As of this writing, at least two terrorist shooters have murdered 11 people at a Hannukah celebration in Bondi Beach, including Chabad Rabbi Eli Schlanger who was Chabad’s emissary in Sydney since 2008, and Holocaust survivor Alex Kleytman, who was able to shield his wife and save her from death. Thirteen are in critical condition including two police officers. Arsen Ostrovsky, a human rights lawyer and popular figure on social media who was a refusnik who fled the Soviet Union with his family to Australia in 1987, and then moved to Israel, was also wounded in the attack. The Hannukah celebration was reportedly attended by approximately 2,000 people. But even more disturbing than Iran’s potential involvement in the recent attack, is that the Australian authorities failed to prevent such a mega attack. In a sliver of good news, Ahmed al-Ahmad, a 43-year old Muslim fruit shop owner, succeeded in tackling and disarming one of the shooters, avoiding further loss of life. Such heroism resulted in praise from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who stated: “We saw an action of a brave man — turns out a Muslim brave man, and I salute him — that stopped one of these terrorists from killing innocent Jews.” One of the gunmen has been identified as Naveed Akram from Pakistan. Mike Burgess, the head of the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO), stated that “One of these individuals was known to us, but not in an immediate-threat perspective, so we need to look into what happened here.” In the wake of that statement, one can’t help asking if Iran has its hands in this attack. Indeed, there are reports that Australia may be investigating if this is the case. Additionally, an unnamed senior Israeli security official told Israeli press outlet Israel Hayom that “in recent months there has been increased activity by Iran to orchestrate attacks against Israeli and Jewish targets around the world,” adding: “There is no doubt that the direction and infrastructure for the attack originated in Tehran.” Such an attack on the “soft targets” of Jewish religious and civil life would not be out of Iran’s wheelhouse. Australia assessed that Iran has orchestrated other recent attacks on Jews in Australia. This August, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese stated that “The Iranian government directed at least two of these attacks. Iran has sought to disguise its involvement but ASIO [the Australian Security Intelligence Organization] assesses it was behind the attacks.” Specifically, the ASIO had established links between the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and “cut-outs, including people who are criminals and members of organised [sic] crime gangs to do their bidding or direct their [IRGC’s] bidding,” according to ASIO’s chief Burgess. Albanese confirmed this assessment in that authorities were: “able to trace the chain of command, if you like, right back to the IRGC.” Both attacks linked to Iran were arsons. The first was in October 19, 2024 in Sydney on Lewis Continental Kitchen, a kosher food company. This attack occurred close to Bondi Beach. According to Australian authorities, Sayed Moosawi, 32, directed Wayne Ogden, 41, to attack the kitchen, where the latter broke into the kitchen in the early morning and set fire to a can filled with gas, causing an estimated $1 million in damages. The second arson occurred on December 6, 2024 in Melbourne, Australia’s Adass Israel Synagogue, where two masked men entered the synagogue, spread accelerant on the floor, and set it alight, injuring one person. In response to the attacks, this August, Australia also expelled its Iranian ambassador, marking the first time Australia expelled an ambassador since World War II. Last month, Australia listed the IRGC listed as a state sponsor of terrorism. Iran has also targeted Jewish civilians abroad in the past. While Israel never formally accused Iran, many intelligence officials in the West and in Israel believe that Iran orchestrated the November 2024 abduction and murder of Chabad Rabbi Zvi Kogan in the UAE. (The UAE later sentenced three Uzbek nationals for these crimes, in addition to sentencing a fourth individual to life