hague.... The late word from Iraq is that Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi will be resigning..... Russian airstrikes reported in northwestern Syria Friday.......