The IAP is Utah's largest third party and the 'Constitution Solution' Party. The IAP is the lone conservative option for Utah Voters. While the GOP uses an elephant logo, and Dems use a donkey, the IAP uses a white American Bison, which is 'big medicine' and an emblem of the divine to Native American and First Nation peoples.
...who the "Red" party is (the Republican or GOP)
... who the "Blue" party is (the Democrats) ...
... why the Independent Americn Party, of course !!
(proverb provided by Cliven Bundy, 2018 IAP State Convention)
"The country shall be independent, and we will be satisfied with nothing short of it." ------ Samuel Adams, 1774
UTAH IAP firmly stands with Israel in their defensive war against Humas in Gaza for the past horrendous 15-months.
We rejoice with Israel over the coming CEASEFIRE and all three phases getting the hostages back home, along with the bodies of the deceased hostages (eventually). We look forward to the forthcoming reunions and the healing of the region.
WE PRAY FOR PEACE AND SAFETY OF CITIZENS AND FAMILIES OF BOTH SIDES, AS WELL AS HOPE FOR 'A QUICK and PEACEFUL END' (even over 15-months later) OF ALL OF THESE HOSTILITIES without further involvement (attacks, interferrance, et al) by Hezbollah, Iran, or any outside agitators.
PHOTO CAPTION: Hamas militants stand next to Keith Siegel, a U.S.-Israeli hostage held in Gaza since the Oct. 7, 2023 terrorist attack, before handing him over to Red Cross staff as part of a ceasefire and a hostages-prisoners swap deal between Hamas and Israel, in Gaza City, Feb. 1, 2025.
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Hamas militants released three frail Israel hostages in exchange for 183 Palestinian prisoners, some also emaciated, on Saturday, Feb 8th
After the fifth handoff since the cease-fire on Jan. 25, Hamas has now released 16 Israeli hostages as part of the first phase of the cease-fire agreement. Eight of the 33 promised hostages are dead, according to the Israeli government.
Ohad Ben Ami, 56; Eli Sharabi, 52; and Or Levy, 34, were taken hostage during the Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel. Ben Ami and Sharabi were captured from their homes in Kibbutz Be'eri, about 2.5 miles from the Gaza border, and Levy, 34, was attending the Nova music festival near kibbutz Re'im when he was kidnapped.
They were handed to the Red Cross in the central city of Deir al-Balah on day 491 of their captivity in Gaza. Israel Defense Forces in Gaza transferred them back to Israel for an initial medical assessment before being reunited with their families.
Supporters, waving flags and holding placards, lined the route near Re'im.
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American-Israeli dual national Keith Siegel was among three hostages released by Hamas militants in the war-torn Gaza Strip on Saturday, more than 15 months after they were taken captive by the group during its Oct. 7, 2023 terrorist attack. Siegel was freed in Gaza City about two hours after Israelis Yarden Bibas and Ofer Calderon were released in the southern city of Khan Younis.
The Israeli military confirmed that all three hostages were in its care and back in Israel after first being handed over to Red Cross personnel in Gaza. Siegel appeared to have lost weight during his captivity, but he waved and smiled as Hamas militants prepared to hand him over to Red Cross staff. In a statement, the Israel Defense Forces said the three freed men would be reunited with family members and taken for medical checks and care at hospitals in Israel.
Both handovers were conducted quickly Saturday and without the chaos seen during the previous exchange, which angered Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who delayed the corresponding Israeli release of Palestinian prisoners by several hours.
Israel was expected to free about 90 more Palestinians from its prisons on Saturday in exchange for the release of the three hostages, as stipulated in the ceasefire agreement that took effect on January 19.
Keith Siegel is the 1st American freed during the new ceasefire
Originally from North Carolina, Siegel moved to Israel four decades ago. He was among seven American citizens taken as hostages into Gaza during Hamas' unprecedented Oct. 7 attack, which saw militants kill around 1,200 people in southern Israel and take 251 others captive.
Israel's military assault on Hamas in response has killed more than 47,400 people, according to the Palestinian territory's Hamas-run Ministry of Health, left entire neighborhoods leveled and caused a humanitarian catastrophe by displacing virtually the entire enclave's population and destroying its infrastructure.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement Saturday that Americans are celebrating the return of Siegel.
"President Trump and his administration have worked diligently to secure their release and are committed to freeing all remaining hostages," she said.
It is believed that at least two of the six American hostages still held in Gaza are alive — Sagui Dekel-Chen, 35, who grew up in Bloomfield, Connecticut, and Edan Alexander, 19, from Tenafly, New Jersey. Four other Americans are believed to have been killed in captivity.
