Whistleblower: Cockroaches Served in Food at Chicago-area VA Hospital

A vermin infestation has overrun the kitchen of a suburban Chicago Veteran Affairs hospital and is reportedly so severe that cockroaches routinely crawl across countertops as cooks prepare meals. The insects have even found their way into patients’ food, employees say. The bug invasion has attracted the attention of a U.S. senator who is demanding […]

How the CIA failed a spy who went missing in Iran

In a world of seemingly random massacres in Paris, Brussels and San Bernardino, Calif.; Islamic State beheadings; and an erratic potentate in a nuclear-armed North Korea, we like to think that the CIA, the FBI and the other 14 agencies charged with gathering intelligence are doing their damnedest to keep us safe. And, for the […]

Traffic to Wikipedia Terrorism Entries Plunged After Snowden Revelations

Internet traffic to Wikipedia pages summarizing knowledge about terror groups and their tools plunged nearly 30 percent after revelations of widespread Web monitoring by the U.S. National Security Agency, suggesting that concerns about government snooping are hurting the ordinary pursuit of information. A forthcoming paper in the Berkeley Technology Law Journal analyzes the fall in […]

Blacklisted Terrorism Financiers Still Active on Social Media

Some terrorist financiers blacklisted by the U.S. government continue to raise money and attract followers on U.S.-based social media, a new report says. That is because some financiers open new social media accounts, even as companies shut them down. Others operate uninterrupted, as their messages aren’t as overt as the more violent jihadists, where takedown […]

TSA hits new record after confiscating 73 guns in one week from carry-on bags

Airport screeners established a new record last week when they stopped passengers from boarding planes with 73 firearms in carry-on luggage. The Transportation Security Administration officials said the number was reached in the seven days ending April 21 and the haul surpassed the previous high of 68 set in October. After confiscating the 73 firearms, […]

Congress takes its first step toward killing the military draft

The military draft may be headed for the scrap heap.  The House Armed Services Committee will include instructions to examine the Selective Service program’s viability and possible “alternatives” as part of its review of the annual defense authorization bill next week, staffers confirmed on Friday. The move comes following months of hand-wringing over whether women will […]

Why Americans Want a Military General in the White House

Retired Marine general James “Mad Dog” Mattis, who hung up his uniform three years ago, batted away speculation about running for President on Friday—but didn’t rule it out. Mattis—call sign “Chaos”—was fielding questions from the audience at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington following a talk on Iran, but the first query […]

U.S. Charges Woman for Exporting Underwater Drone Technology to China

SOFREP recently covered UUVs that are set for deployment in the South China Sea. – A Florida woman was charged with conspiring to illegally export U.S. technology used in underwater drones to a Chinese state-owned entity, according to an indictment unsealed on Thursday. Amin Yu, 53, of Orlando, Florida worked from 2002 until February 2014 […]

More illegals crossing into America through open border (Part 2)

It was just outside of Brownsville, Texas where I drove amidst the beach. With the Gulf of Mexico to my left while I took a four-wheel drive through the sand and surf along what seemed like the far reaches as I skirted around fishermen and beach goers. It was early in the afternoon, and I’d […]

F.B.I. Director Suggests Bill for iPhone Hacking Topped $1.3 Million

The director of the F.B.I. suggested Thursday that his agency paid at least $1.3 million to an undisclosed group to help hack into the encrypted iPhone used by an attacker in the mass shooting in San Bernardino, Calif. At a technology conference in London, a moderator asked James B. Comey Jr., the F.B.I. chief, how […]

Justice Department won’t block CIA interrogation suit

The Justice Department has signaled that it won’t try to block a lawsuit arising from the CIA’s harsh interrogation techniques, leaving the door open for a court challenge over tactics that have since been discontinued and widely discredited. Lawyers call the government’s stance unprecedented, but also a recognition that a once-secret program is now largely […]

Men held on terror charges facing further counts in plot against blogger

Two men from the Boston area already being held on charges of conspiracy to provide material support to ISIS faced new charges Thursday that they conspired to commit acts of terrorism, federal authorities said in a statement. Nicholas Rovinski  of Warwick, R.I., and David Daoud Wright, of Everett, Mass., were charged with conspiracy to commit […]