CCW holder in Milwaukee Wisconsin stops a brutal attack in a restaurant.

A person with a concealed pistol stopped a brutal attack on her coworker at a George Webb restaurant in Milwaukee Wisconsin. WTMJ. The attacker went into the kitchen and punched another waitress in the head, giving her a concussion. The 2nd employee pulled out a pistol and pointed it at the attacker, stopping the attack. The suspect is a local drug dealer and is still at large. The owner of the restaurant said that he allows his employees to carry weapons if they have a permit to do so. 

My Comment:

This is a semi-local story for me so I thought I would post it. It is very lucky that the 2nd employee had a weapon. If she hadn't and this attack had continued the 1st waitress could have died. The man punched her hard enough to concuss her and if he continued she could have died rather quickly. 

That didn't happen because the employee had a gun. And they were lucky enough that they didn't even have to fire it. Whatever this attacker's motivations were, they weren't strong enough to risk getting shot over. His attitude changed very quickly after the employee pointed a gun at him and he quickly fled the scene. My hope is that he is caught soon. 

Also, kudos to the owner of the restaurant who allows his employees to carry arms. State law in Wisconsin says that businesses can post signs saying that permit holders can't carry weapons and that includes employees. You can and will be fired if you violate that rule with employers that enforce it. This incident shows why that rule is a bad one. If someone can be attacked like this in a restaurant, they can be 

Of course if a mass shooting or other kind of attack happened it would be insane of a business to punish someone who put a stop to it, even if they were carrying a weapon against the rules of the employer. Doing so would be a PR nightmare and I can't see anyone getting in trouble in that case. But if you accidentally print at work? Then you have a decent chance of being fired. 

With that being said, I think this kind of case is a lot more common that the incidents where someone stops a mass shooting. Instead of a dramatic shootout this was just a quick exchange where nobody got shot and no gun was actually fired. Normally this wouldn't make the news but a local politician released the video so in this case it did. But I am pretty sure the vast majority of defensive gun use are cases like this were a violent person backs down after being confronted. 

Green Berets and local allies drive ISIS from their capital in Afghanistan.

A Green Beret at an outpost in Afghanistan. Military.com/Stars and Stripes. 

The Green Berets and local special forces have driven ISIS from their capital in Afghanistan. Stars and Stripes. The operation was one of the biggest in Afghan history and resulted in 167 ISIS casualties and zero coalition ones. 600 Green Berets, consisting of five separate special forces team, with three companies of Afghan special forces with them. The town, Gurgoray, had served as a local capital for ISIS was liberated with surviving ISIS forces fleeing into the mountains. ISIS has been using the region as a launchpad for terror attacks throughout the country. ISIS has lost more than half their territory in Afghanistan and have retreated to Tora Bora province. 

My Comment:

An important and under reported story out of Afghanistan. ISIS has been pushed back everywhere else but Afghanistan was one of the last places where they were out in the open and hadn't been driven underground. They still stand in Afghanistan but they are greatly reduced compared to what they were. And this operation is the reason. 

ISIS has been using the Gurgoray region to launch terror attacks throughout Afghanistan. As attacks slaked off in the rest of the world, ISIS was still very active in Afghanistan, committing some very serious attacks. With this base now secure, we should see fewer terror attacks in Afghanistan, at least ones caused by ISIS. 

It is notable how many US troops were involved in this offensive. Five special forces team and 600 men is a huge commitment of US troops and the Green Beret's are the best of the best. I don't recall them being used in this way. They aren't always used as front line troops and their main mission is training. I guess they had to go along with the Afghan special forces to help them and give them some additional backbone. 

It seems they did a very good job. Taking out 167 ISIS fighters without losing anyone in return is a major accomplishment. I am guessing most of those kills were from artillery and air strikes but even considering that it's a major victory, and one that the special forces from both countries can be proud of. 

