Abu Bakr Al Baghdadi Does Not Sleep with the Fishes by Larry C Johnson

What does a radical Islamic mother say to another radical Islamic mother? Children, they blow up so fast.

What a contrast with the raid that killed Bin Laden in May 2011. The Obama Administration came out with conflicting accounts and required the SEALS who carried out the attack to sign non-disclosure agreements. Why? Because the raid was conducted with the cooperation and knowledge of the Pakistani government; the SEALS faced no guard force; Bin Laden was a cripple unable to get out of bed and was shot so many times by the SEALs his body was dumped in the ocean.

Al Baghdadi? It is now clear he was protected by someone in Turkey. The Turks knew where he was and, until yesterday, kept him safe. Trump's actions over the last three weeks with respect to U.S. forces in Syria set the table for this operation. A combination of pressure and incentives confronted Turkey's President Erdogan and he rolled over.

It is telling that there was not a huge fire fight going in. Where was the Baghdadi security team? This is a further indicator that Baghdadi was betrayed by folks he thought were protecting him. Baghdadi fled his house and jumped into a tunnel.

Baghdadi is reported to have blown himself up. Looks like the mission was carried out by Delta Force. They are accompanied by Malanois dogs (looks a little like a German shepherd). Based on what Trump briefed today the dog followed Baghdadi down into the tunnel. The dog can run faster than any soldier in such an environment. Once Baghdadi was trapped he detonated his suicide vest. Fortunately, the dog was not killed (but probably suffered some frag wounds.)

(Someone needs to re-write the Peter and Gordon lyrics on "I Go to Pieces" in honor of Baghdadi's passing.)

 

Don't believe the media reports that the U.S. forces launched from Iraq. Just look at a map. Al Baghdadi was hiding out in Idlib province, which is in northwest Syria. Flight time in helicopters from Iraq is three hours plus. Flight time from the U.S. Air Force base in Incirlik, Turkey is about one hour. This came out of Turkey. That is why the U.S. coordinated/deconflicted the flight path with Russia. Flying from Turkey into northwest Syria takes one directly over territory controlled by the Russians and Syrians.

Trump's press conference was amazing. He did not divulge key operational details and did a good job of obfuscating the intel sources that provided the break on Al Baghdadi's location. 

One thing is certain--most of the anti-Trump crowd will look for some reason to criticize Trump's victory. The anti-Trumper crowd looks pretty stupid now. They were predicting the resurgence of ISIS. Whoops!! There goes that narrative. The new status quo in Syria means the end of the U.S. policy of regime change and the beginning of the rehabilitation of Syria as a legitimate nation state. This is really going to piss off the Deep State. All their plans initiated by Obama and Hillary are being destroyed by the red haired road runner known as Trump. 

Comments

[English Outsider]

This is a difficult one. It must be true. On the grounds that if the story were invented they'd have invented something more credible. As long as they didn't think of that too.

I tried looking up "Will it play in Peoria?" to see if the term was still current. Verdict uncertain. But will it? That seemed to be the main purpose of the President's press conference that I watched.

It wasn't Trump's finest hour, but if this confounds the neocons and gets the US (and the UK - revolting what we've been doing there) out of Syria then he's a great man.

[Cpm]

Looked at map.coming in from Turkey into NW Idlib, can't see how they would be over Rus/Syrian airspace?? Unless you consider Idlib under Rus/Syrian control..

[Mark Logan]

Babak,

It used to be the selection of nominees was done by the party delegates, the old 'smoke filled rooms' as it were. Nowadays we treat party polls as elections in themselves. This has turned the nomination process into an exercise of populism, and an exercise in which only a very small proportion of the electorate bothers to participate in. Hence the last two POTUSes have been a green, first-term Senator and a rather creepy reality TeeVee host.

We should consider going back to those smoke-filled rooms or adopting the Australian system of mandatory voting. The process is being dominated by the most ideologically enthralled, and thereby energized, participants on both sides side.

[English Outsider]

When this happened before a commenter put in to close the italics. I hope it's not officious to attempt that now.

[turcopolier]

Cpm
The originating point of the mission was probably somewhere around Incirlik. Air defense systems reach out for many miles. You don't have to fly directly over the SAM sites for them to take you down. The air package would have been "painted" by Russian and Syrian sair defense systems going in and coming out.

[Babak Makkinejad]

Thank you.

There was a strong anti-popular streak in Persian literature. The Pirs (gurus) were especially adamant in keeping certain knowledge from those unfit to learn it.

[Babak Makkinejad]

He is an admirable man, a Baha'i, trying not to inflame Islamophobia even more. On the other hand, the revival of slavery by ISIL, and its application to Yazidi women, has left him with an uphill struggle. There was also this matter of an attack on a Shia mosque in Afghanistan 2 Fridays ago, 65 dead.

[Factotum]

Since Peoria is now Pence country, the new expression is will it play in liberal hot bed, Hollywood value Santa Monica?

[Babak Makkinejad]

Funny place, Santa Monica, where the small shop owners were forced out due to gentrication caused by wealthy liberals. I wish I could be a wealthy anything; Left Wing, Right Wing, Liberal, Conservative - so long as I had plenty of Greenbacks.

[d74]

Indeed, the selection process does exist. It must therefore be assumed that this process selects the mediocre or deficient ones. This must also apply to the top brass of the armed forces although different. I remember a report where Senator Graham in committee and public session, humiliated a quarteron of generals (4-stars), calling them a danger to US security...
These were about US performances in Syria in 2014-2015.
Obama, when asked, replied: "It's not me, it's the army."

You will notice this is a follow-up to our little exchange a few days ago.

