The man who trades freedom for security does not deserve nor will he ever receive either. – Benjamin Franklin
– US Saying ISIS Leader Killed Countless Times Is Alive Again:
(MEE) — A senior US general has said that the leader of the Islamic State group, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, is still alive but the coalition does not “have a clue” about where he is.
Read moreUS Saying ISIS Leader Killed Countless Times Is Alive Again
“I pledge allegiance to Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi may God protect him [in Arabic], on behalf of the Islamic State,”
Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi & John McCain
– Feds Reverse Course, Release Full, Unedited 911 Transcript Following Public Outcry:
Facing pressure from Republican leaders, the Justice Department made an abrupt about-face on Monday, releasing the full transcript of a 911 call made by Orlando shooter Omar Mateen, after originally redacting references to the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS). The redaction, which sparked intense controversy, was meant to prevent the extremist group from using the attack as propaganda, the Justice Department said in a Monday afternoon statement.
“Unfortunately, the unreleased portions of the transcript that named the terrorist organizations and leaders have caused an unnecessary distraction from the hard work that the FBI and our law enforcement partners have been doing to investigate this heinous crime,” the department said.
Read moreFeds Reverse Course, Release Full, Unedited 911 Transcript Following Public Outcry
“The security and popular forces have held captive an Israeli colonel,” a commander of Iraq’s popular mobilization forces said on Thursday.
“The Zionist officer is ranked colonel and had participated in the Takfiri ISIL group’s terrorist operations,” he added.
He just forgot to mention somehow that Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi is a Mossad agent and that ISIS is an operation run by the CIA and the Mossad.
– Israeli defense minister says ISIS funded with ‘Turkish money’:
Israel’s defense minister has alleged that the Islamic State terror group has long been funded with “Turkish money.”“As you know, Daesh (Islamic State, previously ISIS/ISIL) enjoyed Turkish money for oil for a very, very long period of time. I hope that it will be ended,” Moshe Yaalon told reporters in Athens on Tuesday after meeting his Greek counterpart, Panos Kammenos, Reuters reports.
Read moreIsraeli defense minister says ISIS funded with ‘Turkish money’
… unless he is not.
– ISIS confirms ‘Jihadi John’ is dead:
Islamic State has confirmed that ‘Jihadi John,’ a British jihadist featured in many of the group’s execution videos, was killed in an airstrike in Syria.The latest issues of IS’ magazine, Dabiq, confirmed that Abu Muharib Al-Muhajir, who “made headlines around the world as Jihadi John” had indeed been killed. His car was targeted in a “strike by an unmanned drone”, which killed the terrorist “instantly.”
Although ISIS releases nearly 40 pieces of propaganda each and every day via the group’s sprawling network of production units located in at least a dozen countries, one person you don’t hear from very often is TIME magazine’s runner-up for “person of the year”, Bakr al-Baghdadi.
The ISIS chief – who was once held in a US jail in Iraq – is notoriously reclusive and hasn’t been seen in public since last year’s speech in Mosul in which he declared himself caliph. On Saturday, Baghdadi has released a new audio clip in which he assures the world that neither the US nor Russia has weakened the group. He also threatens attacks on Israel.
H/t reader squodgy:
Lovely….”No-one knows what the Russians will do next”
Is this a show for we morons, or could it be real?
– ISIS leader al-Baghdadi injured in Iraqi airstrike on terrorist convoy:
Iraq’s Air Force struck the convoy of Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi as he was about to meet with the terror group’s top commanders, Reuters cited a military statement. The Baghdad Information Center has confirmed that the strike injured al-Baghdadi.
“Iraqi air forces have bombed the convoy of the terrorist Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi while he was heading to Karabla to attend a meeting with Daesh [ISIS] commanders,” read the initial military statement cited by Reuters.
The military gave no information about the fate of the terrorist leader.
Read moreISIS leader al-Baghdadi injured in Iraqi airstrike on terrorist convoy
“In my opinion, provision of military support to illegal structures runs counter to the principles of modern international law and the United Nations Charter.”
As we never tire of pointing out, perhaps the most amusing thing about Russia’s stepped up role in Syria is the extent to which it represents the calling of Washington’s ISIS bluff.
For more than a year now, the US and its regional allies have purportedly been engaged in a sweeping effort to defeat Bakr al-Baghdadi’s army and rid the world of what’s been billed as the greatest threat to humanity since the Third Reich. Curiously, ISIS is still operating and still making periodic territorial gains despite the fact that when you strip away all of the nuance what you have is a ragtag militia battling the most advanced air force on the planet. There are of course no shortage of conspiracy theories as to what exactly is going on and even if one wishes to avoid going so far as to say that the US created ISIS, there’s no question that Washington has played a role in training and arming anti-regime forces in Syria and some of those anti-regime forces have turned out to be Sunni extremists.