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ISIS Urging "Lone Wolves" To Target US Soldiers

Photo Credit: TownHallBy Daniel Doherty.

My visceral reaction to reading this story was intense anger. And yet, why am I bewildered that a terrorist organization that kills innocents has reportedly stepped up its efforts in urging rogue extremists in the U.S. to target American soldiers?

On second thought, I’m not surprised at all. But that doesn’t mean I don’t find their their latest tactic to kill Americans somewhat strange. Is this not the same army of barbarians whose chief spokesman (since killed in a drone strike) arrogantly prodded the president to “send [us] your soldiers, the ones we humiliated in Iraq?” If ISIS is so confident and proud of their own military capabilities, why must they RESORT to such cowardly and desperate acts?

Fox News has the exclusive…

Read more from this story HERE.

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Law enforcement bulletin warned of ISIS urging jihad attacks on US soil

By Jana Winter.

A law ENFORCEMENT bulletin obtained by FoxNews.com warned that Islamic State fighters have increased calls for “lone wolves” to attack U.S. soldiers in America in recent months, citing one tweet that called for jihadists to find service members’ addresses online and then “SHOW up and slaughter them.”

There will be “a continued call – by Western fighters in Syria and terrorist organizations – for lone offender attacks against U.S. military facilities and personnel,” warned a July law enforcement intelligence bulletin from the Central Florida Intelligence Exchange, a state-run agency that gathers, assesses and shares threat information and works with the Department of Homeland Security. “These threats will most likely increase should the U.S. or its allies attack the Islamic State of Iraq and Sham (ISIS) in Syria or Iraq.”

In one example cited in the bulletin, a British jihadist encouraged radicals still living in the West to use Facebook and LinkedIn to find and target soldiers.

“You could literally search for soldiers, find their town, photos of them, look for address in Yellowbook or something,” the tweet read. “Then SHOW up and slaughter them.”

On Thursday, Peter Boogaard, a spokesman for the Department of Homeland Security, told FoxNews.com that “there is no credible intelligence at this time to suggest that there is an active plot by (ISIS) to carry out an attack in the United States.”

Read more from this story HERE.

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Photo Credit: The FederalistWashington’s Ruling Class Is Fooling Itself About The Islamic State

By Angelo Codevilla.

The American people’s reaction to Muslim thugs of the “Islamic State” ritually knifing off the heads of people who look like you and me boils down to “let’s destroy these bastards”—which is common sense. But our ruling class, from President Obama on the Left to The Wall Street Journal on the Right, take the public’s pressure to do this as another occasion for further indulging their longtime preferences, prejudices, and proclivities for half-measures in foreign affairs—the very things that have invited people from all over the planet to join hunting season on Americans.

This indulgence so overwhelms our ruling class’s perception of reality that the recipes put forth by its several wings, little different from one another, are identical in the one essential respect: none of them involve any plans which, if carried out, would destroy the Islamic State, kill large numbers of the cut-throats, and discourage others from following in their footsteps. Hence, like the George W. Bush’s “war on terror” and for the same reasons, this exercise of our ruling class’s wisdom in foreign affairs will decrease respect for us while invigorating our enemies.

The WSJ’s recommendations, like the Obama administration’s projected activities, are all about discrete measures—some air strikes, some arming of local forces, etc. But they abstract from the fundamental reality of any and all activities: He who wills any end must will the means to achieve it…

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School Tells Soldier Escorting Daughter to Leave Because of Offensive Uniform

Photo Credit: IJ ReviewA Lieutenant Colonel was escorting his daughter to Rochester Adams high school in Michigan, when the man in uniform was rudely informed that he would not be permitted to enter the premises.

The reason that the military officer was given? His uniform ‘might offend people.’

The security personnel hired by the school told the 24-year veteran Lt. Col. Sherwood Baker that if he wanted to take his daughter inside the building, he would have to go home and change clothes.

Read more from this story HERE.

Obama Uses Executive Authority to Cut Military Pay Second Year in a Row

Photo Credit: DVIDSHUBOn August 29, President Obama sent a letter notifying Congress that he is using his authority under law to cap the active duty military pay raise at 1 percent in 2015.

Typically the active duty pay raise is determined by private sector wage growth, measured by the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Employment Cost Index (ECI). The ECI calls for a 1.8 percent pay raise in 2015. [In other words, Obama’s unilateral action has created a .8% pay reduction (1.8% – 1%) for our troops]

However, the President has executive authority to make an alternative pay adjustment if he considers it necessary due to national emergency or economic concerns.

This is the second consecutive year the President used his authority to implement a lower pay raise.

From 2000 to 2012, Congress worked hard to eliminate a 13.5 percent military pay gap with the private sector caused by repeatedly capping military raises in the 1980s and ‘90s.

Read more from this story HERE.

Obama to Send Approximately 350 Additional Military Personnel to Iraq

Photo Credit: Reuters

Photo Credit: Reuters

President Obama announced Tuesday he is sending approximately 350 additional military personnel to Iraq to protect U.S. diplomatic facilities and workers in Baghdad.

The White House said in a press release that the personnel will not serve a combat role, and are fulfilling a request from the State Department for more protection as the country fights an insurgency from the Islamic State militant group, also known as ISIS or ISIL.