in prison.) According to the Mossad, the July 2024 arson attacks on a synagogue and an Israeli-owned hotel in Athens, Greece were directed by Iran, as were the July 2025 casing of Jewish targets in Berlin, Germany. And of course, the AMIA bombing in Buenos Aires in Argentina in 1994 that killed 86 people in a Jewish community center was directed by Iran and carried out by Hezbollah, according to an Argentina court in 2024. But even more disturbing than Iran’s potential involvement in the recent attack, is that the Australian authorities failed to prevent such a mega attack from occurring, given that the Australian Jewish community has been a target of increased harassment after the October 7, 2023 attack on Israel by Hamas and company. Anti-Semitic incidents (both violent and non-violent) have surged from 442 in 2022 to 830 in 2023 and 1,045 in 2024. To name a few “red flags” that the Australian authorities have apparently failed to learn from: On October 8, 2023, Islamist Hizb ut-Tahrir held a rally in Sydney where Sheikh Ibrahim Dadoun stated that “I’m smiling and I’m happy. I’m elated. It’s a day of courage! It’s a day of resistance! It’s a day of pride! It’s a day of victory! This is the day we’ve been waiting for! … What happened yesterday is the first time our brothers and sisters broke through the largest prison on earth.… It didn’t happen by itself … my brothers and sisters, Palestine will be free!”; On October 9, 2023, Palestine Action Group (PAG) held a rally at Sydney Town Hall that included chants of “Intifada, Intifada” and “From the River to the Sea, Palestine will be Free.”; On October 10, 2023, four males in a car yelled to a rabbi and his 8 year old son “F***… Jew… pigs… die…” In another instance that day, people in a car were asking bystanders where Jews were, with one saying “We’re hunting for Jews.”; On October 12, 2023, a threat of “We are coming for you soon, from western Sydney” was sent via Instagram to ECAJ, one of Australia’s main Jewish organizations (and which is located in Sydney); On October 28, 2023, in New South Wales, a Jewish man was hospitalized after being severely beaten by a mob after identifying as Jewish and demonstrating pro-Israel sentiment in public; On April 24, 2024, in New South Wales, the NSW Joint Counter Terrorism Team arrested four teenagers who called themselves “soldiers of Allah” for planning to attack a synagogue; On November 26, 2024, a Chabad synagogue in Melbourne was graffitied with the messages “Free Gaza” and “Jews Kill babies” on the front of the synagogue and on the rabbi’s wife’s car; On November 27, 2024, in Victoria, a projectile was fired at and exploded on a Jewish school; On December 7, 2024, in New South Wales, a caravan was found containing explosives and a list of targets including The Great Synagogue and the Sydney Jewish Museum; On January 10 and 11, 2025, two synagogues in Sydney (the Southern Sydney Synagogue and the Newton Synagogue) were graffitied with swastikas in two consecutive days; On July 4, 2025, men poured a flammable liquid in front of the door of the East Melbourne Hebrew Congregation in Melbourne, Australia, setting fire to the synagogue’s front entrance. This occurred during Shabbat dinner with approximately 20 people inside the building at the time, who successfully evacuated.(A Sydney resident, Angelo Loras, pled guilty, was sentenced to only four months in prison, and the court deemed him mentally ill and not acting out of anti-Semitism); and On July 5, 2025, about 20 masked men overran an Israeli-owned restaurant in Melbourne, chanting “death to the IDF.” It remains to be seen if the Islamic Republic of Iran was involved in the mega-terror attack that killed 11 during Hannukah celebrations in Bondi Beach, Australia. But the attack was certainly a culmination of violent anti-Semitism in Australia that remained largely unchecked by authorities. READ MORE from Steve Postal: Syrian Detente Worthless As Country Still Harbors Terrorists ‘Mamdani the Hater’ Slanders Jews and Judaism Will Trump Get Saudi Arabia to Join the Abraham Accords?  

Churchgoing woman suffered severe burns to 50% of her body after unidentified assailant threw unknown caustic substance at her.

