Free Republic

On Sunday’s broadcast of CNN’s “State of the Union,” former National Intelligence Director James Clapper commented on the reported death Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the leader of ISIS. Clapper warned the death could “galvanize” ISIS. Clapper said, “What is going to be interesting is to the extent to which this negatively affects ISIS or does it galvanize ISIS, the remnants of ISIS, which still survives as an ideology and has franchises in other places besides Syria.” He added, “ISIS is more than just Baghdadi, as important as he was. 14,000 to 18,000 fighters yet remaining and the franchise are branches in...

Russia claimed Friday it killed the leader of the Islamic State group in an airstrike targeting a meeting of ISIS leaders just outside the group's de facto capital in Syria. The Russian Defense Ministry said Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi was killed in a Russian strike in late May along with other senior group commanders. There had been previous reports of al-Baghdadi being killed but they did not turn out to be true. The ISIS leader last released an audio on Nov. 3, urging his followers to keep up the fight for Mosul as they defend the city against a major offensive...