The White House said the additional personnel will be able to provide a “more robust, sustainable security force” and will allow previously deployed personnel to leave the country.

Pentagon Press Secretary Rear Admiral John Kirby said in a statement that Obama’s authorization will result in a net increase of approximately 350 military personnel. Kirby said 405 personnel will be sent to Baghdad, and 55 will leave, leading to the net increase.

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Report: 25 Percent of Troops Use Food Assistance

Photo Credit: AP / U.S. AIR FORCE

Photo Credit: AP / U.S. AIR FORCE

The recent results of a survey by Feeding America (page 16), the largest domestic hunger-relief charity in the U.S., suggests that 620,000 households containing at least one currently serving military member utilize food banks and other food assistance programs.

That’s a staggering statistic – 25 percent of the currently serving force.

Pentagon officials were quick to refute the validity of the report’s statistics, but regardless of the actual number, the survey reflects many military families are using food banks to help make ends meet.

Read more from this story HERE.

Obama Military Downsizing Leaves U.S. Too Weak to Counter Global Threats, Panel Finds

Photo Credit: AP / Manuel Balce Ceneta

Photo Credit: AP / Manuel Balce Ceneta

An independent panel appointed by the Pentagon and Congress said Thursday that President Obama’s strategy for sizing the armed services is too weak for today’s global threats.

The National Defense Panel called on the president to dump a major section of his 2014 Quadrennial Defense Review (QDR) and write a broader strategy that requires the military to fight on multiple fronts at once.

It also said the shrinking U.S. armed forces, which are being downsized to fit that strategy and budget cuts, is a “serious strategic misstep on the part of the United States.” The forces’ numbers spelled out in Mr. Obama’s QDR are “inadequate given the future strategic and operational environment.”

The warning comes as Mr. Obama is under criticism from many Republicans and some Democrats for his standoff policy toward Syria and his limited response to a June offensive by an al Qaeda offshoot that has gobbled up swaths of territory in Iraq.

Congress authorized the panel of outside experts to review the QDR, a strategy for shaping the active and reserve force. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel appointed the co-chairmen: former Defense Secretary William Perry, who served under President Bill Clinton, and retired Army Gen. John Abizaid, who ran U.S. Central Command during the U.S.-led occupation of Iraq.

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Sheriff Joe to Obama: Deploy U.S. Military to Mexico

Photo Credit: WNDPresident Obama should deploy the U.S. military across the Mexican border to work bilaterally to curb illegal immigration, declared Maricopa County, Arizona, Sheriff Joe Arpaio in a radio interview Sunday.

“If we are worried about the danger, then I would send the military across the border, work with their military bilaterally and get the job done,” said Arpaio. “That’s what I would do and we’d clean up this mess.”

“Of course, you have to get the Mexican president to OK it,” he added. “I would just go in there and have a few drinks with him and get the job done.”

Read more from this story HERE.

Obama Reminds the Greatest Generation How He’s Changing the Military (+video)

Photo Credit: AP / Charles DharapakAt a ceremony commemorating some of the bravest Americans of World War II, President Barack Obama reminded the “greatest generation” how the U.S. military has changed under his command, by slipping in references to immigrants and women.

Speaking at Normandy, President Barack Obama singled out three veterans who stormed the beaches under heavy fire.

These were “the men who were willing to lay down their lives for people they never met,” Obama said. “Wilson and Harry and Rock, they are here today,” the president continued, as he briefly described their service to their country.

“Gentlemen, I want each of you to know that your legacy is in good hands,” he told the three men. “For at a time when it has never been more tempting to pursue narrow self-interest, to slough off common endeavor, this generation of Americans — a new generation…has chosen to do their part as well.”

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Fort Hood Sergeant Accused Of Setting Up Prostitution Ring With Female Soldiers

Photo Credit: Drew Anthony Smith / Getty A Fort Hood sergeant is scheduled to appear in military court to answer allegations that he set up a prostitution ring with cash-strapped female soldiers.

Sgt. 1st Class Gregory McQueen is accused of pandering and several other offenses. McQueen was a low-level coordinator in Fort Hood’s sexual assault and harassment program — at a time when the military’s response to assault cases has been severely criticized.

Read more from this story HERE.

Obama Signals Significant Shift in US Foreign Policy at West Point Commencement

Photo Credit: AP

President Obama, in a commencement address at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, signaled a significant shift in U.S. foreign policy — one that pulls back from what he described as “military adventures” while wielding American power in other ways.

The president described the new American foreign policy as one of “collective action” and restraint, deploying unilateral U.S. military force only when the American people are threatened. He outlined the approach a day after announcing his plan for gradually drawing down the U.S. force in Afghanistan once the war formally ends later this year.

“The landscape has changed,” Obama told the graduating class at West Point on Wednesday, citing the end of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.

The president took on what he described as “interventionists” from both parties, and said that while “isolationism” is not an option, “U.S. military action cannot be the only — or even primary — component of our leadership in every instance.”

The president advised that crises around the world that don’t directly threaten Americans be met first with non-military options: diplomacy, sanctions and “collective action.”

Read more from this story HERE.