The constant drumbeat of terror attacks is rising in intensity, and the next major incident could literally occur at any moment.  It might happen in a really big city, or it might happen in a very small town.  It might happen on the other side of the planet, or it might happen right where you live.  We don’t know precisely where the next terror attack will occur, but we do know that it is coming.  And as soon as it happens, the countdown to the next one begins. Most of the victims of the terror attacks that we are witnessing are either Jews or Christians. Most of the perpetrators of these attacks are either Muslims or westerners that have been brainwashed to hate Jews or Christians. Right now our world is filled with more hatred than I have ever seen before. I do not believe that this is a coincidence. By now you have probably heard about the horrific terror attack that just took place in Sydney, Australia.  Even though there were four police officers nearby, the two Islamic terrorists that were doing the shooting were allowed to keep going for approximately 20 minutes… An eyewitness to the terror attack in Sydney says the assault unfolded over an extended period, lasting approximately 20 minutes, during which the attackers acted deliberately and without interruption. According to the account, four police officers were present at the scene but did not return fire as the attack continued. The eyewitness described a prolonged and methodical assault, saying the terrorists “took their time.” How many lives could have been saved if the police had intervened sooner? It is being reported that the official death toll has now reached 16… The death toll from the massacre rose to 16 by Monday morning local time, and includes a 10-year-old child. The oldest fatal victim is understood to be 87. The attack took place on Sunday shortly before 7pm local time as the attackers targeted a Hanukkah by the Sea event on Sydney’s Bondi Beach in an act of ‘terrorism’. We are being told that this terror attack was conducted by a father and a son. They were both radical jihadists. Personally, I would not be surprised if it turns out that they were actually part of the crowd of Hamas supporters that was chanting “gas the Jews” next to the Sydney Opera House two years ago… Hamas supporters chanted, “Gas the Jews,” beside the world-famous Sydney Opera House in Australia, according to a video shared by the Australian Jewish Association. This terror attack in Sydney was preceded by another terror attack at Brown University. Two students were killed and nine others were wounded as a result of that mass shooting… Hundreds of police officers swarmed the streets near Brown University late Saturday, shining flashlights into parked cars in search of a gunman who opened fire in a campus building, killing two students and injuring nine more. At first we weren’t being told the identity of the shooter. But now we are being told that it was a 24-year-old man from Wisconsin named Benjamin Erickson… The man arrested in connection to the deadly shooting at Brown University has been identified as Benjamin Erickson, according to law enforcement sources. The 24-year-old from Wisconsin is accused of carrying out the mass shooting Saturday night at the Ivy League campus that left two students dead and nine people injured, sources told The Washington Post. There is still a lot we don’t know about Benjamin Erickson. But something certainly motivated him to make the 17 hour journey to Brown University… The suspect is said to have made a 17-hour trek from Wisconsin to Rhode Island with a laser-equipped firearm, according to law enforcement. He was taken into custody early Sunday morning by FBI agents at the Hampton Inn hotel in Coventry. When Erickson finally arrived at Brown University, he purposely sought out the classroom of a Jewish professor named Rachel Friedberg… It has been nearly 24 hours since a gunman stormed a Brown University classroom taught by Jewish professor Rachel Friedberg, who teaches the intersection of economics and Jewish studies, and reportedly “yelled something unique” before using a handgun and unleashing a hail of bullets in the classroom. It doesn’t take a genius to connect the dots in this case. Right before Hanukkah, Erickson specifically targeted a Jewish professor. Did Erickson and Friedberg have any sort of a personal connection? Had they interacted on social media at all? Those are questions that reporters should be asking right now. Friedberg claims that Erickson “yelled something” when he first entered the classroom… A Brown University professor has described the horror she and her students endured after a shooter killed two people and injured eight more in a shooting at the prestigious college on Saturday afternoon. Rachel Friedberg, a Brown economics professor, said the mass shooting happened in a review session for the final exam of her Principles of Economics course. “The room has stadium seating with doors that enter at the top,” Friedberg said. “He said that the shooter came in the doors, yelled something — he couldn’t remember what he yelled — and started shooting. Erickson probably uttered something that he thought would be quite memorable. But if nobody heard it clearly, we may never know what it was. The two recent terror attacks that I have discussed so far in this article are getting a ton of attention, but there have also been others that have not gotten as much attention. For example, ISIS just conducted a terror attack that killed three Americans inside Syria.  