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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsIraq: The frontman whose group took Mosel
In the space of a year he has become the most powerful jihadi leader in the world, and on Monday night his forces captured Mosul, the northern capital of Iraq. Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, also known as Abu Dua, the leader of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (Isis) has suddenly emerged as a figure who is shaping the future of Iraq, Syria and the wider Middle East.
He began to appear from the shadows in the summer of 2010 when he became leader of al-Qaida in Iraq (AQI) after its former leaders were killed in an attack by US and Iraqi troops. AQI was at a low point in its fortunes, as the Sunni rebellion, in which it had once played a leading role, was collapsing. It was revived by the revolt of the Sunni in Syria in 2011 and, over the next three years by a series of carefully planned campaigns in both Iraq and Syria. How far al-Baghdadi is directly responsible for the military strategy and tactics of ISIS, once called AQI, is uncertain: former Iraqi army and intelligence officers from the Saddam era are said to play a crucial role, but are under al-Baghdadis overall leadership.
There are disputes over his career depending on whether the source is ISIS itself, US or Iraqi intelligence but the overall picture appears fairly clear. He was born in Samarra, a largely Sunni city north of Baghdad, in 1971 and is well educated. With black hair and brown eyes, a picture of al-Baghdadi taken when he was a prisoner of the Americans in Bocca Camp in southern Iraq between 2005 and 2009, makes him look like any Iraqi man in his thirties.
His real name is believed to be Awwad Ibrahim Ali al-Badri al-Samarrai, who has degrees in Islamic Studies, including poetry, history and genealogy, from the Islamic University of Baghdad. He may have been an Islamic militant under Saddam as a preacher in Diyala province, to the north east of Baghdad, where, after the US invasion of 2003, he had his own armed group. Insurgent movements have a strong motive for giving out misleading information about their command structure and leadership, but it appears al-Baghdadi spent five years as prisoner of the Americans.
more: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/mosul-emergency-who-is-abu-bakr-albaghdadi-9523070.html
A bank in Mosel that had $400 million
in it is supposingly now in their hands.
Iraq army capitulates to Isis militants in four cities
Half a million people on the move after gunmen seize four cities and pillage army bases and banks
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jun/11/mosul-isis-gunmen-middle-east-states
kelliekat44
(7,759 posts)We own this!
AngryAmish
(25,704 posts)A red line was crossed? We were going to attack the Alawites and the government of Syria? Samantha Powers was jizzing her pants to start that war? Until everyone lost their minds about another war? Until Putin got us off the hook?
It was a big deal at the time.
Anyone remember?
malaise
(269,257 posts)decide that their agenda is all that matters.
Ichingcarpenter
(36,988 posts)which 'Operation Iraqi Freedom ' gave us 'the liberation of Iraq' and now this clusterfuck.
kelliekat44
(7,759 posts)Obama will be blamed by his detractors for whatever happens in Iraq and few will remember that the only reason AQ is in Iraq is because of the American "regime change" fanatics who led us into war there.
When will people understand that we will never be able to defeat people who live and fight in their own homeland? When will we learn that we make more enemies when we invade and destroy a nations infrastructure, their culture, their history, and indiscriminately kill their women and children?
If we ever put boots on the ground in those countries there should be a nation-wide draft with no waivers for healthy able men and women. The sons and daughters of the 1% need to be drafted first.