the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, New Jersey has become a notable location for UFO sightings, with significant activity reported across several counties.
New Jersey: A UFO Sightings Hotspot
Tag: Pentagon
19th Anniversary of September 11th 2001 Terror Attack
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, On September 11, 2001, 19 militants associated with the Islamic extremist group al Qaeda hijacked four airplanes and carried out suicide attacks against targets in the United States. Two of the planes were flown into the twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York City, a third plane hit the Pentagon just outside Washington, D.C., and the fourth plane crashed in a field in Shanksville, Pennsylvania. Almost 3,000 people were killed during the 9/11 terrorist attacks, including 12 people from Ridgewood , which triggered major U.S. initiatives to combat terrorism and defined the presidency of George W. Bush.
Continue reading 19th Anniversary of September 11th 2001 Terror Attack
Pentagon: U.S.-Backed Syrian Rebels Surrender American Arms to Al Qaeda
Pentagon: ‘We can’t control every situation that these fighters encounter’
BY: Adam Kredo
September 28, 2015 12:50 pm
September 28, 2015 12:50 pm
U.S. defense officials have confirmed that military equipment issued by the United States to Syrian rebel fighters has been funneled to an al Qaeda offshoot, raising new questions about the ways in which the Obama administration is safeguarding U.S. arms in the war-torn Middle Eastern country.
A commander in the New Syrian Forces (NSF), a group being trained and equipped by the United States, was found to have distributed at least 25 percent of the force’s U.S.-provided hardware to the Nusra Front, a terrorist organization affiliated with al Qaeda.
The equipment, which included U.S.-issued ammunition and pick-up trucks, was “surrendered” to a Nusra Front affiliate in order to ensure that the rebel fighters could pass freely through territories controlled by the terrorist group, the Pentagon said.
A Syrian opposition commander who was leading a group of NSF recruits “self-reported to coalition forces that under threat from al Nusra, they surrendered six trucks and ammunition to a suspected al Nusra Front intermediary to secure safe passage after being told that unless he surrendered some of his NSF equipment, his unit would be ambushed en route to their new location,” according to Col. Patrick Ryder, a spokesman for U.S. Central Command, who provided the Washington Free Beacon on Monday with a timeline of what took place.
“We will look at what we can do to prevent such a situation in the future, but given the complexity of the battlefield it is not possible to eliminate all risk,” Ryder added. “We are using all means at our disposal to look into what exactly happened and determine the appropriate response.”
The arms exchange occurred after a group of around 70 NSF graduates crossed into Syria on the morning of Sept. 20, according to the Pentagon.
Islamic State threat ‘beyond anything we’ve seen’: Pentagon
Islamic State threat ‘beyond anything we’ve seen’: Pentagon
Lessons not learned from 9/11
Media and Politicians down played threat
By Missy Ryan
WASHINGTON Thu Aug 21, 2014 5:47pm EDT
(Reuters) – The sophistication, wealth and military might of Islamic State militants represent a major threat to the United States that may surpass that once posed by al Qaeda, U.S. military leaders said on Thursday.
“They are an imminent threat to every interest we have, whether it’s in Iraq or anywhere else,” Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel told reporters at the Pentagon.
Hagel’s assessment of Islamic State, which gained strength during Syria’s civil war and swept into northern Iraq earlier this summer, sounded a note of alarm several days after the group posted a video on social media showing one of its fighters beheading an American hostage kidnapped in Syria.
Asked if the hardline Sunni Muslim organization posed a threat to the United States comparable to that of the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, Hagel said it was “as sophisticated and well-funded as any group we have seen.”
“They are beyond just a terrorist group. They marry ideology, a sophistication of … military prowess. They are tremendously well-funded. This is beyond anything we’ve seen.”
Hagel spoke as the United States continued attacking Islamic State targets in Iraq. In the past two weeks, U.S. drones and fighter jets have conducted 89 airstrikes against militant targets in northern Iraq.
https://www.reuters.com/article/2014/08/21/us-usa-islamicstate-idUSKBN0GL24V20140821
