Veterans told to hide military service to avoid being ISIS targets
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Military bases were placed on higher alert over the weekend in response to a surge in threatening chatter from ISIS militants and sympathizers. Additionally, Breitbart.com said Monday, citing a Florida Fox News affiliate, veterans in the Tampa Bay area have been told to lay low in order to avoid being targeted by so-called "lone wolves" affiliated with ISIS.
According to retired Col. E.J. Otero, the 440,000 veterans in the area “have heard through one way or another from the commanders at MacDill to pay attention, keep a low profile, don’t be so pompous about being in the military, because those guy are looking for possible targets.” Pamela Geller, an organizer of the "Draw Mohammed" contest targeted by two Islamic gunmen, responded sharply, calling the move, "Operation Fetal Position."
"More sharia. More capitulation. More dhimmitude," she wrote. "No war was ever won on the defense. Operation Fetal Position is not a strategy."
Breitbart's John Hayward said the move falls just short of British soldiers being told not to wear their uniforms in public after Drummer Lee Rigby was murdered by an Islamic jihadist in broad daylight on the streets of Woolwich. "But between these military directives and the deafening round of tongue-clucking from media elites over the Mohammed Art Exhibit in Garland, Americans are being told to choose their words carefully, while belligerent jihadis and their fanboys run wild on social media," Hayward said. The report didn't sit too well with veterans reading the report.
"I'm tattooed with USMC on my right arm and the Iwo Jima flag raising on my left," one reader said. "I don't see hiding either one of those. I think I'll just keep my SIG holstered on my belt instead."
"I am with you," another person said. "I would rather die in a pile of brass and, like you, I am too old to be afraid or hide."
A week ago Sunday, two gunmen were killed when they attempted what appears to be a "Charlie Hebdo-style" terror attack on Geller's event. ISIS took credit for the attack and warned that more were coming while threatening to kill Geller. According to reports, the terrorist group claimed to have some 71 militants in the country poised to take action. In response, military bases were placed on what was called "the highest level of security since the tenth anniversary of September 11."
Michael Morell, a longtime intelligence analyst, told CNN's Jake Tapper that that it is "not far-fetched" that ISIS could even obtain weapons of mass destruction. "That would be the nightmare scenario: a terrorist attack, here in the United States, here in New York, another major city, that involved either chemical, biological or other nuclear weapons," he told Tapper. Morell, CNN added, served as acting director of the CIA after David Petraeus resigned in 2012.
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