Report: Military Vets Told Not to Act ‘Pompous’ Online to Avoid Ire of ISIS ‘Lone Wolves’

Over the weekend, military bases across the United States were placed on higher alert for domestic terror attacks, in response to a surge in threatening chatter from ISIS and its sympathizers. “It is the highest level of security since the tenth anniversary of September 11,” notes Fox 13 News in Tampa Bay, home of MacDill Air Force Base. “No specific threat has been announced, but the alert comes after an FBI warning that there are hundreds of known, active ISIS supporters in the United States.”

Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson warned that “lone wolf” terrorists, such as the jihadis who attacked the Mohammed Art Exhibit in Garland, Texas, could “strike at any moment.” He described this as a new and challenging security environment, but added, “we are not discouraging Americans from doing the things they do on a daily basis.”

That disclaimer might not be entirely accurate, judging by what Fox 13 has been hearing from the military community in Tampa.

“Military personnel, veterans and their families at military bases like MacDill are being advised to be careful what they post online and talk about in public,” says the report.

Retired Col. E.J. Otero is quoted as saying the 440,000 veterans in the Tampa Bay area “have heard through one way or another from the commanders at MacDill to pay attention, keep a low profile, don’t be so pompous about being in the military, because those guy are looking for possible targets.”

The directive falls slightly short of British soldiers being told not to wear their uniforms in public after the broad-daylight jihad slaying of Drummer Lee Rigby on the streets of Woolwich. But between these military directives and the deafening round of tongue-clucking from media elites over the Mohammed Art Exhibit in Garland, Americans are being told to choose their words carefully, while belligerent jihadis and their fanboys run wild on social media.

The winning side in a war does not tell its citizens – much less its soldiers – to carefully avoid antagonizing a violent occupying force that stands ready to punish offense, or even pride.