Iraq: ISIS Leader Baghdadi Ordered Attack on Paris

Iraqi Intel Sent Warning to France the Day Before Paris Attacks

Despite claims that no one could’ve seen Friday evening’s ISIS terror attacks in Paris coming, reports are emerging of some nations giving France direct warning of potential attacks, with Iraq confirming they’d sent France a dispatch on the threat just the day before the attacks.

Reportedly, the dispatch informed France that they were one of several countries ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi had ordered attacks on, and explicitly warning that the attacks in the coming days would involve “bombings or assassinations or hostage taking.”

The intelligence appears to have been extremely accurate, as the ISIS attacks the following night involved multiple bombings as well as a massive hostage-taking incident at the Bataclan, where they at one point had as many as 100 hostages at a concert.

Asked on the matter over the weekend, Iraqi Foreign Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari downplayed the prediction, saying only that France was among the targets indicated by intelligence on ISIS. Foreign Ministry spokesman Ahmed Jamal claimed the intelligence was obtained “months ago,” which makes the timing particularly surprising.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.