Historical retrospective: The Fulton Extraction System

Many remember the Fulton extraction system from the James Bond movie, “Thunderball,” starring Sean Connery, but the system was actually developed by the CIA for extracting personnel in austere parts of the world. Named after its creator, Robert Fulton, the system was tested by the CIA’s Special Activities Division in the 1950s. A few years back, […]

Trump: 10 minutes away from war with Iran

The New York Times and Newsweek have both reported that President Trump ordered retaliatory strikes against Iran for their downing of a Global Hawk drone over international airspace in the Persian Gulf. Trump confirmed this via Twitter, writing: We were cocked & loaded to retaliate last night on 3 different sights [sic] when I asked, […]

Op-Ed: Iran situation goes from bad to worse

Iran shot down an American drone on Thursday, supposedly over international waters, which the United States deemed an “unprovoked attack” in the Strait of Hormuz. It’s a further escalation of rising conflict between these countries. In the aftermath, an American reprisal airstrike against Iranian missile defense systems was first approved, then canceled, by President Trump. […]

Breaking: Iran shoots down US drone over international waters

An Iranian surface-to-air missile downed an American drone over international waters in the vicinity of the Strait of Hormuz. This act of aggression follows in the wake of last week’s unprovoked damaging of two oil tankers by Iranian limpet mines. Navy Captain Bill Urban, CENTCOM’s spokesperson, said in a statement that “U.S. Central Command can […]

Escalation: Royal Marines commandos deploy to Middle East amid Iranian aggressiveness

Britain’s premier maritime commando force is sailing toward the Strait of Hormuz for an exercise amid an international crisis triggered by Iranian aggression against two oil tankers last week. Royal Marines commandos from 42 Commando will be conducting visit, board, search and seizure drills, among other tasks, in close proximity to where the two tankers […]

Iranian mines almost sink two tankers as US Navy responds

During the early morning hours of June 13th, two tankers came under attack as they traversed the Gulf of Oman. The Norwegian-owned M/T Altair and the Japanese-owned M/T Kokuka Courageous were damaged by what appears to be Iranian limpet mines. The discovery of Iranian mines in international waters has raised tensions in the area. According […]

IDF West Bank Units Using New Intelligence Methods To Combat Terror Attacks

After several attacks on Israeli soldiers and civilians in the West Bank where the attackers were able to get away in the crowds, the IDF is revamping the way they do business to alert their troops to any suspicious activity by Palestinians in the West Bank. There have been 16 Israeli soldiers or citizens killed […]

America’s war drums beat for Iran

According to a recent New York Times article, high-ranking U.S. government officials have been briefed over the last few days on contingency plans for Iran, plans that include an invasion force equal to or greater than what it took to topple Saddam Hussein in 2003. These war plans would introduce as many as 120,000 American […]

Understanding Iran’s hidden insurgencies

Iran has long been known as an exporter of terrorism beyond its borders. This month their primary arm for sowing discord abroad, the Revolutionary Guard Corps, was designated a terrorist group by the Trump administration. Although the world is distracted by the insurgencies and destabilization caused by Iran, very little attention has been paid to […]

White House labels Iran’s Revolutionary Guard a terror group: What exactly does that mean?

The Trump administration made headlines all over the world Monday with the announcement the U.S. government has designated Iran‘s elite military unit known as the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as a “foreign terrorist organization.” While this specific designation has been discussed a number of times in the past, many media outlets have pointed out […]

The US to Label Iran Revolutionary Guard a Terrorist Organization

Iran Threatens Tit-for-Tat In a slightly surprising move, the United States is for the first time labeling the military of a foreign power as a terrorist organization. Possibly as early as today, the U.S. State Department may label Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) as a terrorist organization. While the U.S. has frequently stated that Iran […]