Monthly Archive:: May 2017
28 May 2017
InfoMullet: Jailhouse Raqqah
TLDR UpFront: A jailbreak in Marawi is jut one in a long history for ISIS. Salafi-takfiri groups have used jail breaks and prison attacks to bolster their numbers for well over a decade. Indeed ISIS owes its genesis to a 2012-2013 Al-Queda/ISIS operation named “Destroying the Walls” which freed an estimated 4500 skilled salafi-takfiri worldwide.
28 May 2017
InfoMullet: Obscene Behavior – fighting in Marawi resets ISIS narrative at start of annual Ramadan offensive.
TLDR UpFront: Fighting continues in the city of Marawi on day six of the Philippines crisis. Even as a fog of war obscures the battle in the city which once held 200,000 residents the strains of the crisis across the rest of the province are becoming clearer. Declaring martial law across Mindando Province because of
24 May 2017
InfoMullet: Black Flags Over Marawi – Duerte Considers Martial Law over Philippines
TLDR UpFront: The violence which began as ISIS militants seized control of the mid-sized Philippines city of Marawi has spread to other provinces in the Philippines. President Duerte has declared martial law in Mindando for 60 days and may declare it over the entire country. Although not quite as dire as the Fall of Fallujah,
23 May 2017
InfoMullet Responds to Politico – The Global Reach of ISIS Challenges Talk of Containment
TLDR: Advocating ‘containment’ of ISIS in Syria and Iraq does not square with demonstrations of ISIS’s global reach: a terrorist attack at a concert in Manchester while halfway around the globe street battles break out as government loses control of a mid-sized city to ISIS in the Philippines. Contained? ISIS is just getting started.
20 May 2017
Trump Fires Lieutenant Secretary of State & Abolishes Russian Raconteur Department
WASHINGTON (AP) President Trump announced the dismissal of another Obama political appointee by tweet while visiting Saudi Arabia with his wife Melania and daughter Ivanka on Saturday. The tweet by Trump read “Can u[sic] believe Obama appointees? Malcolm Randolph worst Lt. Sec of State ever. Mismanaged Russian Raconteur Dept. Wasted taxpayer$$. Fired!!” At the same
18 May 2017
InfoMullet: Mad Men
TLDR UpFront: Well-dressed’ Turkish security guards abused diplomatic immunity to attack Armenian and Kurdish protestors demonstrating outside the White House during President Erdogan’s visit. Two arrests have been made, and 12 were injured, including a DC police officer. This attack occurs within the context of increased tension in Turkey itself over a disputed Constitutional referendum
13 May 2017
InfoMullet: Bl@ck $ails
TLDR UpFront: In less than two days a wave of sophisticated ransomware attacks spread across Eastern and Western Europe, Britain and South East Asia. Distributed via phishing emails that when clicked, activated stolen NSA malware which froze access to the computer system until the user sends the equivalent of ~$300 in BitCoin currency to regain
12 May 2017
InfoMullet: Partisanship Hits FBI Comey & Going
TLDR UpFront: On Tuesday evening the White House fired FBI Director Comey on the recommendations of the Attorney General. After two days of statements from Executive and Congressional leadership – President Trump blew a hole in his own administrations narrative by saying he would’ve fired Comey regardless. Now confusion has turned into crisis and the