Abu Sayyaf was a mid-level financier who oversaw oil revenues for the Islamic State, aka ISIS, in Deir al-Zour, Syria.  The raid was authorized by President Obama after the president was briefed on the intelligence that had been collected over the past several months.  The U.S. military and the intelligence community had been working for weeks to build a profile of Abu Sayyaf using human sources, electronic surveillance, and aerial reconnaissance of the particular areas of interest. The raid to capture or kill Abu Sayyaf was carried out by approximately 36 members of the U.S. Army’s Delta Force and supporting U.S. special mission forces in the vicinity of the Amr area within Deir al-Zour Province of eastern Syria.  The infiltration for the raid was conducted using MH-60L DAP Blackhawk helicopters and CV-22 Ospreys, which used Iraqi airspace to reach the target area in Syria. This is the first successful raid against an Islamic State target since military...(Read Full Post)