military threats Archives

By Debbie Gregory.

According to recent polls, Americans may be moving on from their war weariness. Public opinion has changed direction, and isn’t the same as it was a year ago when the subject of putting boots on the ground in Iraq raised ire.

In early February, 52% of Americans believed that the U.S. should send combat troops back to Iraq, a recent poll revealed. The troops sent would be part of an international coalition to fight ISIS. Previously, only 48% of those polled were favor of boots on the ground in Iraq. Furthermore, in the last four months, the number of people who were opposed to the idea declined from 36% to 28%.

These polls suggest that the rise of the Islamic State, also known as ISIS, has raised concerns of international terrorism, while diminishing opposition to quell the advance of the terrorist group by sending troops.

A poll done by NBC News/Marist Poll showed 66% of Americans believe that some ground troops are needed to combat ISIS. But only a small percentage of that 66% agree with sending a large number of forces.

The shift could be due to the fact that a lot of Americans feel that the U.S. and their allies were no longer winning the war on terror.

Public support is leaning in favor of a debate held at Capitol Hill, where lawmakers are considering a bill expanding President Obama’s authority to use military force against ISIS. Another poll shows that a 54 yes to 32 no stands in favor of Americans wanting their Congressmen to vote for the measure.

American forces spent eight-and-a-half years in Iraq, training and fighting alongside of an Iraqi army that now numbers approximately 245,000. Official estimates of ISIS fighters have grown from 9,000 to just approximately 30,000, suggesting the U.S. presence and its bombing campaign has boosted the militants’ recruitment efforts.

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Military Connection: Pressure Building to Send Troops Back to Iraq: By Debbie Gregory

By Debbie Gregory.

The Islamic State (IS) terrorist group has reportedly posted the names, photos and home addresses of 100 U.S. service members, most of them pilots. The IS has urged its sympathizers to carry out attacks against the service members and their families.

A group that is calling itself the “Islamic State Hacking Division” claims to have hacked into Department of Defense (DOD) websites, posting the information and the threat on a Jihadist website on March 20^th. The terrorist group claimed on the site that the service members listed carried out bombings on IS targets in Iraq, Syria, Yemen, Somalia and Afghanistan. The IS posting called for its sympathizers to kill the service members “in their own lands” where they “walk their own streets thinking they’re safe.”

After checking the validity of the threat and information about the 100 service members, it has been determined that while the threat and call to kill Americans is real, the claim that IS hackers found their way into a DOD website is unfounded. Most of the information posted could be found in public records and on unrestricted websites. More than sixty of the service members on the list have been reportedly featured on the Defense Video & Imagery Distribution System (DVIDS), a public website run by the Department of the Army. In the DVIDS segments and other publicly viewed materials, service members were pictured with their names, ranks, Military Occupational Specialty (MOS) and often their home town and where they are stationed. This information could have easily led IS hackers to conduct simple research of public records to find additional personal information.

Other information that leads the Pentagon to believe that the IS hackers were not able to breach DOD records was that their list included personnel who have not been deployed, and whose occupational specialties would have nothing to do with direct U.S. efforts against the IS, in Iraq or in Syria.

Despite the validity of how the IS managed to retrieve the information, the threat and the danger are real. Service members need to be vigilant in their communities, especially in and around military installations. And those in uniform need to be careful about what they are putting on the internet. No one is suggesting that we allow terrorists to force service members to hide their pride in their service or their country, but taking extra security measures online is prudent to prevent identity theft as well as any terrorist threats.

The DOD has posted a wealth of resources and information for using the internet and social media, which can be found here.