As he he is not among these five, the claim that these are the top five is an exaggeration..
The importance of capturing "Caliph Ibrahim" far outweighs the significance of all five of the others combined.
Here is a little background from Wikipedia: Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi
On 29 June 2014, ISIL announced the establishment of a worldwide caliphate. Al-Baghdadi was named its caliph, to be known as "Caliph Ibrahim", and the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant was renamed the Islamic State (IS).[9][79] There has been much debate, especially across the Muslim world, about the legitimacy of these moves.To believers in ISIS's version of Islam: Bakr's pronouncement symbolized the return of legitimate united Islam to the planet, something that has not existed since the fall of the Ottaman Empire following WW1.
Be honest: has anyone ever heard of these five people previously? I'm not saying anyone is lying - BUT - we have been treated to a long list of claims that every arrest is "Abu Bakr Bhagdadi's top assistant, top Lieutenant, best general", etc.
It's a natural human tendency to exaggerate, and apparently military intelligence is not immune.
Along with the Q definition of “top five”, is the photo of five. With John McCain. In Syria. On location. Location meaningful. Trump removed it. From the face of the earth.
Those five are my top five, that’s for sure.
Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi actually met with a number of ‘players’ back in May 2013, and Senator John McCain. The theme of this meeting? It was to meet with all anti-Assad rebels (to include Daesh members), and discuss a no-fly zone and how to arm the rebels. The White House reaction when this came up in spokesperson brief at the WH...the President was fully aware that McCain was there and conducting foreign affairs in the name of the US.
Several pictures exist with McCain and Al-Baghdadi.
The odd twist to the Al-Baghdadi story is that the US actually held this guy in an Iraqi prison (Camp Bucca), from 2005 to 2009. Then, at some invitation of the Iraqi government. Why? No one from the government has ever said why.
What was this area around Camp Bucca prior to the US operating its prison camp? Well....it was a training center for jihad-members. Al-Baghdadi was defined prior to the US arrival in Iraq, as a cleric....nothing more and nothing less. Rumors exist that he held status, but none of these rumors ever show substance.
So you go back to 2009, and this release. Within a one-year period...Al-Baghdadi has emerged as the leader of a minor-league group entitled the Islamic State of Iraq (ISI)...aka al-Qaeda in Iraq (AQI). Who is the head guy?
Well....the older guy has passed on and Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi now serves as the boss.
His status? He’s the Caleb of the group...the religious figurehead. Who in the Iraqi government back in the spring of 2009 got the idea to release him? Unknown, and it’s odd that the government made it a priority to release him, and then in short-time, he becomes a major threat.
Go forward 17 months, the same US government that released Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi...now offers $10-million for his capture. No one from the Administration ever connects the dots and asks about who signed off on releasing him. The picture that came out with the $10-million offer? That’s another odd thing that comes up...it’s a totally different guy than the original picture of al-Baghdadi when he was first released from the US-run prison camp. A screw-up? Maybe.
So why is McCain figuring into this group meeting of anti-Assad players (to include Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi)? McCain is a figure within a particular institute called the International Republican Institute (IRI). It’s a foundation that was started in the Reagan era, and proclaimed that they could be shadowy figures to promote democracy, freedom, and revolution to dictatorships.
Looking back into the summer of 2014, al-Baghdadi does an amazing thing...he sells ISIS into the idea of a worldwide caliph, which he will himself manage (more or less, the religious director of warfare). This is a year after the McCain meeting where they were discussing how to arm all of the anti-Assad folks.
What happened in the Middle East after this caliph announcement was made? Everyone went hostile because the general rule is that you can’t create caliphs out of thin air....there has to be a group by group or nation by nation agreement on this, and al-Baghdadi had bypassed everyone on this (to include a vast number of Sunni Muslims).
A month passes after this announcement, then the caliph have their first on-line magazine to sell the whole conception across the globe. Dabiq is the name of the publication.
I wouldn’t use the word ‘top five’ with al-Baghdadi. He’s a self-starter type of thug. He knows how to reach out to McCain’s IRA group...how to get funding from Islamic war supporters....recruitment....and how to publicize the theme/message. He could step out tomorrow and reorganize an entire army in just a year. The ‘five’ thing means nothing...if you can hold him, you are effectively preventing another war-front.
Why did Iraq request his release from the US camp in 2009? His group has one particular tendency that you tend to notice being repeated...they kidnap family members and establish control over a situation. I suspect someone in the Iraqi government had to request the release to gain the release of al-Baghdadi. In the case of today? There’s some element of al-Baghdadi’s team who are busy evaluating who to kidnap to gain the release from US control. Maybe it’ll be in the Middle East, Europe, or maybe even the US...but they’ve repeated so often that they probably are absolutely sure in getting al-Baghdadi’s release.
Hey Jack, did you ever stop to notice the difference between the Omoeba administration losing or abandoning caches of US weapons for ISIS to use, and handcuffing US forces in general, vs. what the God Emperor of the United States and his non-”perfumed princes” have done to them? Or are you too busy fluffing the Deep State to have looked up?
Hey Jack, did you ever stop to notice the difference between the Omoeba administration losing or abandoning caches of US weapons for ISIS to use, and handcuffing US forces in general, vs. what the God Emperor of the United States and his non-”perfumed princes” have done to them? Or are you too busy fluffing the Deep State to have looked up?