Palm Coast, St. Augustine and “Saint John” are among the 55 cities in the United States where ISIS, or Islamic State, has placed named members of the U.S. military on an alleged “kill list” for their role in attacks on ISIS in Syria, Iraq, Somalia and elsewhere.
“As has been widely reported,” Flagler County Undersheriff Rick Staly said this morning, “ISIS has made threats to assault current and retired military personnel. As far as this threat, they identified two individuals that live in Flagler County. Law enforcement has worked with the FBI and we are aware of these threats, and so is our staff, and we’ve taken appropriate action. At this time there is no credible threat to any individual.”
Five Florida areas or cities or areas are on the hit list (ISIS appears unsure about the difference between town and county). “St. John” may refer either to a small burg in northwest St. Johns County or to the county itself. Merritt Island and Middleburg are the other Florida cities on the list, which names places in 23 states.
According to numerous news sources the Pentagon has sent directives to local law enforcement to provide extra patrols in areas where targeted military personnel live. One such directive was sent to the sheriff’s office. Most of the targeted personnel are members of the Navy or the Air Force, the two services most heavily engaged in the bombing campaign against ISIS. No ground troops are involved.
Islamic State posted the names, addresses and images of the targeted individuals on a website, directing its message to alleged sympathizers. “These Kuffar that drop bombs over Syria, Iraq, Yemen, Khurasan and Somalia are from the same lands that you reside in, so when will you take action?” the group states, using the word for “infidel.” “Know that it is wajib for you to kill these kuffar! and now we have made it easy for you by giving you addresses, all you need to do is take the final step, so what are you waiting for? Kill them in their own lands, behead them in their own homes, stab them to death as they walk their streets thinking they are safe.”
The Pentagon shared with some local information agencies who the individuals targeted are, and where they live. Flagler County Sheriff Jim Manfre said he would discuss with the task force “what they expect and what the level of the threat” happens to be. Meanwhile, the sheriff’s patrol division has received enough information to know where to step up patrols. But the threat is not being seen as imminent or too credible.
“It’s more of an ISIS propaganda to entice a lone wolf home-grown terrorist to take action,” Staly said. “The rest of it is pretty much classified information.”
ISIS has not carried out any operations beyond Syria and Iraq, where it controls large swaths of territory, and its ability to do so is not known or not likely: it has been forced to retreat from some of the territory territory it took over last year, and its cash reserves have been dwindling. Joint operations by Iran and Iraq on the ground, supported by U.S. airstrikes, have pushed ISIS out of much of Tikrit to the north of Baghdad, while Kurds have reconquered most of the territory they’d lost in Kurdistan in northern Iraq.
The Pentagon reported its latest strikes on Islamic State in the 24-hour period ending at 8 a.m. Tuesday, with jet fighter and drones carrying out six near Kobani, and eight strikes at five sites in Iraq.
“All told,” The Economist reports this week, Islamic State “has been stripped of some 13,000 square kilometres of land, reducing by a quarter what it held at its peak. American officials reckon some 1,000 fighters were killed in just the battle for Kobane, a Kurdish town on the Syrian-Turkish border that IS tried to take for months without quite managing it. Seventeen of its top 43 commanders have been felled, according to Hisham al-Hashimi, an Iraqi analyst of IS in Baghdad. But for all the losses fighters on the front line say there is no sign that IS is running short of men. Recruitment seems to be keeping up.”
But Islamic State has very effectively used social media, including YouTube, to disseminate its message and, on occasion, to hack websites. The kill list first appeared on a Polish website where images are swapped. But it may not have involved any hacking: all the information is available on Facebook, in phone books or on other publicly accessible documents, prompting the Pentagon to urge its service members to be more careful when posting items on social media. But the Pentagon itself published some of the names in its official reports.
The list is unreliable: some of the names included have had nothing to do with the campaign against Islamic State, including names of airmen who fly B-52s from Louisiana and North Dakota, though B-52s have not been used in the current campaign. That suggests a degree of shoddiness behind the list, and more of a sensational than an actionable tactic.
The list of cities, as reported by CBS News:
Arizona: Phoenix
California: Manford, Solvang, San Ardo, Monterrey, Newberry Park, Carlsbad
Colorado: Colorado Springs
Connecticut: Barkhamsted, Manchester
Florida: Merritt Island, Palm Coast, Saint John, Middleburg, Saint Augustine
Georgia: Griffin
Idaho: Bonners Ferry
Illinois: Orland Park
Indiana: Michigan City, Bolivar
Louisiana: Shreveport, Bossier City
Maryland: Upper Marlboro, Warrensburg, Lexington Park
Michigan: Dearborn Heights, Lake Orion
Nebraska: Bellvue
Nevada: Reno
New Mexico: Farmington
North Carolina: Fayetteville, New Bern
North Dakota: Minot
Rhode Island: Newport
South Carolina: Daniel Island, Charleston
South Dakota: Rapid City
Texas: Abilene, New Braunfels, San Antonio, Wyle, Fort Hood, Bedford, Kileen
Virginia: Burke, Virginia Beach, Suffolk, Springfield, Norfolk, Chesapeake
Washington: Colton, Cheney, Seattle, Spokane, Ancortes
Ron says
[We’re not in the business of suppressing information or treating our readership like children. By all means, feel free to seek out a different source for your news. You certainly have a broad choice to fit your aperture, and we can do without bullshit comments. Thanks.–FL]
The people or person that writes for this site is an idiot. Why put crap like that on here. Jackass
FLnative says
If they do show up I hope they pack a lunch.