The real question is what happens next. ISIS still remains in the region and still have control of the Tora Bora area and are hiding out in the mountains. The fear is that they could return if we pull out of the area to fight other terrorists. It seems clear that we are attempting to avoid that outcome but it is certainly possible. 

The other problem is that there is now a power vacuum in this region. The Taliban, who were driven out of the region by ISIS, may return. Though the Taliban isn't as bad as ISIS, having them take over is hardly much better. 

Still, this is a major victory for Afghanistan in a war that isn't going that well. ISIS is on the run but even with that being true the Taliban are still a major threat. But with ISIS on the run now, and not just in Afghanistan, the world is a safer place. 

Syrian rebels surrender to the government in a major victory for the Assad regime.

Syrian vehicles near the Syria/Jordan border. Reuters. 

Rebels in the southern part of Syria have laid down their arms to the government in a Russian brokered peace deal. Reuters. The rebels have surrendered Deraa Province after a major offensive was launched backed by Russian airstrikes. Russia guaranteed safe passage for civilians in exchanged for the rebels giving up their heavy and medium weaponry. Syria has taken back the critical Nassib crossing is a coup for Syria as it will open trade routes with Jordan and help the countries economy. With Deraa province now in Syrian control, the government controls most of the country with only the north and parts of the east still under rebel and Kurdish control. 

My Comment:

Another major victory for Syria and one that will have major implications for the war. With Deraa province now in Syrian hands the rebels have almost no territory left. By my reckoning they only have a small enclave in the tri-border area with Israel and Lebanon, Idlib province in the north and a patch of desert in the east with the border of Iraq. They have been kicked out of everywhere else. 

Of course the rebels aren't the only group left in Syria fighting. ISIS still has a few placed under their control, mostly in the east and in the tri-border region between Israel and Lebanon with the rebels in between them and the government. The Turks have part of the northern area of Syria and the Kurds still control the northern 1/4 of the country. 

I don't think any of those areas will be the first target for Syria. They will likely attack the tri-border region next. Indeed, it seems as if they already are, with new offensive being reported by the Israeli border. With that region cleared out Syria would no longer have to worry about a rear attack and could focus on clearing out ISIS, Idlib province and taking back the lands from the Kurds. 

I don't know how easy taking back the rest of the country will be for Syria though. Though the rebels have been left out to dry by almost everyone, the other factions will not be. The Turks seem to be in it for the long haul and are probably going to keep their enclave that they have carved out for quite some time. Their main priority is keeping control of the Kurds so some kind of deal might take place.

Speaking of the Kurds, I think their fate is the largest question right now. Right now they have a de-facto statelet in the north of the country that has the backing of the United States. Syria wants that territory back and the Turks want the Kurds stopped from independence. As long as the Kurds have our backing the Syrians can't do much but once ISIS is defeated in the east who knows what will happen? 

There is some question if this peace deal will last. The terms of the deal seem fair to me with most rebels fleeing to the north and leaving their weapons behind. They even got the Russians to take over peacekeeping duties in the region and convinced the Syrians to pull out some forces. Still, there is a chance that this whole thing could fall apart and fighting in Deraa province could erupt again... 

Still, no matter what happens, it is clear that the Syrian Civil War is in the endgame. Unless something unprecedented happens, Bashar al-Assad is going to remain in power in Syria. He's essentially won the war and the rebels have no more realistic chance of beating him, especially with Russia and Iran backing him up. My sincere hope is that the war ends soon and the massive number of refugees can go home. 

VIDEO: 4th of July Fireworks over Los Angeles.

I've been seeing video from Los Angeles last night and say what you want about that city, they sure like their fireworks there. Pretty amazing stuff. Not much else to say!

This video of 4th of July fireworks all over Los Angeles is absolute insanity and amazing to look at. pic.twitter.com/aQPN3ZWuhc

— Jeff D Lowe (@JeffDLowe) July 5, 2018

Happy 4th of July!

I'm taking the day off both to celebrate the holiday and for the fact that there is nothing going on today. I hope all of my readers have a great holiday and stay safe!