Siegel's wife Aviva was also taken hostage by Hamas militants on Oct. 7, but was released in an earlier hostage and prisoner swap in November 2023.
Speaking to CBS News about a year after her release, Aviva Siegel said there were moments as Hamas militants forced her and her husband through tunnels under the Gaza Strip that they felt "sure we were going to die."
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The top American envoy to the Middle East, Steven Witkoff, met on Wednesday with Israel’s prime minister on the eve of another round of hostage releases, aiming to reinforce a cease-fire agreement between Israel and Hamas that, if made permanent, would allow thousands more displaced Palestinians to return to their homes.
Envoy Wilkoff was also expected to inspect the Netzarim Corridor, a four-mile strip that bisects Gaza, where American security contractors have been enlisted to help handle the return of displaced Palestinians. He would be the highest-ranking U.S. official to visit Gaza in years, both because of security concerns and the official American no-contact policy with Hamas.
An Israeli official, who was not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity, said that. Witkoff arrived in Israel to meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and several of his top aides after discussions on Tuesday in Saudi Arabia for a broader Middle East peace plan. Israel Katz, Israel’s defense minister, was also at the meeting between Witkoff and Netanyahu on Wednesday, according to another Israeli official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the minister’s schedule.
David Mencer, a government spokesman, said that the Israeli authorities would not discuss whether Witkoff had visited the Netzarim Corridor, until after all meetings on Wednesday were concluded. Witkoff said in a Fox News interview last week that he planned to visit both the Netzarim Corridor in Gaza and, farther south, the Philadelphia Corridor on the border with Egypt during the trip, but the timing was unclear as travel schedules are usually closely held to ensure security. The U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem and Netanyahu’s office did not respond to requests for comment on Wednesday.
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Negotiations have begun regarding Phase Two of the Ceasefire. This is a hopeful sign that the ceasefire will continue through the rest promised by both Hamas and Israel will come to fruition including more hostages will be released and troops will continue to withdraw without violations. Both sides are actively negotiate setting the standards, timeline, and accomplishments toward a stable and peaceful ceasefire in Gaza. All are anxiously awaiting good news.
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We will be keeping a close watch on the progress of this ceasefire and release of hostages. Stay tuned.
The initial first phase is a ceasefire for six-weeks with hostage/prisoner exchange,
Details of the next phases depends on further negotiations, but could include IDF troop withdrawal, humanitarian aid, rebuilding of cities in Gaza, new gov't (non-Hamas) in Gaza, even release of dead hostage remains released, etc.
We condemn the on-going war, military invasion, all military actions and war-crimes against the families & children of Ukraine by Putin and his Russian Military leadership since Feb. 24, 2022! Now, approaching three years) !
But this has really been going on longer than that, over a decade ago!!
We also continue to condemn the unprovoked invasion of Crimea by Russia in 2014, the War in the Donbas (2014-2022), as well as the current escalation!
The horrendous and needless loss of tens of thousands lives (on both sides) is more than appalling ... it has become so much more than criminal, it has become literally a crime against humanity! And this all falls in the lap, on the head and hands of Putin! All Ukraine has done is defend their land and their people, their families and way of life from a criminal invader!
We fully support UKRAINE as a Legitimate, Independent & Sovereign Nation and condemn the Russian imposition, the totally unwarranted military incursion (WAR!) and associated War Crimes on the soil of Ukraine, on the people & families & children of UKRAINE!!
Latest from the front:
A dire shortage of infantry troops and supply routes coming under Russian drone attacks are conspiring against forces in Pokrovsk , where decisive battles in the nearly three-year war are playing out — and time is running short.
Ukrainian troops are losing ground around the crucial supply hub, which lies at the confluence of multiple highways leading to key cities in the eastern Donetsk region as well as an important railway station.
Moscow is set on capturing as much territory as possible as the Trump administration is pushing for negotiations to end the war and recently froze foreign aid to Ukraine, a move that has shocked Ukrainian officials already apprehensive about the intentions of the new U.S. president, their most important ally. Military aid has not stopped, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said.
Ukrainian soldiers in Pokrovsk said that Russian forces switched tactics in recent weeks, attacking their flanks instead of going head-on to form a pincer movement around the city. With Russians in control of dominant heights, Ukrainian supply routes are now within their range. Heavy fog in recent days prevented Ukrainian soldiers from effectively using surveillance drone, allowing Russians to consolidate and take more territory.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian commanders say they do not have enough reserves to sustain defense lines and that new infantry units are failing to execute operations. Many pin hopes on Mykhailo Drapatyi, a respected commander recently appointed by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy as ground forces chief, to shift the dynamic and counterattack.