Ron says
[Ron, we have no problem if you copy and paste whatever we write you: we’ve gone ahead and approved your earlier comment, and our response, to help you out. We were trying to save you the embarrassment of being publicly called out by keeping the message private, but if you insist: there you have it.–FL]
I have copied this and I’m going to slam the shit out this web site all over and that is not buulshit
Jack Howell says
Wish they would try to hunt me down! Matter of fact, if I knew I was on the list, I’d make sure they had my address. Trust me, my Marine Corps warrior skills have not eroded one bit. I would enjoy trigger time and feeding their remains to the gators. Sick and tired of the ISIS bull…bring it on. Oh by the way, I took a lesson from General Pershing. My bullets have pigs blood on them. Something special for my ISIS pukes.
hello says
That is so crazy that PALM COAST is on their list. As if we don’t already have enough problems here. GOD help us all.
David S. says
Mr Howell you are 100% correct I come from a great military family and I would love to knock those *** holes off they deserve nothing
Obama 2015 says
Just bring it you ISIS cowards, you think we’re afraid of you!
Sandra Reynolds says
Ron, grow up. All news stations/online publications have reported this. WE ALL need to know our threats.
PeachesMcGee says
The long-arm of ISIS. I hope they don’t actually touch our soil, but I have a feeling they already have. We just don’t know it yet. By then it will be too late.
Hopefully the neighbors of these military families will remain vigilant as well.
flagdad says
bring it!!!!! step foot on U.S soil and its GAME OVER!!!
BonnersGuy says
Bonners Ferry, ID is 30 miles off the US/Canada border. Even though we have a huge Border Patrol Station full of good agents, because of the wilderness, our two ports of entry are guarded similarly to a one-legged bum guarding LAX. All a jihadist has to do is immigrate to Cannuckistan, get a trucker’s license, go on a killing spree in the States, and be back in Canada in time for evening prayer. Or, they can drive a stupid electric car down and pretend to be tourists waving a couple of Benjamins. When will America wake-up.
Kayla says
For the people who think these people who are hacking random websites is silly….
ISIS has internet in the caves they live in. In the middle of nowhere. I cannot even go down Old Dixie HWY without losing some reception. They are obviously good at there WIFI technologies. Hacking could very well be one of there strong points as well, considering everything winds up online. If anyone threatens me, real or not, I usually take it pretty seriously. Maybe that was ISIS is waiting for. Us to think they are jokes and then BAM they all come into our country and bomb us.
Also…..I bet all these cities have all this personal information on there public information websites. It is TOO easy to find out about people nowadays.
Retired FF says
“At this time there is no credible threat to any individual.” according to the FCSO. Well there will be as soon as some home grown ISIS nut case decides there is and then it may be to late. These families need added protection.
Doc Holliday says
Say When.
A.S.F. says
No, don’t bring it! The sad fact is, we should all be alert and aware. We don’t need to be totally paranoid but we should report anything suspicious, given these threats, especially. Better safe than sorry.
Lori says
The article says and I quote: “The Pentagon has sent directives to local law enforcement to provide extra patrols in areas where targeted military personnel live. One such directive was sent to the sheriff’s office”, but the Sheriff’s Office Notes “No Credible Threat”? What are you a bunch of morons? Any threat from ISIS is something to be concerned about, and you are in NO position to state otherwise!
Anonymous says
The Sheriff’s office has to tell people that to keep them calm.
👀 says
I see many comments of people saying bring it on. Military background or not people this is not something to pound your chest about. I am certainly not here to pick a fight with anybody. But people need to realize that ISIS coming to ANY US soil is not an option. We, The People of The United States of America should be pounding down the door of our moron President Obama demanding he bond with Paris and so many other countries that have been affected by ISIS in putting a stop to them. It is unfortunate that we have not impeached Obama a long time ago because of his lack of action on ISIS and so many other poor decisions Obama has made. We all need to bond together as one voice in not only protecting ourselves but those that can not protect themselves (our neighbors). People, you do not want ISIS nor any other terrorist group on our soil. No doubt they are here, lurking about.
👀 says
And RON, I recommend you doing some research buddy. You may discover an eye opener.