U.S. Air Force obliterates ISIS HQ after 'moron' posts selfie

(Image credit: Sean Gallup/Getty Images)

published 4 June 2015

Social media can be a double-edged sword for ISIS. A powerful recruiting tool that has let the self-declared caliphate extend its reign of terror well beyond Iraq and Syria, it also comes with its fair share of risks. Like, say, this story recounted by the amazingly named U.S. Air Force General Hawk Carlisle at a recent Washington breakfast:

The guys that were working down out of Hurlburt, they’re combing through social media and they see some moron standing at this command. And in some social media, open forum, bragging about the command and control capabilities for Daesh, ISIL. And these guys go: ‘We got an in.’ So they do some work, long story short, about 22 hours later through that very building, three [Joint Direct Attack Munitions] take that entire building out. [Gen. Hawk Carlisle via Defense Tech]