Two Americans, one British soldier killed in Iraq by rocket attack

The American military has confirmed, in a released statement, that a rocket attack on an Iraqi base, where U.S. and coalition troops are based, has killed an American and a British soldier and an American contractor. The three men were killed on Camp Taji base as 18 Katyusha rockets slammed into the base on Wednesday […]

American airstrikes on al-Shabaab in Somalia kill 4 terrorists

American drones hit al-Shabab members for the fourth time in just over a week as the latest airstrike took out four suspected terrorists in the Somali town of  Gandarshe, on Saturday. And on Monday an airstrike in the Somali town of Qunyo Barrow killed an al-Shabab member on Thursday and another terrorist and wounded two […]

The Coup of the Century: How the CIA eavesdropped on the world for decades

For decades, the Central Intelligence Agency, along with its West German counterpart the Federal Intelligence Service (BND), secretly controlled the Swiss-based company Crypto AG, which enabled them to engage in decades of communication interception. Crypto AG, which went defunct in 2018, sold encryption devices to governments across the world. However, this CIA-owned company managed to […]

The White Mouse: Remembering Nancy Wake, covert ops operative

Nancy Wake was given the moniker, “the White Mouse” by the Germans during World War II, for her uncanny ability to escape out of any trap. However, the glamorous female agent of the Special Operations Executive (SOE), was deadly; in one instance she killed an SS guard, taking him out with her bare hands to […]

Israeli Air Force pounds Iranian targets inside Syria

During the early pre-dawn hours of Thursday, the Israeli air force reportedly pounded several proxy Iranian militia targets according to the Syrian government. The British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) reported that 12 militiamen were killed. The Syrian military released a statement through the Syrian state news agency SANA claiming that they downed a […]

Thinking Before Shooting: Intelligence and Special Operations

The attacks of 9/11, which seem so long ago, caught the United States by surprise. There were some warning signs that were missed by our intelligence and law enforcement agencies but pointing the finger isn’t the purpose here. The last 16 years have seen our forces fighting a different kind of war, with a different […]

The Fusion Analyst: An intro to all source intelligence and analysis

“Every great magic trick consists of three parts or acts. The first part is called “The Pledge.” The magician shows you something ordinary: a deck of cards, a bird or a man. He shows you this object. Perhaps he asks you to inspect it to see if it is indeed real, unaltered, normal. But of […]

CIA strike targets al-Qaeda leader who had survived a SEAL Team Six raid

U.S. government officials believe that an American drone strike has killed the leader of al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP). Qasim al-Raymi is believed to have been killed by a CIA drone sometime in January. U.S. officials have been hesitant to confirm his death because of previous instances were High-Value-Targets (HVTs) were pronounced dead only […]

A Spy and a Gentleman: John Ford, Oscar-winning Hollywood director

Most people remember John Ford as an iconic Hollywood film director and winner of multiple Oscars. Ford was known especially for his westerns for which he frequently used Monument Valley in the Arizona/Utah area as a backdrop. But during World War II, Ford went to work for the Office of Strategic Services (OSS), the forerunner […]

Less Blackhawks, more Chinooks for Afghanistan’s premier SOF aviation unit

Afghanistan’s premier Special Operations Aviation unit is slotted to receive an unspecified number of CH-47 Chinooks from the U.S. Established in 2005, the Special Mission Wing (SMW) is the cream of the crop of the AAF. With less than 1,000 pilots and ground personnel in its ranks, the unit was initially designed to support counter-narcotics […]

Jihadist involved in the 2012 Benghazi attacks sentenced to 19 years in prison

On the evening hours of September 11, 2012, the American consulate in Benghazi, Libya, came under attack. What followed was a determined attack against the consulate, and later against the CIA compound, that resulted in the deaths of four Americans: Ambassador Chris Stevens, State Department Information Officer Sean Smith and former Navy SEALs and CIA […]