Category: Justin King

(TFC) – Yesterday, millions of people across the globe stared in horror at the image of the Broward County school shooter. They were able to infer from the image the shooter was a leftist, and probably a “communist”. Nikolas Cruz was the killer leftist the right wing always dreamed about and word spread like wildfire on social media. The problem is the photo isn’t Nikolas Cruz, it’s Marcel Fontaine. Marcel lives on the other side of the country and had nothing to do with the shooting. The Fifth Column reached…

Kandahar, Afghanistan (TFC)— An army of MQ-9 Reaper drones has arrived in Afghanistan, reputedly the largest such deployment of the war. The majority of this massive fleet is stationed at a single base and trails a boost in ground troops. Back in December, US generals promised another troop increase in America’s longest running war. Over 14,000 troops are currently deployed in Afghanistan including, RT notes, 3000 President Donald Trump sent in September. An additional 6000 were set to deploy towards the beginning of the year. However, the Trump Administration has…

(TFC) – Accuracy is the benchmark of journalism. It’s the most important measure. At The Fifth Column, while we often break national and international news stories first, we live by the idea that we don’t want to be the fastest source, we want to be the most accurate. It’s impossible for a journalist to personally check every detail in every article. They often rely on the research of widely-accepted sources to provide data. What happens when this information is questioned? At TFC, it launches an investigation. [embedded content] Recently, data…

(TFC) – It’s a simple enough idea: take a group of indie journalists who are beholden to no political party and no corporate influence, throw them in a van, and tell them to do their thing. It’s been talked about for years. Implementing this idea is a bit like herding cats. About a year after the first phone call concerning the project, I’m on a flight headed to Los Angeles. I’m wired from the events of the previous night and haven’t slept, but the Xanax and Jack Daniel’s are performing…

Myanmar, (TFC)— The war in Myanmar is a complicated one, charged with the demonic omen of “ethnic cleansing.” However, something else is bumping around the background. A factor even more obscure than the possibility of a proxy-conflict between the US and China. Natural resources, minerals, and massive oil projects may be closer to the true motives of this horrific conflict than most realize. The conflict in Myanmar has seen increasing coverage, especially in independent outlets such as Democracy Now. Half a million people have been displaced in recent months with…

(TFC)— Lately, whenever “Green Beret” is mentioned in the news, it only seems bad. Whether the tragic death of Sergeant David Johnson in Niger, ambushes in Jordan, or the killing of another in Mali by a Navy SEAL member. Some low key news continues the trend, this time regarding worries that the elite military unit’s training is compromised. “Our regiment has a cancer”, began an anonymous letter written by an operative deep within the Green Beret’s ranks. “And it is destroying the SF (Special Forces) legacy, its capability, and it’s…