Either it’s a master stroke or a master hoax. Who remembers the alleged killing of Osama Bin Laden?
by Martin Harris
Yes, the demise of Bin Laden was a murky tale if ever there was one!
The “fog of war” changing story, the lack of a corpse to identify (“burial at sea in accordance with Muslim custom”)? Even photoshopped images of the alleged corpse of Public Enemy Number One. So why should we not harbor doubt and suspicion with the case of al-Baghdadi?
The Russians certainly have reason to doubt. The Russian Forces lay claim to have killed the same man back in 2017. However, their claim is also loaded with uncertainty!
Here’s RT’s comment:
Russian MoD doubts Trump’s announcement of killing ISIS chief al-Baghdadi, rejects claims it assisted US forces in op
There’s no credible data to prove a successful American raid took place against Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, Russia’s Defense Ministry said. The US coalition didn’t even carry out any airstrikes in Idlib recently.
Earlier, Trump made a rare Sunday address from the White House informing the world that al-Baghdadi was eliminated in northwest Syria in a “daring nighttime raid” with the involvement of US special forces, planes, helicopters and drones. The Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS) leader met his end “crying and screaming” in the face of the Americans’ might, he said.
But the Russian Defense Ministry insisted that “there were legitimate questions and doubts about the very fact [of the US operation] and, especially, its success.”
Moscow pointed out that it recorded no US coalition airstrikes in the Idlib area in northwest Syria on Saturday when the raid was held.
It also rejected Trump’s claims that Russian forces opened up the airspace under its control in Syria to American planes to facilitate the operation against the IS leader.
The ministry questioned the very possibility of al-Baghdadi’s presence in Idlib as the area is held by Al-Qaeda offshoot, Jabhat al-Nusra, who have always been mortal enemies of Islamic State.
Moscow noted that Islamic State was crushed in Syria in early 2018 in a joint effort by the government in Damascus and the Russian forces, meaning that yet another report of al-Baghdadi’s demise “bears no effect on the operational situation in Syria or on the actions of the remaining terrorists in Idlib.”
French Defense Minister Florence Parly also questioned the significance of the claimed US achievement, pointing out that the raid only marked “an early retirement for a terrorist [al-Baghdadi], but not for his organization.”
And one has to admit, the timing nicely deflects attention from the criticism over Trump’s Syria pullout and the impending impeachment.
On the other hand…
If this is a real story, then it’s a real victory for the Trump administration and the way Syria has been handled. Quite the opposite of the old guard’s “shock and awe” approach. You know; bomb a town full of civilians and call them “acceptable collateral”. No, even if they got their man it isn’t the end of organized terrorism, nor of ISIL or ISIS or whatever they’re called these days. Cut off the hydra’s head and it grows another. But this deed serves,if true, as evidence of Trump’s efficiency in his approach to combatting terrorism (as opposed to using it as an excuse for an “endless war” cash-cow and an excuse to erode freedom).
Either way, it’s certainly got Pelosi upset:
…well, of course he did. Just as she would have done in his shoes!
It will be interesting to what proof, or lack thereof, turns up over the coming days! Keep your eyes and minds open…
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