With the fall of the last of ISIS’ territory, the big question remains:
just how many ISIS members are in Iraq and Syria anymore? It’s not clear
anyone has the answer, but if anyone does, it would be ISIS leader Abu
Bakr al-Baghdadi.
Which is a whole additional problem. After years of speculation that he’d been killed or wounded, there is no sign of Baghdadi anywhere, and Iraqi intelligence officials say that they believe he is alive and well.
That’s a two-fold issue, because it leaves the most high-profile ISIS
member on the streets and active, and officials believe that he is the
one person who would have all the intelligence they really need to act
against the group.
The reality is that Baghdadi is liable to be anywhere, disguised as
anyone, and hiding with almost anyone. All the previous claims of his
death that didn’t pan out show that intelligence on his day-to-day
activities isn’t great, and his fate may be uncertain long after the war
is realistically over.
“The reality is that Baghdadi is liable to be anywhere, disguised as anyone, and hiding with almost anyone.” Ah, so like the elusive Pimpernel: “They seek him here. They seek him there. Those Frenchies seek him everywhere. Is he in heaven? Or, is he in hell?”
Baghdadi also sounds a lot like the elusive Osama bin Laden who managed to be photographed long after his actual death, getting younger and younger looking each time until that SEAL team shot him while he was watching TV and dumped his body in the ocean.
Has anyone noticed that ISIS hangs on much like al-CIAda has, with weaponry and training supplied by CIA/Mossad, and every time they get themselves into a tight spot they’re helicoptered to safety? Eric Prince now has them guarding poppy fields in Afghanistan. The Taliban report that they taste like chicken.
Course they kill the #2 guy every 11 weeks. Leads me to suspect there’s usually only 2 guys.