“The war is won by logistics. If there is no logistics, there is no infantry, because there is no way to supply it,” said the deputy commander of the Da Vinci Wolves battalion, known by the call sign Afer.
“(Russians) have learned this and are doing it quite well."
A combination of factors led Kyiv to effectively lose the settlement of Velyka Novosilka this past week, their most significant gain since seizing the city of Kurakhove in the Donetsk region in January.
Scattered groups of Ukrainian soldiers are still present in Velyka Novosilka’s southern sector, Ukrainian commanders said, prompting criticism from some military experts who questioned why the higher command did not order a full withdrawal.
The road-junction village is 15 kilometers (9 miles) from the neighboring Dnipropetrovsk region, where authorities have begun digging fortifications for the first time since Russia's full-scale invasion in February 2022, anticipating further Russian advances.
Russia amassed a large number of infantry around Velyka Novosilka, soldiers there said. As heavy fog set in in recent days, Ukrainian drones “barely worked” to conduct surveillance, one commander near Pokrovsk told The Associated Press. Long-range and medium-range surveillance was impossible, he said. He spoke on condition of anonymity in order to speak freely about sensitive military matters.
“Because of this, the enemy was amassing forces … taking up positions, digging in. They were very good at it,” he said.
It was at that fateful moment that Russian forces launched a massive attack: Up to 10 columns of armoured vehicles, each with up to 10 units, moved out from various directions.
Key logistics routes along asphalted roads and highways are under direct threat from Russian drones as a result of Moscow's recent gains, further straining Ukrainian troops.
Russian forces now occupy key dominant heights around the Pokrovsk region, which allows them to use drones up to 30 kilometers (18 miles) deep into Ukrainian front lines.
The Pokrovsk-Pavlohrad-Dnipro highway is “already under the control of Russian drones,” said the commander at Pokrovsk’s flanks. Russian forces are less than 4 kilometers ( 2 1/2 miles) away and are affecting Ukrainian traffic, he said. “Now the road is only 10% of its former capacity,” he said.
Another paved highway, the Myrnohrad-Kostyantynivka road, is also under Russian fire, he said.
This also means that in poor weather, military vehicles, including armored personnel carriers, tanks and pickup trucks, have to trudge through the open fields to deliver fuel, food and ammunition, as well as evacuate the wounded.
In a first-aid station near Pokrovsk, a paramedic with the call sign Marik said evacuating wounded soldiers once took hours, now it takes days.
“Everything is visible (by enemy drones) and it is very difficult,” he said.
Ukrainian soldiers in Pokrovsk said shortages of fighting troops are “catastrophic” and challenges are compounded by newly created infantry units that are poorly trained and inexperienced, putting more pressure on battle-hardened brigades having to step in to stabilize the front line.
Afer, the deputy commander, complained that new recruits are “constantly extending the front line because they leave their positions, they do not hold them, they do not control them, they do not monitor them. We do almost all the work for them.”
“Because of this, having initially a 2-kilometer area of responsibility, you end up with 8-9 kilometers per battalion, which is a lot and we don’t have enough resources,” Afer said. Drones are especially hard to come by for his battalion, he said, adding they only have half of what they need.
“It’s not because they have lower quality infantry, but because they are completely unprepared for modern warfare,” he said of the new recruits.
His battalion has almost no reserves, forcing infantry units to hold front-line positions for weeks at a time. For every one of his soldiers, Russians have 20, he said, emphasizing how outnumbered they are.
Back at the first-aid station, a wounded soldier with the call sign Fish was recovering from a leg wound sustained after he tried to evacuate a fallen comrade. He had moved him from a dugout to load him into a vehicle when the Russian mortar shell exploded nearby.
“We are fighting back as much as we can, as best as we can,” he said.
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Putin Open To Trump's Ukraine Peace Plan, Aims To Avoid Concessions
A news outlet has leaked U.S. President Donald Trump's alleged plan to end the Russia-Ukraine war in 100 days, which the office of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said is false.
On Sunday, Strana, a Ukrainian outlet, published details of the purported plan to end the war in a few months, writing that it had been discussed in "political and diplomatic circles" in Ukraine. Newsweek was unable to independently verify whether the details of the plan were accurate.
Newsweek has contacted the White House, outside business hours, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine for comment via email.
The alleged plan begins with a phone call with Putin and Zelensky in late January or early February, followed by a meeting with both in March, and an announcement of a ceasefire plan before Easter, which is April 20th this year.
In declaring a ceasefire, Ukraine troops would withdraw from Kursk and the International Peace Conference could begin work on a peace agreement to end the war between Russia and Ukraine. A declaration on the agreed for ending the war could be announced by early May and get Ukraine to not extend martial law or mobilize.
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