President Trump is promising that there will be “very serious retaliation”… President Trump vowed on Saturday to retaliate against the Islamic State after an attack in central Syria killed two U.S. Army soldiers and a civilian U.S. interpreter, the first American casualties in the country since the fall of the dictator Bashar al-Assad last year. “This was an ISIS attack against the U.S., and Syria, in a very dangerous part of Syria,” Mr. Trump wrote on Truth Social. “There will be very serious retaliation.” You could argue that those three Americans are simply casualties of war. Okay, but what about the countless numbers of entirely peaceful Christians that are being murdered for what they believe in Islamic countries all over the globe? On December 5th, a Pakistani Presbyterian pastor became a martyr when he was ruthlessly gunned down in front of his own home… An unidentified assailant recently gunned down a Presbyterian Pakistani pastor outside his home in front of his daughter on Dec. 5, his family said. The pastor had previously survived an attack in September. The Rev. Kamran Salamat of Gujranwala was preparing to take his 16-year-old daughter to college when an unidentified motorcyclist opened fire on him with a pistol, hitting him in the right wrist, left ear and lower abdomen, said the victim’s brother-in-law, the Rev. Shahzad Salman. Pastor Salamat was 45. “My brother-in-law succumbed to his injuries at the hospital three hours later,” Pastor Salman told Christian Daily International-Morning Star News. That was a terror attack too. Since it didn’t happen in the western world, the mainstream media in the U.S. simply didn’t care. But if five Islamic radicals had successfully slammed a vehicle into a crowded Christmas market in Germany, that definitely would have made a lot of headlines… Five men have been arrested in Germany suspected of being involved in a plot to drive a vehicle into people at a Christmas market. Three Moroccans, an Egyptian and a Syrian were detained on Friday over the plan to target a market in the southern Bavarian state. Authorities said they suspected an “Islamist motive”. Prosecutors said the Egyptian – a 56-year-old – was alleged to have “called for a vehicle attack… with the aim of killing or injuring as many people as possible”. The Moroccans allegedly agreed to carry out the attack. For years, I have been warning that these days were coming. Now they are here. We are supposed to love everyone. That even includes our enemies. But today so many people are absolutely filled with hate. So a lot more violence is coming, and that should make all of us very sad. Michael’s new book entitled “10 Prophetic Events That Are Coming Next” is available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.com, and you can subscribe to his Substack newsletter at michaeltsnyder.substack.com. About the Author: Michael Snyder’s new book entitled “10 Prophetic Events That Are Coming Next” is available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.com. He has also written nine other books that are available on Amazon.com including “Chaos”, “End Times”, “7 Year Apocalypse”, “Lost Prophecies Of The Future Of America”, “The Beginning Of The End”, and “Living A Life That Really Matters”.  When you purchase any of Michael’s books you help to support the work that he is doing.  You can also get his articles by email as soon as he publishes them by subscribing to his Substack newsletter.  Michael has published thousands of articles on The Economic Collapse Blog, End Of The American Dream and The Most Important News, and he always freely and happily allows others to republish those articles on their own websites.  These are such troubled times, and people need hope.  John 3:16 tells us about the hope that God has given us through Jesus Christ: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”  If you have not already done so, we strongly urge you to invite Jesus Christ to be your Lord and Savior today. The post The Terror Attacks Never Seem To Stop, And The Patterns That We Are Witnessing Are Becoming Undeniable appeared first on End Of The American Dream.

