All Your Base R Belong To US, USAF Takes Out ISIS Headquarters With Social Media-Guided Photobomb
The U.S. Air Force (USAF) is giving new meaning to the term photobomb. We’ve talk about the much-loathed “selfie” quite a bit here on HotHardware. After all, we can’t get away from the term given that smartphone manufacturers have made it a point to cater to the market with higher-quality front-facing cameras complete with their own LED flashes.
However, one Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) militant has found out the hard way that posting selfies on social media is a quick way to find ridicule — or in this case, an untimely death. The eager terrorist took a selfie while standing in front of an ISIS headquarters building and posted it to social media while at the same time bragging about the “command and control” capabilities contained within. What initially may have seemed like a harmless photo turned out to be important intelligence asset for the U.S.
Photoboms are highly illogical. (Source: Terry Robinson/Flickr)
The U.S. military has experts that scour social media, looking for ways to cut off terrorist organizations like ISIS at the kneecaps. And when this selfie showed up on their radar, it was just too juicy a target to pass up. The 361st Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Group, based in Hurlburt Field, Florida took notice of the photo and were able to determine the exact location of the building featured prominently in the selfie. I think you can see where this is going…
Less than 24 hours later, the U.S. Air Force (USAF) had birds in the air and used three Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM) bombs to obliterate the building. Each JDAM weighs between 500 to 2,000 pounds and average roughly $25,000 each. In this case, it was likely $75,000 well spent.
Two F-15E Strike Eagles dropping 2,000-pound GBU-31s (Source: Defense.gov)
ISIS’ social media campaign has some strong “game” as the group seems to show no signs of retreat despite the best efforts of Western nations to rid their world of their organized terror campaigns. But while ISIS seemingly has no trouble recruiting scores of newbs for its dastardly deeds around the world, it might want to at least give new applicants an IQ test first.
