This ain't Hell, but you can see it from here

Category: Isis

  • Conditions for U.S. Pullout from Syria

    U.S. military convoy in Manbij, Syria. Photo by Delil Souleiman/AFP (via Getty Images).

    Conditions have been listed to accommodate U.S. pullout from Syria. First, what’s left of the Islamic State must be defeated. Additionally, we need the ability to ensure the success, and safety, of our Kurdish allies during the remainder of the battle against ISIS… As well as their safety afterwards.

    From Military Times:

    John Bolton said there is no timetable for the pullout, but insisted the military presence is not an unlimited commitment.

    “There are objectives that we want to accomplish that condition the withdrawal,” Bolton told reporters in Jerusalem before heading to Turkey on Monday, where he will be joined by the chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Joseph Dunford. “The timetable flows from the policy decisions that we need to implement.”

    Those conditions, he said, included defeating what’s left of ISIS in Syria and protecting Kurdish militias who have fought alongside U.S. troops against the extremist group.

    You can read more here.

  • Update on ISIS

    EA-6B stern aspect

    The following is the latest news on ISIS, as of this morning.

    ISIS has been stuck in one small area on the Iraq-Syria border for over a year. It’s something CNN and the other, more blighted newsfeeds don’t relay to the public.

    They were in a pocket around Hajin, being faced by Iraqi and Syrian and Kurdish troops.

    https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/09/world/middleeast/isis-territory-syria-iraq.html

    They aren’t completely obliterated, no. Per that NYT article, they may or may not have about 20,000 to 30,000 in Iraq and Syria, as the CIA estimated in 2014. Some self-identified IS supporter says there are more in hidden places. That’s entirely possible, but both of those are hearsay, not hard evidence.

    In fact, Kurdish forces on Dec.14 seized control of Hajin, along with Syrian Democratic Forces:

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2018/12/14/syrian-forces-backed-us-airstrikes-take-last-big-islamic-state/

    Many were killed in US-led airstrikes, which have not stopped. The successful efforts of local ground forces (Kurds, Iraqi and Syrian) should relieve the 2,000 US special operatives on the ground of the necessity of staying in locus, allowing them to return to the USA.

    Nothing was said about ending US airstrikes.

    While there may be isolated jihadi groups here and there, such as those who claimed responsibility for the Christmas attacks in Paris a year ago, the evidence provided indicates that ISIS has been effectively choked as a mass force. No doubt, the guerrilla tactics of blindsiding people with bomb attacks in subway stations or going into soccer stadia and shooting groups of people, or murdering two Scandinavian girls who were backpacking this past week in Morocco , a relatively safe tourist area, will continue. That is how they operate.

    But Hajin is/was their last stronghold and it is gone.

    The Middle East has a history of warfare that dates as far back as 15,000 yeras, further back than when Sennacherib stole the statue of Marmuk from a temple and died of drinking plague-contaminated water. It has never been anything other than a battlefield.

    The war with ISIS is a continuation of what started long, long ago and has never stopped. If they are reduced to a few hate-filled crowd bombers and manage to wipe out whatever is left of them, something else will rise to take their place.

     

  • U.S. Military to have Observation Posts in Northern Syria

    ISIS had a propaganda video out, years ago, bragging about the size of their caliphate. Today? Those that made that propaganda video are either dead, have ran from the battle, or are doing something else. Their Caliphate? Mainly centered on the Syria-Iraq border.

    They talked a big game about how they were hammering us. But, reality on the battlefield contradicted their videos. The fight against ISIS has evolved to where the U.S. Military is planning to set up observation posts in northern Syria.

    From the Military Times:

    “This is a change, now,” Defense Secretary Jim Mattis told reporters Wednesday at the Pentagon. “We are putting observation posts in several locations up along the northern Syrian border because we want to be the people who call the Turks and warn them if we see something coming out of an area that we’re operating in.”

    Working with Turkey’s military is a part of this equation. The U.S. and Turkey are NATO allies, and have been working together in this area.

