IRAQ – The Iraqi city of Ramadi has fallen to Islamic State (IS) after government forces abandoned their positions, officials say.

The police and military made a chaotic retreat after days of intense fighting.  Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi had ordered troops to stand their ground, saying he was deploying Shia militia to the city.
Ramadi is the capital of Iraq’s largest province, Anbar, and is just 70 miles (112km) west of Baghdad.
A statement purportedly from IS said its fighters had “purged the entire city”. It said IS had taken the 8th Brigade army base, along with tanks and missile launchers left behind by troops. (more…)

Today Fox News is reporting confirmation that weapons from Benghazi were shipped to Syria. This affirms one of the essential elements outlined in our Benghazi Brief.

Documents Reveal Obama Admin Knew Terrorists Had Planned #Benghazi Attack 10 Days in Advance: http://t.co/nPGPakVBKH via @JudicialWatch

— Judicial Watch ⚖️ (@JudicialWatch) May 18, 2015

The “Benghazi Brief” remains the most controversial research report we have ever produced. The brief contains over two years of research and hundreds of very specific citations supporting it.
The Brief has also been challenged and with extensive vetting factually withstood all scrutiny. The report, while exhaustive in detail, remains the strongest summary of events surrounding the two years leading up to the Benghazi Libya attack on 9/11/12.
We have repeatedly stated The Benghazi Brief, and ALL of the cited information contained therein, is available for use by anyone who has a goal of communicating the truth surrounding the controversial events. (more…)

(Via AP) The Pentagon says U.S. commandos have mounted a rare raid in eastern Syria, killing the Islamic State commander in charge of oil fields in a firefight and capturing his wife.
Defense Secretary Ash Carter announced the raid Saturday, identifying the militant as Abu Sayyaf. He said no U.S. forces were killed or injured.
Syrian state media earlier reported government forces killed at least 40 IS fighters, including a senior commander in charge of oil fields, in an attack Saturday on the country’s largest oil field — held by IS.
It identified the commander as Abu al-Teem al-Saudi.
The Britain-based Syria Observatory for Human Rights confirmed an oil field attack, saying at least 19 IS members, including 12 foreigners, were killed. The group did not say who carried out the attack. (more…)

Arkansas Senator Tom Cotton was the only full frontal conservative candidate in 2014 that never backed down from his principles or advocacy.   Despite the pressure from the professional establishment to moderate himself to the middle, Cotton choose to remain true to his beliefs.
He also won his election by the widest margin of any candidate in the Senate races.
Today, another example of his wolverine blood.
This guy is fierce.
Senator Cotton says Iran should not be trusted, and any sanctions relief must first be preceded by a change in behavior and verification.  Iran does not like that idea:

If we have an agreement on the 30th of June, within a few days after that, there will be a resolution before the UN Security Council under Article 41 of Chapter 7 which will be mandatory for all member states whether Senator Cotton likes it or not.
~ Javad Zarif (Iranian Foreign Minister)

Full Backstory HERE – As Cotton Responds:

Hey @JZarif, I hear you called me out today. If you’re so confident, let’s debate the Constitution. 1/4

— Tom Cotton (@SenTomCotton) April 29, 2015

(more…)

University students belonging to Zeta Beta Tau fraternity from University of Florida and Emory University. The veterans were staying at Laketown Wharf on Panama City Beach, the fraternity brotherhood was also there for a spring formal.  The fraternity members broke U.S.A flags off vehicles, urinated on them and spit on the veterans….

PANAMA CITY BEACH, Fla. — A group of injured and wounded veterans on a retreat in Florida’s panhandle claim they were harassed by members of a University of Florida fraternity, according to WCTV sister station WJHG in Panama City.
Attendees and organizers of a retreat for veterans say they were shocked at the level of disrespect shown by the college students.

“They actually spit on me and my service dog as well and that’s just so disrespectful and it hurts. I come and I feel honored and I feel safe and that I belong, but now I feel like I’m defending myself,” said wounded veteran Nicholas Connole.
Veterans say the students spit at them and threw beer on them from their balconies. (more…)

President Obama said today the drone strike that killed one U.S. and one Italian hostage was “a mistake”. No it wasn’t. The drone strike was ordered; the drone strike was purposeful; the drone strike hit the exact intended target; there was nothing remotely a “mistake” about the operation.
Everything this White House does first and foremost passes through the political prism. Everything, every.single.pro-and-con, is weighed against the political cost vs. benefit considerations, period. So too is this story, and the aftermath of this story from January to the public release of the information today.
WASHINGTON DC – President Obama on Thursday acknowledged that the U.S. killed two innocent hostages in counterterrorism operations against al Qaeda.
Obama expressed his “deepest apologies” to the families of the two hostages, one American and one Italian.

“It is a cruel and bitter truth that in the fog of war generally, and our fight against terrorists specifically, mistakes, sometimes deadly mistakes can occur,” Obama said at a press conference at the White House Thursday morning. (read more)

President Obama has absolutely no intention to confront the Iranian ships headed to Yemen; pontifications to the contrary are *ridiculous in the extreme.  Any Navy deployment in the region is pure theater. Nothing more, nothing less…

(*pay attention to Kuwait)

WASHINGTON — U.S. Navy officials say the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt is steaming toward the waters off Yemen and will join other American ships prepared to intercept any Iranian vessels carrying weapons to the Houthi rebels fighting in Yemen.

The U.S. Navy has been beefing up its presence in the Gulf of Aden and the southern Arabian Sea amid reports that a convoy of Iranian ships may be headed toward Yemen to arm the Houthis. (more…)

It should be noted Al-Shabaab -which is also known as AQNA (al-Qaeda in North Africa)- has previously been conclusively identified as maintaining training bases in Mexico (Report from 2011).  It is the same group responsible for the Kenya Mall attacks and has threatened the Mall of America. 

GARISSA, Kenya — Al-Shabaab gunmen rampaged through a university in northeastern Kenya at dawn Thursday, killing 147 people in the group’s deadliest attack in the East African country. Four militants were slain by security forces to end the siege just after dusk.

The masked attackers armed with AK-47s singled out non-Muslim students at Garissa University College and then gunned them down without mercy, survivors said. Others ran for their lives with bullets whistling through the air.

The gunmen had strapped themselves with explosives, Interior Minister Joseph Nkaissery said. When Kenyan officers shot at the four, the attackers exploded “like bombs” and shrapnel from the explosions injured officers, he said. (more…)