Baghdadi was targeted by Kurdish intelligence starting 5 mos ago

Joanimaroni wrote:Thank you to our special Forces, our allies and President Trump! Well done.




A spokesperson for the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) has been killed in a Joint Special Operations Command raid by the U.S. and the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Fighters (SDF), shortly after ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi was also killed, an SDF official confirmed on Sunday.
SDF Gen. Mazloum Kobani Abdi announced on Twitter that Abu Hassan al-Muhajir had been targeted in an attack in the village of Ein al Baat on Sunday. Newsweek first reported the spokesman’s death.
“Following the previous ops, a senior assistent for al- Bagdadi is called Abu Hesen al Mouhjir was targeted in a village named Ein al Baat near Jaraboul city, the mission was conducted via direct coordination of SDF Intel & US military apart the ongiong ops to hunt ISIS leaders,” Abdi said.

Joanimaroni wrote:I am. You must be proud Obama released him in 2009.

The operation that killed ISIS leader al-Baghdadi was named after Kayla Mueller, an American hostage who was captured by ISIS, tortured, abused, raped by al-Baghdadi himself and then murdered.

Kayla Mueller refused to renounce her Christian faith while being an ISIS captive. May her memory be a blessing.

According to military officials, they decided to go with a “risky, night raid before their ability to control troops and spies and reconnaissance aircraft disappeared”:

Mr. al-Baghdadi’s death, they said, occurred largely in spite of Mr. Trump’s actions.

Floridatexan wrote:

Joanimaroni wrote:I am. You must be proud Obama released him in 2009.

The operation that killed ISIS leader al-Baghdadi was named after Kayla Mueller, an American hostage who was captured by ISIS, tortured, abused, raped by al-Baghdadi himself and then murdered.

Kayla Mueller refused to renounce her Christian faith while being an ISIS captive. May her memory be a blessing.

Setting the record straight: When did the U.S. free Islamic State leader?

There is no doubting that the man leading ISIS, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, was once in American custody.

The question is: When did the United States let him go?

Some news organizations, politicians and pundits have said al-Baghdadi was released from U.S. custody in Iraq by President Barack Obama’s administration in 2009. And on his way out, al-Baghdadi made a haunting claim: "I’ll see you guys in New York."

Others, including the Pentagon, say American forces held al-Baghdadi for about a year and set him free in 2004. In this version of the story, there is no threat of retaliation in New York and the president at the time was George W. Bush.

Which side is right matters in the world of punditry.

Those who said al-Baghdadi was released by Obama in 2009 included Republican Arizona Sen. John McCain, some leading newspapers and a spate of conservative pundits. For some, it fit into what pundits described as Obama’s "catch and release policy" for terrorists. The line of thinking gained traction in June when the administration handed over five Taliban prisoners in a swap that freed Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl. The conservative website RedState said that deal revealed a running theme in the Obama administration.

"The leader of the ISIS, the al-Qaeda affiliated terrorist group that is rampaging through Sunni Iraq, was released from U.S. custody in 2009," went a post on the site. "What else happened in 2009? An obscure, left wing radical from Chicago with an implacable hatred of American power became president."

However, it’s becoming increasingly clear that narrative is incorrect.

The latest evidence: Fresh information comes from an ISIS commander who goes by the nom de guerre Abu Ahmed. In an article two years in the making by Guardian reporter Martin Chulov, Abu Ahmed talked about meeting al-Baghdadi at Camp Bucca, the sprawling American detention center set up in the early days of the Iraq occupation.

The year was 2004, and Abu Ahmed said in many ways, al-Baghdadi flew below the radar screen.

"Baghdadi was a quiet person," said Abu Ahmed. "He was respected very much by the U.S. Army. If he wanted to visit people in another camp (one of the compounds within Camp Bucca) he could, but we couldn’t."

Chulov wrote that officials, seeing nothing of concern with al-Baghdadi, authorized his release in December 2004.

We asked Chulov if there could be any mistake. Was Abu Ahmed truly in a position to know what happened to al-Baghdadi.

"There is no dispute within Jihadi circles that Baghdadi was released late ‘04, perhaps early ‘05," Chulov told PunditFact. "Abu Ahmed has had access throughout the past decade and knows with precision what his movements have been."

