Soldiers deploying to Iraq re-enter Gas chamber

Soldiers deploying to Iraq re-enter Gas chamber

In Basic Combat Training (BCT) everyone enters and exits the gas chamber. When doing so, everyone breathes in the gas – and a deeply uncomfortable sensation ensues. It’s terrible and jarring in your first go-around. I know no one without exception enjoys the experience. Because of a single shell with remnants of a harmful chemical […]

Comey warns of post-ISIL terrorist ‘diaspora’

Comey warns of post-ISIL terrorist ‘diaspora’

FBI Director James Comey warned Tuesday that the increasing success of the military campaign against the Islamic State in Syria and Iraq carries an ominous downside: a wave of terrorist fighters who will spread across the globe as the group loses control of its territory on the ground. “The so-called caliphate will be crushed. The […]

Kurds won’t have friends as ISIL fades to the background

Kurds won’t have friends as ISIL fades to the background

The Kurds ought to be our focus in the Middle East. They’re legitimately our friends. At this point, it’s clear we don’t know the Middle East better than Middle Easterners. But, we do know who has performed and helped us in the past. We ought to give the Kurds some measure of solidarity, because once […]

Blasts kill at least 17 in Baghdad: police, medics

Blasts kill at least 17 in Baghdad: police, medics

Three blasts killed at least 17 people and wounded more than 50 in predominantly Shi’ite Muslim districts of Baghdad on Tuesday, police and medical sources said. A suicide bomber detonated his explosive vest in a commercial street in the eastern Baghdad al-Jadida area of the Iraqi capital, killing nine people and wounding more than 30, […]

California man gets 30 years for trying to join ISIS

California man gets 30 years for trying to join ISIS

A Southern California man convicted of trying to become a fighter for the Islamic State terrorist group was sentenced Monday to 30 years prison. U.S. District Judge David O. Carter gave the sentence Monday to 25-year-old Nader Elhuzayel of Anaheim. Carter noted that Elhuzayel has shown no regret for his actions and that his repeated […]

More details emerge on the Washington mall shooter, motive still unknown

More details emerge on the Washington mall shooter, motive still unknown

Arcan Cetin, a 20-year-old man has been identified as the active shooter responsible for killing five people at a Macy’s in Burlington, Washington mall.  Based on the surveillance footage, the active shooter was initially identified as a possible Hispanic male, however, he was born in Turkey and immigrated with his family when he was a child. He has been […]

First Presidential Debate, I don’t know who won, but our Foreign Policy lost

First Presidential Debate, I don’t know who won, but our Foreign Policy lost

The first presidential debate wasn’t about debating and more about fighting. The candidates didn’t critique each other’s policy details. We didn’t hear real foreign policy details. The debate was painful to watch. By the end, it was hard to decipher what was asked and who was supposed to answer. Because, neither candidate, I think, was […]

Presidential debate preliminaries: What to expect from the debate tonight

Presidential debate preliminaries: What to expect from the debate tonight

Tonight’s debate will likely be filled with vitriol between the candidates. This year feels unique because national security is such a hot topic for voters. Tonight is going to be a spectacle, for sure. But now more than ever, foreign policy is a part of the conversation. When George H.W. Bush ran years ago in […]

Hacker who leaked US military ‘kill list’ for ISIS sentenced to prison for 20 years

Hacker who leaked US military ‘kill list’ for ISIS sentenced to prison for 20 years

Ardit Ferizi, also known as “Th3Dir3ctorY,” was charged at the Eastern District of Virginia court by US District Judge Leonie Brinkema last week, according to the US Department of Justice (DoJ). The 20-year-old, a citizen of Kosovo, was charged with providing support the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), as well as accessing […]

Jordanian writer who shared cartoon mocking ISIS killed

Jordanian writer who shared cartoon mocking ISIS killed

A prominent Jordanian writer facing charges for sharing a “blasphemous” anti-ISIS cartoon that outraged Muslim groups was fatally shot in Amman on Sunday, state news agency Petra reported. Nahed Hattar, a member of the country’s Christian minority, was shot three times outside a courthouse in the capital where charges against him were being heard. Public […]