The stories of five Americans who were awarded the Medal of Honor for making the ultimate sacrifice.

The Islamic State in West Africa (ISWA) claimed a May 16 attack near Tongo Tongo, Niger, killing more than 20 soldiers not far from the Malian border. In March it issued a photo of its members in Burkina Faso and in April it claimed an attack on a militia in Mali. But, it is not clear that the ISWA group based primarily in Nigeria is behind those attacks. 

The name of the organization conjures association with the Islamic State in Syria and Iraq, but caution is required. Evidence that the Islamic State of the Greater Sahara is somehow an extension of the Islamic State in the Middle East or even in Libya is sparse.

The region is accustomed to cycles of protest and political upheaval, so it’s better not to bank on successful revolutions.

“He’s contaminated from top to bottom…Tomorrow he will be a hero.” – Captain Adnan Dayoub, a Syrian rebel commander in Hama, on the defection of General Abdelaziz Jassim al-Shalal, head of the milita…