    You can read more here:

  • SEAL Murders ISIS fighter, Holds Ceremony on Scene

    In the PSYOP community, a joke goes around about how a PSYOP team could “Go rogue”. Psychological Operations teams are attached to units to provide PSYOP support to the unit’s commander. Not permanently assigned, they could fall though the cracks if they don’t keep engaged. Of course, this doesn’t involve violations of war crimes, laws, or regulations. The team just “does its own thing”. Not encouraged.

    What’s definitely frowned upon is going rogue with regards to violating the rules of land warfare. In this situation, we have a Navy SEAL who murdered an ISIS combatant, then conducted an enlistment ceremony in the area.

    Special Operations Chief Edward Gallagher would’ve been eligible to retire, from active duty, next year. Instead, he’s looking at another future. From NBC San Diego:

    U.S. Navy prosecutors accuse Gallagher of premeditated murder for the stabbing death of an injured ISIS fighter who they estimate was about 15 years old.

    And

    On Wednesday, the Navy outlined its evidence including cell phone photos that show Gallagher holding the severed head of the fighter during a reenlistment ceremony.

    According to the article, Gallagher was ranked as number one SEAL chief, his platoon was also ranked as number one. He once had the option to either retire proudly, or continue his service facing better opportunities than others.

    Underneath the high praises; however, those who served with him associated him with poor judgement. This includes shooting into Iraqi civilians.

    The New York Times was graphic with its description:

    But now, less than a year later, Special Operations Chief Gallagher, 39, is locked in the brig, facing charges that during that same deployment — his eighth — he shot indiscriminately at civilians, killed a teenage Islamic State fighter with a handmade custom blade, and then performed his re-enlistment ceremony posing with the teenager’s bloody corpse in front of an American flag.

    Navy SEALs who were with him reported the things that he did, to include:

    * Being reckless
    * Being bloodthirsty
    * Firing into crowds of noncombatants
    * Shooting a walking girl
    * Shooting an old man
    * Threatening to kill those that intended to report these events

    It got to the point that his own team members messed with his weapon’s accuracy. They also benefited civilians with warning shoots to give them a chance to escape. His actions took away from efforts needed to engage the enemy.

    You could read more here and over here. Good reads. The above photo is from the New York Times.

  • News From the Front

    Here’s your morning update on Iraq:

    https://www.militarytimes.com/flashpoints/2018/11/11/us-iraqi-forces-kill-dozens-of-islamic-state-fighters/

    BAGHDAD — by The Associated Press — The U.S. military says American and Iraqi forces killed more than 50 Islamic State militants, including several commanders, in northern Iraq last month.

    U.S. Central Command said Sunday that an Oct. 30 operation in Salahuddin province killed five ISIS leaders and more than 30 other militants, and that an operation the following day in the Makhmour Mountains killed around 20 ISIS fighters. It says the leaders killed in the first raid were responsible for coordinating attacks across northern and western Iraq.

    It’s a short story, but there’s a nice shot of a grenade exploding in a hillside cave.

    There’s also a link to an earlier story from 11/05/18 regarding the reasons that it will take years to decades and possibly a full generation or more to reform the Iraqi military. https://www.militarytimes.com/news/2018/11/05/why-a-self-reliant-iraqi-military-may-take-years-if-not-decades-and-could-require-a-generation-to-reform/

    Definitely worth your time to read both stories.

  • US prosecutors seek death penalty for Uzbek immigrant in New York killings

    manhattan terror attack

    U.S. prosecutors said they are seeking the death penalty in the trial of an Uzbek immigrant accused of mowing down eight people with a truck on a New York City bike path last year.

    The death penalty was called for in documents on the case of Sayfullo Saipov, 30, who is charged with driving a rented pickup truck down a crowded bike path in Manhattan, not far from where the twin towers of the World Trade Center once stood.

    The attack on October 31, 2017 was the deadliest in New York since the September 11, 2001 Al-Qaeda hijackings that brought down the twin towers.

