• by Erik Sass , Staff Writer @eriksass1, June 4, 2015

While ISIS members aspire to “martyrdom,” this may not have been quite the glorious end they were seeking: earlier this year the U.S. Air Force destroyed one of the terrorist group’s headquarters after being tipped off by a social media post, according to Defense Tech, citing a speech by Air Force General Hawk Carlisle (and if that isn’t a great name for a USAF commander, I don’t know what is).

Although Carlisle declined to disclose the location of the attack, when it took place, or the social media site where the post appeared, he did share some of the procedural details. It started when intelligence analysts with the USAF 361^st Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Group at Hurlburt Field, Florida, spotted a picture showing an ISIS member outside the building -- and yes, it sounds like this refers to a selfie.

According to Carlisle, “The guys that were working down out of Hurlburt, they’re combing through social media and they see some moron standing at this command. And in some social media, open forum, bragging about the command and control capabilities for Daesh, ISIL. And these guys go: ‘We got an in.’ So they do some work, long story short, about 22 hours later through that very building, three JDAMs [Joint Direct Attack Munitions] take that entire building out.”

In a statement to Defense Tech Carlisle added: “It was a post on social media to bombs on target in less than 24 hours. Incredible work when you think about (it)."

Of course some might question the wisdom of sharing even this much information about the U.S. military’s intelligence gathering techniques, but frankly it’s just too good a story not to share. I’m not normally a bloodthirsty person but when it comes to members ISIS -- now in the top running for worst ideology ever -- let’s just say I hope they keep posting selfies until there aren’t any more to take.