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The Duffel Brief · the free edition, Monday, Wednesday and Friday

Vol. 15 · No. 130 · Saturday, 31 October 2026

Veterans

Spirit Halloween store to become pop-up ICE detention center

DHS praises seasonal retailer's expertise in occupying abandoned buildings and disappearing overnight

Army FRG unveils haunted house featuring spouses saying ‘I’m fine’

Hasan execution venue double-booked with Comic-Con

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Vol. 15 · No. 130

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Vol. 15 · No. 130 · Deployed worldwide

Saturday

31 October 2026

1320 Zulu

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· Page 2

U.S. Tells Kurds it’s just going out for a pack of cigarettes

Filed · 1552

NORTHERN SYRIA — Kurdish fighters of the Syrian Democratic Forces, or SDF, are still waiting anxiously for the U.S. to return after it left on Monday, saying it was “going out for a pack of smokes.”

Sources say the U.S. ruffled the Kurds’ hair, put on its coat, and looked back wistfully before walking out the front door.

“The U.S. mentioned something about it not being our fault and that we didn’t do anything wrong,” said Dozan Aydogan, a Kurdish SDF commander. “Then the U.S. said it was heading to the PX to get some more cigarettes. It’s funny though, I’ve never seen it smoke.”

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