ISIS

Pentagon is considering deploying conventional troops into Syria (MAYBE)

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 […]

Series of car bombings target Shia in Baghdad this week

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 […]

Trump demands Russia return Crimea, while seeking their support elsewhere

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, […]

Jihadist clashes in Syria signal deteriorating situation for opposition

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 […]

Afghan government forces launch operation to clear ISIS from eastern Afghanistan

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 […]

Putin’s incremental encroachment on the world (Part One)

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 […]

Fireballs and booby traps: On the front lines with the oil workers battling ISIS

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 […]

Big Phil’s War: Off to Erbil to join up with the Kurds (Part 6)

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 […]

Coalition spokesman on ISIS in West Mosul: “Surrender or die”

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 […]

Terror plot in France includes female suspect

Initial reports say a police raid in southern France has stopped an imminent terrorist attack by four suspects, including one young woman. The four suspects were found with the same explosive material used in previous terror attacks tied to ISIS in Paris and Brussels. A teenager girl, aged 16, had reportedly made jihadist posts on […]

Russian airstrike accidentally kills 3 Turkish soldiers in Syria

Three Turkish soldiers were killed and eleven others were injured when a Russian air strike accidentally hit a building occupied by the Turkish military in Syria on Thursday. “During an operation by a Russia Federation warplane against Islamic State targets in the region of the Euphrates Shield operation in Syria, a bomb accidentally hit a […]