from PressForTruth: TRUTH LIVES on at https://sgtreport.tv/

by Robert Gore, Straight Line Logic: AI answers questions, but it doesn’t ask them. Never has humanity expended so much on an endeavor for which it will receive so little as the Artificial Intelligence (AI) project. Its design rests on the assumption that the human intelligence (HI) it is attempting to mimic and surpass is […]

Soccer Player Finds A Tiny Puppy In Albania And Brings Him To Hawaii | The Dodo

  While modern celebrants welcome the new year on January 1 of the Gregorian calendar, the Inca, Aztec and Maya celebrated the dawn of a new year at various times—and sometimes multiple times. Given the challenges in reconciling ancient and modern calendars, pinpointing an exact “New Year’s Day” for these civilizations is no easy task. What is more certain is that in the ancient Americas, new year celebrations were often preceded by fasting and purification, followed by joyous celebrations honoring the gods and offering sacrifices to ensure their continued blessings in the year to come.   Inca New Year: Inti Raymi, June 24 The Sapa Inca speaks to a crowd at the Inti Raymi festival. Source: Trexperience Peru   Of the “big three” pre-conquest civilizations, the Inca new year celebration is the easiest to pinpoint, because it happens at the same time every year and is still celebrated today. The Inca welcomed the new year at the winter solstice, which occurs in June in the southern hemisphere. Held in honor of the sun god, Inti, it is believed the celebration, Inti Raymi or “Festival of the Sun,” was initiated by the Sapa Inca Pachacutec in the early 15th century.   The sun and the god responsible for it were essential to a prosperous year in Tawantinsuyu, the Inca Empire, so the celebration to thank Inti and ensure his continued blessings for the year to come was one of the largest in the empire. Thousands traveled to Cusco to celebrate during the festival, which, according to various sources, lasted somewhere between 9 and 15 days.   The celebration was marked by a period of fasting, followed by dancing, music, sacrifice and feasting. The mummified ancestors—past Sapa Incas and other nobility—were brought to the central plaza, where llamas were sacrificed, coca leaves were burned to forecast the future, and chicha beer was shared.   After the conquest, the Inti Raymi celebration was banned by the Spanish, the last formal celebration taking place in 1535. The feast continued to be celebrated in secret until the Viceroy of Peru formally outlawed it in 1572, along with other Indigenous practices and observances. Fortunately, famed Inca historian Garcilaso de la Vega had collected stories of the festival and its elements from family and friends, which he detailed in his book, Comentarios Reales de los Incas, so, though outlawed, the details of the celebration were not lost to time.   Inti Raymi celebration in Cusco’s Plaza de Armas. Source: Inca Rail   It was not until 1944 that the ceremony was formally revived. A group of Peruvian actors, in collaboration with the American Arts Institute in Cusco, staged a reenactment of the great festival based on de la Vega’s writings. It was so popular it became an annual event, and in 2001, was officially declared part of the Cultural Heritage of the Nation.   Today, a large Inti Raymi festival and reenactment is staged every year in Cusco on June 24, with smaller celebrations and processions in the days leading up to it. With reenactors dressed in traditional attire, the celebration begins at Qorikancha, the Temple of the Sun, with the opening ceremony. Participants then proceed to the Plaza de Armas, where locals and tourists alike listen to the Sapa Inca’s speech and observe various rituals to honor Inti, including offerings of coca and chicha. The final event takes place at the fortress of Sacsayhuamán, with additional rituals and symbolic sacrifices to the sun god—fortunately the ritual llama sacrifice element is left to the imagination. Traditional dances and music are performed throughout the day, locals often prepare traditional dishes for their families in celebration, and thousands of tourists pour into the country to take it all in.   Mexica New Year: Yancuic Xihuitl, March 12 Yancuic Xihuitl celebration at Daybreak Star Cultural Center in 2015. Source: Seattle Globalist   Two different calendars were used in the Aztec Empire: a 260-day ritual calendar and a 365-day annual “civil” calendar based on the solar year. This yearly calendar was divided into 18 20-day months, which left five “empty” days at the end of the cycle during which the Mexica prepared to welcome a new year.   The last five days of the year, or nemontemi, meaning roughly “wasted days,” were considered a dangerous time. While each month in the calendar was dedicated to a particular deity, these five days had no patron or protector. Many everyday activities were put on hold to avoid calamity, and a period of fasting or reflection to prepare for the new year was observed.   