Tag: ISIS

Months after the Pentagon said it wouldn’t use a controversial type of armor-piercing ammunition that has been blamed for long-term health complications, U.S. aircraft fired thousands of the rounds during two high-profile air raids in Syria in November 2015, the Pentagon acknowledged Wednesday. The use of the ammunition, a 30mm depleted-uranium bullet called PGU-14, was […]

The nature and threat of radical Islamic terrorism has been altered and expanded by ISIS, and Al-Qaeda has been quietly rebuilding its capabilities in preparation for ISIS’ defeat on the battlefield, according to terrorism officials. Three renowned experts on terrorism testified before the House Armed Services Committee on Tuesday, giving detailed briefs on their assessments of the […]

To jumpstart the campaign against ISIS, the Pentagon is considering deploying conventional troops into the fray against ISIS. The implications are far-reaching and many questions arise. This could have been an inevitable outcome. It could be a product of ‘mission creep.’ Stakeholders within the Pentagon are beginning to claim their ‘piece of the pie.’ The […]

Today, a large car bomb detonated in a Shia neighborhood in southwest Baghdad, killing at least 48. This attack is the third car bombing in Baghdad this week, four people were killed on Tuesday and 15 people were killed at a car dealership in Sadr City on Wednesday. So far, no one has claimed responsibility for today’s attack, however, Islamic State did claim […]

Gen. Raymond Thomas, head of US Special Operations Command, said on Tuesday that the US and its allies in the fight against ISIS had killed more than 60,000 of the terrorist group’s fighters. That estimate was considerably higher than the 50,000 ISIS-dead estimate given by US officials in December. Thomas, whose command includes Navy SEALs […]

President Trump expects Russia to abandon its claim over the Crimean Peninsula, White House spokesman Sean Spicer said today. Sanctions imposed by the United States during the Obama Administration will remain in place, until Russia ‘returns’ Crimea to the Ukrainian government. The announcement is in line with others from the Trump Administration. On February 2nd, […]

Fighting occurred between jihadist opposition groups in northwest Syria on Monday, highlighting the fractious differences that remain among rebel forces in Syria. Following the seizure of Aleppo in December 2016 by Assad government forces, armed opposition groups in northwest Syria have begun to battle over remaining territory and resources. As Assad regime troops re-consolidate following […]

Government forces in Afghanistan have launched a military offensive with the help of American air support against fighters loyal to the Islamic State in Nangarhar Province, Afghanistan. The effort comes at the same time U.S. General John Nicholson, commander of all international troops assigned to Operation Resolute Support, has requested additional U.S. soldiers to serve […]

A Russian wind is blowing over Europe creating a chill no one has felt since the rise of the Soviet Union. While the wind isn’t as strong, it is more biting. We, as Americans, must hope for the best for our president. He should be granted the benefit of the doubt while accountable for his actions […]

QAYYARAH, Iraq — The flames exploded into the sky like a volcanic eruption, blanketing a swath of the Iraqi countryside in a noxious haze of black smoke. The inferno reached more than 300 feet high on a recent afternoon when the wind shifted direction, bending the billowing wall of fire toward the men from Iraq’s […]

Turkish Airlines Flight 304 from Istanbul began its slow descent to Erbil, the main airport for the Kurdish Regional Government in northern Iraq. Looking down below, I could see the strange contrast of the region’s snowcapped hills and the evergreen valleys. It was not the only thing about the area that was incongruous: While it […]

Air Force Col. John Dorrian, spokesman for Combined Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve tasked with engaging ISIS, briefed the Pentagon on Wednesday about continuing operations against ISIS around the globe. Colonel Dorrian did not mince words, stating plainly that the ISIS fighters holding out in pockets of Iraq’s second largest city have “only two […]