    Saipov’s attorneys in earlier court proceedings indicated he was willing to plead guilty if prosecutors did not seek the death penalty — something that U.S. President Donald Trump repeatedly advocated in the days following the attack.

    Responding to the prosecution’s decision on September 28, Saipov attorney David Patton said: “We think the decision to seek the death penalty rather than accepting a guilty plea to life in prison with no possibility of release will only prolong the trauma of these events for everyone involved.”

    Prosecutors said that they decided to seek the death penalty because of the multitude of victims and the “heinous, cruel, and depraved manner” of their killings, because Saipov showed no remorse, and because they believe he is likely to commit further violence if set free in the future.

    This is the same jihadist who demanded an ISIS flag be hung in his hospital’s recovery room; ISIS later claimed him as a “soldier” of its so-called caliphate. Prosecutors say he had planned the attack to be carried it out on Halloween Day, because he believed the crowds outdoors would give him the opportunity to kill more people.

    The article may be viewed in its entirety Here.

  • Valor Friday

    eod po1 silver starExplosive Ordnance Disposal Technician 1st Class Jeffrey Thomas stands at attention alongside Vice Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Bill Moran after being awarded the Silver Star (MC3 Christopher A. Veloicaza).

    The Navy Times has recently started a weekly “Valor Friday” article to highlight the exceptional bravery demonstrated by our armed forces in conflicts around the globe.

    Today’s VF is dedicated to Navy EOD Tech Petty Officer First Class Jeffery Thomas, and his activities during Oct. 20 and 21, 2016, as his convoy conducted IED clearance operations against the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS).

    His convoy encountered stiff resistance from entrenched ISIS jihadis, with mortars, small arms, and RPG fire.

    When the convoy was finally ordered to break contact and make their way out of the kill zone, the lead vehicle rolled over one of seven daisy-chained improvised explosive devices.

    The massive explosion killed the EOD supervisor, Thomas’ friend and mentor.

    Realizing the dire situation, the sailor assigned to Coronado-based Explosive Ordnance Disposal Mobile Unit 3 exited his vehicle and hastily got to work, sweeping the rest of the area for explosives despite a hail of enemy rounds, RPGs and mortars impacting around him.

    Clearing a path of additional explosives allowed medics enough time to reach the disabled vehicles and evacuate casualties. Still exposed to enemy fire, Thomas guided the convoy out of the intricate mine field and safely to a medical evacuation landing zone.

    To read more of Petty Officer Thomas’ deeds, visit the Navy Times

  • Machine Gunner Hits ISIS Target From 1.5 Mile Away

    This story kind of writes itself. Nice photos in the article, too.

    https://tribunist.com/military/special-forces-sniper-obliterates-isis-commander-from-1-5-miles-away-using-40-year-old-machine-gun/

    From the article:

    The Browning .50 Machine Gun is an ancient and well respected workhorse for allied troops. Some variation of the old M2 has been in service since its inception before World War II. The gun is most often thought of as a sledgehammer of sorts, not a instrument capable of finesse. Yet a British sniper just knocked down a jihadi from 1.5 miles out with a single shot from an M2.

    The British sniper killed an Islamic State commander with a shot to the chest. “This feat is believed to be the first time the machine gun has been used for a sniper hit by the SAS,” The Daily Mail writes.

    It appears that the shot both stunned and frightened the Isisers at the location of the target because they got up and ran away. The machine gun has now been decommissioned and will be on display in the unit’s Hereford headquarters.

    As a small piece of information, in “The Public Enemy”, one of Jimmy Cagney’s best-known movies, in the scene in which Cagney ducks into an alley, a Navy machine gunner stitches a precise line of bullets up the alley corner of that building.

    I assume that a Browning machine gun would not be appropriate for use in hunting geese, but might it have some place in shooting Asian carp when they jump out of water they’ve invaded?

    I know, I know: that’s not a machine gun at the top, but there are photos of them in the article for you Gunnutz.

    Hat tip to GDContractor for the link to the story.