As with the modern new year, much of the preparation and celebration took place the “night” before—though records indicate that the Aztec day began at 6 am, rather than midnight. When the new year dawned, it was heralded with the blowing of conch shells, while priests performed cleansing and other rituals designed to ensure a prosperous new year, particularly honoring the gods who would be responsible for good harvests.   Chronicles from the immediate post-conquest period offer different dates for the festival, interpreted through the Julian calendar in use at the time. Most modern scholars have placed the festival as likely falling sometime in late February or early March of the current Gregorian calendar. Today, many Nahua peoples celebrate the new year on March 12, staging events full of ceremonial dances and music, and lighting candles as well as more modern fireworks. Conch shells are still blown to welcome the special day.   A traditional dance group celebrates the Mexica New Year at City College on March 11, 2024, in San Francisco, California. Jeremy Word. Source: El Tecolote   An even more significant “new year” festival was celebrated when the renewal of the 365-day and 260-day calendar cycles coincided. This occurred every 52 years and was celebrated with the New Fire Ceremony, somewhat akin to heralding a new century today. Like the “wasted days,” the end of the 52-year cycle was a dangerous time. The Aztec believed that the world had ended and been recreated multiple times, and the end of any 52-year cycle could bring it to an end again.   As the day approached, the people would destroy their personal belongings to rid themselves of the old, practiced ritual bloodletting, fasted and purified themselves. All fires, including sacred fires kept burning throughout the 52-year period in the temples, would be extinguished on the final day, and the Empire’s priests would come together and attempt to start a new fire. If it didn’t catch, the world would come to an end. But if it did, it was used to relight fires throughout the region, spread by relay runners, and a great celebration ensued. Captives were sacrificed, blood offerings were made to the new fire, and the people feasted to welcome another 52-year period safe from the apocalypse.   Maya New Year: July? Glyphs for the 18 months of the Mayan calendar, with their names in Yucatec Maya. Source: Dumbarton Oaks   In close proximity, particularly in the Yucatan peninsula, the Aztec and Maya civilizations shared many spiritual beliefs and cultural elements, including the use of multiple calendars. Some scholars suggest both groups inherited these calendar concepts from the Mesoamerican “mother” culture, the Olmec. The Mayan Haab’ calendar mirrored the Aztec civil calendar, with 18 20-day months and a short month of 5 “leftover” days called Wayeb’.   During Wayeb’, the Maya prepared for the coming new year with special cleansing rituals, fasting and reflection. The first day of the new year was, arguably, 1 Pop, though some historians suggest that a correct reading of the Mayan calendar indicates that day 1 was actually referred to as 0 Pop. The day before was called the “seating of Pop,” akin to “New Year’s Eve,” and was marked by divination rituals intended to predict the course of the upcoming year. Each month of the Mayan calendar cycle had a particular patron god, and so on the day before, he would take his “seat” to prepare for the year ahead.   Though the Mayan system of calendars, particularly the long count, was precisely calculated, the Haab calendar did not take into account the discrepancy between the 365-day count and the actual length of a solar year: 365 days, 5 hours, 48 minutes, 45 seconds. What this means to modern humans is that the first day of the Mayan year does not fall on a consistent day every contemporary year. For example, according to modern calendar conversions, in 2025, 1 Pop fell on March 31, but 20 years ago, it occurred in early April. Because the beginning of a new agricultural cycle takes place in July, this is often a month for new year celebrations within the remaining Maya communities, usually around the 26th.   A celebration of Wajxaqib’ B’atz in Guatemala. Source: Agencia Guatemalteca de Noticias   However, celebrations of the sacred new year, meaning the first day of the Mayan ritual calendar, known today as the Tzolk’in in Yucatec Maya and Chol Q’ij in K’iche Maya, are more common. Wajxaqib’ B’atz is commemorated every 260 days, particularly by the K’iche Maya in present-day Guatemala. The event is marked by the selection of a new “calendar keeper,” a spiritual guide for the next 260 days. Because this calendar’s cycle is so much shorter than the 365-day modern year, Wajxaqib’ B’atz can take place on any date; in 2025 it took place on October 5.   In addition, it’s worth noting that the Mayan Empire had collapsed long before the conquest, leaving behind more independent communities that developed their own rituals and practices. By the time of European contact, few were left who could interpret or explain the various calendar systems used centuries earlier by their ancestors—or cared to risk encountering the Spanish to do so. Much of what is believed about the Mayan calendars, and attempts to reconcile them with the modern calendar, has come through centuries of archaeological work, which is still ongoing.