Chulov went on to say that this release date is stated as fact by "the CIA, the Defense Department and the entire Iraqi security establishment."

When PunditFact first explored this issue in June 2014, the Pentagon said its records were clear.

"Ibrahim Awad Ibrahim Al Badry, also known as ‘Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi’ was held as a ‘civilian internee’ by U.S. Forces-Iraq from early February 2004 until early December 2004, when he was released," the Pentagon said in a statement. "He was held at Camp Bucca. A Combined Review and Release Board recommended ‘unconditional release’ of this detainee and he was released from U.S. custody shortly thereafter. We have no record of him being held at any other time."

The data on the other side

So where’s 2009 coming from?

Britain’s Telegraph was the first paper we found saying that al-Baghdadi got out in 2009. For proof, it cited analyst Michael Knights at the Washington Center for Near East Policy and an unnamed Pentagon document. But both seemed to be talking about a different terrorist called Abu Duaa. The Telegraph treated that as another nom de guerre for al-Baghdadi.

Given that the Telegraph quoted a former British special forces commander saying "(We) arrested or killed a man of that name about half a dozen times," it is possible that the newspaper had accurate information about the wrong terrorist.

The Daily Beast published an article based on an interview with Army Col. Kenneth King, the former commander of Camp Bucca. That article said King knew al-Baghdadi at the camp. King is the source for al-al-Baghdadi’s line about New York.

King said he recognized al-Baghdadi from photos in the news. At the Pentagon’s request, King has stopped talking about what he does and doesn’t remember. He told ABC News that he might have been mistaken.

 
About this article
Researchers: Jon Greenberg

Sources:
Guardian, Isis: the inside story, Dec. 11, 2014

McClatchy, Who is Iraq’s Abu Bakr al Baghdadi, world’s new top terrorist?, June 13, 2014

Washington Post, How ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi became the world’s most powerful jihadist leader, June 11, 2013

Washington Post, Islamic State leader al-Baghdadi calls on followers to unleash ‘volcanoes of jihad’, Nov. 13, 2014

Telegraph, Iraq crisis: the jihadist behind the takeover of Mosul - and how America let him go, June 11, 2014

Telegraph, How a talented footballer became world’s most wanted man, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, Nov. 11, 2014

New York Times, U.S. Actions in Iraq Fueled Rise of a Rebel, Aug. 11, 2014

Breitbart, Bergdhal: Three unanswered questions, June 20, 2014

Daily Mail, Revealed: How Obama SET FREE the merciless terrorist warlord now leading the ISIS horde blazing a trail of destruction through Iraq, June 13, 2014

Redstate, Obama’s terrorist catch-and-release program is a success, June 12, 2014

The Daily Beast, ISIS Leader: ‘See You in New York’, June 14, 2014

Email interview, Martin Chulov, reporter, Guardian, Dec. 16, 2014

https://www.politifact.com/punditfact/article/2014/dec/31/setting-record-straight-when-did-we-free-islamic-s/

zsomething wrote:First, excellent work by our special forces, killing this piece of shit.

Oh, and not that it's really pertinent either way, but, as usual, Joani is misinformed and too much of a blind, brainless follower to fact-check what she's been told to repeat:

https://www.newscorpse.com/ncWP/?p=17047

https://www.politifact.com/punditfact/article/2014/dec/31/setting-record-straight-when-did-we-free-islamic-s/








But, that's no surprise, given the source.

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump knew the Central Intelligence Agency and Special Operations commandos were zeroing in on the location for Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the Islamic State leader, when he ordered U.S. troops to withdraw from northern Syria earlier this month, intelligence, military and counterterrorism officials said Sunday.

For months, intelligence officials had kept Trump apprised of what he had set as a top priority, the hunt for al-Baghdadi, the world’s most wanted terrorist.

But Trump’s abrupt withdrawal order three weeks ago disrupted the meticulous planning underway and forced Pentagon officials to speed up the plan for the risky night raid before their ability to control troops, spies and reconnaissance aircraft disappeared with the pullout, officials said.

Al-Baghdadi’s death in the raid Saturday, they said, occurred largely despite, and not because of, Trump’s actions.