On Sunday, President Donald Trump excitedly shared with fellow Americans details of the U.S. military operation that led to the death of terrorist leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi in a nearly 50-minute live press conference. In comparison, former President Barack Obama used up only 9-minute of press time when he announced an operation that killed Osama bin Laden.

 

On May 2, 2011, when Obama announced that U.S. special forces had finally located and killed the elusive al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden during a raid on a compound in Pakistan, 10 years after the terrorist leader had masterminded the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the U.S. soil, American people took to the street to celebrate the event.

 

But the mission was timed to help the re-election of Barack Obama. Nothing should go to waste, including the termination of Osama. It was such a big deal that on October 23, 2012 – just two weeks before President Obama’s re-election to a second term – frustrated Trump tweeted – “Stop congratulating Obama for killing Bin Laden. The Navy Seals killed Bin Laden.”

Amusingly, some eight years later, it’s President Donald Trump turn to play the same drama when he announced on Oct 27, 2019 that a U.S. special operation had resulted in the death of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. Obviously, he had taken a page from Obama’s playbook to boost his 2020 re-election campaign. So, now he’s claiming credits, but had refused to let Obama do the same.

 

But unlike Obama, Mr. Trump was in the business of reality television program “The Apprentice” before running for President of the United States in the 2016 election. The killing of the ISIS brutal leader essentially provided him the golden opportunity to brag and boast about his leadership. In fact, he celebrated the death of al-Baghdadi as if the country had won a World War III.

 

In 2011, Barack Obama described the military operation in just five sentences. In contrast, Trump gave an incredibly detailed description of the raid, what he saw and heard while watching the operation from the Situation Room, details of al-Baghdadi’s death, and even mocked and insulted the ISIS terrorist leader so much so some parts of the story have raise eyebrows

Trump said – “He died after running into a dead-end tunnel, whimpering, crying, and screaming all the way. The compound had been cleared by this time with people either surrendering or being shot and killed. Eleven young children were moved out of the house and are un-injured. The only ones remaining were Baghdadi in the tunnel.”

 

The president continued – “He dragged three of his young children with him. He reached the end of the tunnel, as our dogs chased them down. He ignited his vest, killing himself and the three children. His body was mutilated by the blast, the tunnel had caved in on it in addition. Test results gave certain, immediate, and totally positive identification. It was him.”

 

The Commander-in-Chief went further – “The thug who tried so hard to intimidate others spent his last moments in utter fear, and total panic and dread, terrified of the American forces bearing down on him. We were in the compound for approximately two hours, and after the mission was accomplished we took the highly sensitive material and information from the raid.”

Trump also talked about the details leading up to the raid – “We knew about where he was going, where he was heading. We had very good information that he was going to another location. He did not go. Two or three efforts were canceled because he decided to change his mind, constantly changing his mind.”

 

Despite the fact that Trump claimed the ISIS leader was “whimpering and crying and screaming” like a “dog” when U.S. troops descended on him, no one has any idea where the president got that description. Senior administration officials as well as Pentagon officials were left scratching their head after they listened to the president’s account in real time.

 

But who cares if the U.S. president decides to have a little entertainment and pleasure by making up stories to spice up the killing of the terrorist leader. Everyone knows that the raid, carried out by at least 50 U.S. Army Rangers and special-operator Delta Force flew on eight helicopters from Iraq, was a result of intelligence gathered by the CIA and U.S. allies.

However, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi might still be alive today if not for a critical informant, who turns out to be a trusted member of the ISIS leader’s inner circle. Yes, the chief of the terror group was actually betrayed his own trusted man, whose nationality is kept in the dark. Without Baghdadi realising it, his confidant has been assisting the U.S. and partner forces for months.

 

Heck, the informant had even retrieved a pair of the ISIS leader’s used underwear three months ago to confirm Baghdadi’s presence and identity in the compound in Idlib, Syria. The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) have claimed they played a key role in tracking down Baghdadi, and it was them who had managed to place the spy who stole the underpants of the ISIS leader.

 

According to The Washington Post, the mole planted was so deep within Baghdadi’s inner circle that he was trusted to escort members of the ISIS leader’s family to medical appointments. The spy was present during the raid by the U.S. Delta Force and two days after the successful raid, the informant and his family left the region and may receive US$25 million bounty.

Although Trump has claimed credit for masterminding the operation that led to Baghdadi’s death and played down the role of the SDF in placing the spy, The Washington Post has corroborated that the informant is indeed a disillusioned ISIS member who was initially cultivated by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) after a family member was killed by the terrorist group.

 

SDF commander, General Mazloum Abdi has said that an SDF asset was the key to the operation against Baghdadi. It was also the source who oversaw construction of the safe house of Baghdadi’s hideout – an information that proved very vital to the operation, as well as the intelligence that the ISIS leader always had a suicide vest on him in case he were to be captured.

 

Baghdadi had been notoriously difficult to track and the breakthrough came only in February 2018, when an aide to the slain Islamic State leader disclosed how Baghdadi had evaded capture. The aide, identified as Ismael al-Ethawi, was arrested by Turkish authorities in the summer of 2018 and later handed over to Iraqi authorities.

Apparently, Baghdadi would sometimes hold strategic meetings with his commanders in moving minibuses packed with vegetables in order to avoid detection. He decided that hiding in Idlib was his best hope after Islamic State was all but wiped out in Iraq and Syria. The lack of security and checkpoints in Idlib also means he could blend in and hide.

 

In the aftermath of Baghdadi’s death, several of Washington’s allies in the Middle East have rushed to claim credit for their alleged roles in the militant leader’s capture and death. However, the fact remains that it was the SDF spy who was entrusted with helping Baghdadi change locations around Idlib, an unlikely place to hide out considering it is under Russian air control.

 

Like the anonymous sea burial given to al-Qaeda chief Osama Bin Laden, US officials also reported that Baghdadi’s remains had been buried at sea from an aircraft in an unknown location. For now, ISIS is in disarray as Baghdadi’s immediate successor or replacement has also been killed. But the ideology of ISIS is still very much alive and kicking.

It’s a matter of time before the next terrorist chief emerges. And the process will repeat itself. For now, Trump will milk the death of Baghdadi to the fullest, making it part of his campaign speeches. It doesn’t matter if he’s a hypocrite. As a former TV show celebrity, Donald Trump will definitely make the Baghdadi mission one of his big wins.

 

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October 30th, 2019 by financetwitter

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