According to Fox News, the U.S. troops killed and injured in an ambush attack in Syria were members of the Iowa National Guard. The attack killed two Iowa National Guard soldiers and an American civilian translator. Three additional U.S. troops sustained injuries, the outlet noted. Iowa National Guard soldiers ID’d as victims in deadly Syria ISIS attack https://t.co/rrdBaCZBVJ pic.twitter.com/2DNzHM9mQh — New York Post (@nypost) December 14, 2025 Fox News shared further: Preliminary information suggests the attacker was once affiliated with the Syrian government forces and had been a low-level member of the Syrian Security Forces, before later becoming connected to ISIS, the official said. “He was not a part of the official delegation that was being escorted by the U.S. and Syrian troops,” the official said. “… This would not be considered a ‘green on blue’ incident because the Syrian gunman was not part of the U.S./Syrian partnered delegation.” Earlier Saturday, U.S. Central Command confirmed the deaths and injuries were a “result of an ambush by a lone ISIS gunman in Syria.” President Donald Trump warned that there will be “very serious retaliation” following the ambush. “This was an ISIS attack. On us and Syria. And again, we mourn the loss and we pray for them and their parents and their loved ones,” Trump told reporters. Footage below: NEW: President Trump says the U.S. WILL retaliate after the attack on Americans in Syria leaving 3 dead and 3 more injured. “This was an ISIS attack. On us and Syria. And again, we mourn the loss and we pray for them and their parents and their loved ones.” “We will retaliate.… https://t.co/J1L9pkTDdu pic.twitter.com/m8x3HUT3n1 — Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) December 13, 2025 A police chief from Iowa confirmed his son is one of the victims. “Today two of our Iowa Army National Guard Soldiers were killed in action along with a Civilian Interpreter in Syria. My wife Misty and I had that visit from Army Commanders you never want to have. Our son Nate was one of the Soldiers that paid the ultimate sacrifice for all of us, to keep us all safer. He loved what he was doing and would be the first in and last out, no one left behind. Please pray for our Soldiers all around this cruel world. We will see you again son, until then we have if from here,” Meskwaki Nation Police Chief Jeffrey Bunn wrote on the department’s Facebook page. “We were contacted by the interpreter’s family and they have requested his name be included in our post. We extend our sincerest condolences to the family of Ayad Sakat,” the post continued. Grieving Iowa police chief reveals son was one of three US soldiers in Syria killed in ‘this cruel world’ https://t.co/m1Dnmh5jav pic.twitter.com/HvJ7DELXuf — New York Post (@nypost) December 14, 2025 More from the New York Post: In a press conference Sunday morning, Iowa Army National Guard Maj. Gen. Stephen Osborn said the attack was carried out by a “lone ISIS gunman” who was later killed by partner forces. “At the time of the attack, US personnel were conducting a key leader engagement. Their mission was in support of ongoing counter-ISIS and counter-terrorism efforts in the region,” Osborn said. On social media, Howard was remembered as creative and dedicated. In a previous post meant to profile soldiers in his troop, Howard said his ultimate goal was “20 years of service and a retirement he’s proud of.” He served 11 years before the attack. “Above all, SGT Howard wants his battle buddies to know he’s always there—whether to help or simply listen,” his profile said. According to the post, Howard enjoyed hunting and playing video games and was married. Bunn has three other sons, including another who is also serving in the Iowa Army National Guard, according to his bio of the police department website. The dad moved to the Meskwaki Nation in 2019 but raised his four boys in Marshalltown, Iowa. KCCI provided additional coverage: