ISIS

It’s important to practice getting out of sticky situations. The following is a video of myself and my colleague demonstrating to a small group of Peshmerga soldiers how to break contact with an enemy force utilizing fire and maneuver. While we are doing this as a two man element it can easily be expanded into […]

Sharing details the source said, “Special medical unit of the organization proceeded to steal human organs for about 23 Daesh militants of those who slept in the hospitals of Nineveh,” noting that “what has been stolen from those members included the kidneys, intestines and more; they were transferred under tight control to affiliated hospital on the outskirts of the city. ”

We’re getting myopic again – with Syria. A lot of conversation has been focused on Syria and boots on the ground, and its meaning. I choose to believe it’s a code word for a formal occupation and declaration of war. Those sort of boots are unlikely. But more important than that – is while the foreign […]

We don’t know very much about the explosions that occurred in New York, but we do know these acts were intentional. We also know they were intended to cause harm. That’s terrorism. It wasn’t revenge or a lover’s quarrel; it was designed to terrorize. Governor Cuomo made a statement saying that the NYC explosion was obviously […]

The special forces deployment comes as Washington accused Damascus of blocking aid to besieged cities and warned it will not boost military cooperation with Russia unless Moscow is able to convince President Bashar al-Assad both to halt attacks on rebel groups and allow humanitarian access.

The U.S. has teams of special operations troops on the ground in Syria to support some Sunni Arab militias in fights against ISIS. Other Sunni Arab groups receive money and weapons from the U.S. In some situations, they fight alongside al Nusra militants against common enemies like ISIS.

That ambiguity will frustrate the Russians.

“The Russia would like to make it black and white, and say ‘U.S., you tell your guys to separate form Nusra.’ But I can’t see the U.S. being that black and white about it,” Lopour said.

The PKK is not affiliated with the Kurdistan Regional Government or the Peshmerga. The Kurdistan Workers’ Party or PKK (Kurdish: Partiya Karkerên Kurdistanê‎) is a far left-wing guerilla organization that operates in the mountainous border regions of Iran, Iraq, Syria, and Turkey.

The combat between the PKK and Turkish army within this video demonstrates one of many longstanding conflicts in volatile proximity of the fight against, Daesh, or the Islamic State, as well as the Syrian Civil War.

Yesterday, a Muslim man, identified as Dahir Adan, dressed in a security guard uniform stabbed nine people at a mall in St. Cloud, Minnesota.  He reportedly praised Allah and asked one of the injured if they were Muslim before he stabbed them. An off-duty police officer was able to shoot and kill Adan before he could […]

ISIL fighters shot down a Syrian military plane in the eastern Syrian city of Deir Az Zor, the group’s Amaq news agency reported on Sunday. “A Syrian warplane belonging to the Syrian regime was brought down when targeted by fighters from the Islamic State in the city of Deir al-Zor,” Amaq said in an online […]

An alarming video shows members of the Free Syrian Army (FSA) chanting threats in reaction to American troops entering a small town in northern Syria. The video might really show us that Americans are in danger in Syria. It also shows we are not necessarily winning hearts and minds. Above all, it shows that Syria, like the […]

Northern Syria has always been the more difficult and violent section of Syria in the civil war. Aleppo and other cities have seen the most devastation. They’ve also witnessed the most fluid situation of occupants running the gamut of groups in Syria. According to Barbara Starr, who tweeted “US Special Operations Forces in Northern Syria […]

In April, the White House authorized up to 300 Special Operations troops in Syria. According to a U.S. defense official speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss ongoing operations, the new detachment of U.S. forces with the Turks was requested by Defense Secretary Ashton B. Carter and was approved by President Obama. It is unclear whether the new detachment of troops alongside the Turks will increase the overall number of Special Operations forces in Syria.

In the past, the Pentagon has insisted that the troops are not on the “front line” and have instead remained in an advisory role, helping local forces call in airstrikes and assisting them plan operations. In August, Syrian Democratic Forces backed by heavy U.S. and coalition airstrikes, took the key town of Manbij. Although no U.S. troops have been killed in Syria, several have been wounded.