ISIS

LAHORE, Pakistan — “How do we prevent the 5-year-old in Pakistan from becoming a radical?” U.S. House Speaker Paul Ryan asked in an April interview. Imran Azhar has a ready answer: “You make him a hero. And you redefine what it is to be a hero.” Azhar is part of a small group of Pakistani artists, activists, […]

ISIS has claimed its first terror attack on Russian soil after two supporters attempted to murder police officers near Moscow. Both of the men were killed during the assault at a traffic post on a motorway in Balashika on Wednesday, when they were armed with a gun and two axes. Russia’s Investigative Committee said one of the […]

In a recent article titled, “Inside the Real US Ground War on ISIS” by Mike Giglio, new details about Delta Force‘s collaboration with Kurdish counter-terrorism units is detailed, including the Hawija prison rescue in which Delta operator Master Sergeant Joshua Wheeler was killed. The well researched article mentions Wheeler’s bravery under fire and the admiration […]

In fact, it appears that Syria had a robust army after all. They never received U.S. training. How much does third party training do for a nation without a strong national identity. The Iraqis do not feel as though they have a country.

The Islamic State terrorist group has displayed yet another one of its gruesome methods of public execution, killing six men in Iraq accused of collaborating with the U.S.-led coalition and Kurdish forces by boiling them to death in vats of tar. As IS (also known as ISIS or ISIL) has utilized various brutal and heinous […]

A few years ago, relatively early on in the war against ISIS, I was smuggled into Northern Syria along a PKK re-supply route.  Taking a small inflatable boat across the river which acted as the border between Syria and Iraq, my first stop in the Kurdish held areas of Syria (known as Rojava) was a […]

Last week, the Daily Beast reported, fifty CENTCOM intelligence analysts filed a formal complaint with the inspector general after they felt like their reports were being altered by senior officials in order to downplay the strength and capabilities of ISIS and al Qaeda. The article alleges, that the senior officials, to include the director of intelligence and […]

We give ISIL a lot of credit in some ways. Even addressing them by their preferred names is a sign of respect. It validates them and helps their cause. By no means am I advocating we do not take our enemy seriously, but leave that to professional warfighters.

The effect of the Obama administration’s policy has been to replace American boots on the ground with the Iranian’s. As Iran advances, one anti-American actor is being replaced with another.

Even after its liberation from the so-called Islamic State, this city in northern Syria remains draped in jihadist black banners. Anything and everything might be rigged with explosives, and often it is, so people don’t rip down flags without thinking first. As I visited the scene of battle repeatedly over the weekend, the sound of […]

Russian bombers took off from a base in Iran to conduct airstrikes in against ISIS in Syria on Tuesday, officials said, marking a new development in the country’s civil war. It was the first time Russia used the territory of another Middle Eastern country for its operations inside Syria in support of President Bashar Assad. […]

Iraqi Kurdish forces say they have retaken five villages east of the Islamic State-held city of Mosul in an operation launched early Sunday. U.S.-backed Kurdish forces known as peshmerga aim to “clear several more villages” in “one of many shaping operations” that will increase pressure on the extremist group, the Kurdish region’s Security Council said […]