[d74]

I'm not sure: Malinois, from Mâlines, a Belgian city and not a French-speaking one. (https://www.woopets.fr/chien/race/berger-belge-malinois/)
But, of course, French dogs are shrewd and clever, and tireless. Different from their masters, probably.

[Factotum]

Babak, are you naive about the role of public employee unions in the Democrat Party? Good topic to understand if you want to understand American politics. Used to be played by private industry unions, but those industries were destroyed from within by those very same employee unions. In the vacuum came the rise of public sector unions after JFK unionized "civil servants".

I commend you to research this fundamental shift in US poltiics - the rise of the public sector unions who provide captive audience services and can elect those who sit on the other side of the collective bargaining table to carry out their wishes. Powerful shift of the power balance in the US political scene.

In fact, everyone in America needs to understand the phenomenon of a weaponized civil service, its unions, its union bosses and how they have affected life in America in our current times.

California is an extreme example in microcosm of the Democrat Party having been taken over by the powerful public employee unions in this state, primarily the California Teachers Association - teachers union who have their hands on 50% of the total general state budget, by law - Prop 98.

[turcopolier]

d74
The Malinois is a well know Belgian shepherd dog. Look it up.

[Diana C]

I'm not sure what aspects of Christianity you are thinking of. Maybe my Sunday School and confirmation teachers were wrong, in your mind, to teach me "The Fifth Commandment." I have always tried to follow those commandments.

There are many people who are counted as Christians by people outside of the Faith, and some just because they are Caucasian and living in Christian-majority countries.

[Anon]

Swedish aircraft flew around last week.Delivered meatballs from ikea.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.businessinsider.com/sweden-built-a-russian-fighter-jet-killer-and-stealth-is-irrelevant-2019-2

[turcopolier]

d74

Some of the people at the top in the professional civilian governments are simply the most skillful politicians within their agencies. Some were congressional staffers who made the jump to the Executive Branch when their party was in power. Some are simply political appointees from civilian life. As for the military it tends to promote conformists who are not original thinkers and who lack the "vision thing."

[Diana C]

My state is a caucus state, so perhaps you count participating in the caucus process as participating in "smoke-filled room" negotiations.

I attended those caucuses during the nomination process of Donald Trump. I did not witness or suspect that any sort of sneaky back-room deals were being made. I, myself, was a Cruz fan, but when my state's Republican caucuses went for Trump, I did know he had won the nomination fairly.

It took me a long time, but I finally understood why the Republicans went for Trump. He was such a contrast to that smooth-talking, inexperienced half-Black politician who had really no record to make me feel he would do the work of governing rather than spend his time in office trying to radically change our Republic from the way it had been designed by the Founders.

The people who voted for Trump in the caucuses always pointed out that he was a capitalist and knew how a capitalist system should function, and because of that they were willing to overlook his personal flaws.

[English Outsider]

They say wealth doesn't buy you happiness, Babak. Though, perhaps like you, I'd have no objection to testing that one out.

[oldman22]

PATRICK LAWRENCE: A Sudden-Seeming Power Shift in the Middle East
PL restates some of the discussion we had here a few days ago.
And a lot more
quote:
U.S. objectives in Syria have been patently malign since it began covertly arming Sunni-nationalist jihadists in early 2012 at the latest: It has sought to keep Syria divided and in a state of chaos while backing Islamist proxies to bring down Assad’s secular government in a violent coup. Russia’s intentions are diametrically the opposite: to restore Syria’s territorial integrity while encouraging multi-sided talks intended to produce a lasting peace.
Moscow’s emerging role in the Middle East is studied, the consequence of careful planning and astute statecraft. Since Russia’s entry into the Syrian conflict four years ago, Putin and Lavrov have assiduously developed working relations with nations of very disparate interests, from Turkey and Iran to Saudi Arabia and Israel. The Tehran Times reported last Wednesday that Russia intends to propose a regional security framework by the end of this year. The Iranian daily quotes Mikhail Bogdanov, Lavrov’s deputy foreign minister, as saying this endeavor has been in train since last June.

https://consortiumnews.com/2019/10/28/patrick-lawrence-a-sudden-seeming-power-shift-in-the-middle-east/

[Artemesia]

Here's my problem, Christian or otherwise:
1. It is acknowledged that US invasion of Iraq was a "blunder," that it was based on lies. ISIS emerged as a direct consequence of that USA-led blunder.

2. That being the case, staying in the invaded territory seems untenable, from a Christian pov.
I I were to put that situation in the Catholic notions that I was taught, if one thinks of the invasion as a "sin," then the necessary thing to do is to Stop Sinning. Stop warring. Get out.

3. We are in the territory of another people, outside of what used to be customary Christian principles -- Just War theory. They are not in our territory, we are in theirs. Their resistance is legitimate. Our occupation is as illegitimate as Israeli occupation of West Bank.

4. Beheading someone, or setting someone afire in a cage, are gruesome, primitive acts. Baghdadi led those acts. He deserved to die and the world is a better place now that he has blown himself to bits.

Killing with depleted uranium, drones, hi-tech weapons is civilized and the persons thus killed are somehow less dead. Persons who wield those weapons are the protectors of the American people. George Bush and Dick Cheney bear primary culpability for that blunder that developed into a terror campaign that resulted in the emergence of ISIS.

5. Did your Sunday school and Confirmation teachers teach you that Bush and Cheney should be held accountable for their "sinful" acts, or does using hi-tech weapons exonerate them?

6. Do you believe, as a Christian, that the fact that leaders like Bush & Cheney were NOT held accountable has caused the US political body to behave in a dangerous fashion, in which not only is the world not a safer place, it is reasonable to envision even more killing, whether of the barbaric or the civilized kind.

[turcopolier]

Artemesia

You could be a pacifist on SST but not a smug, ignorant pacifist Discarding sabot depleted uranium anti-armor rounds have no significant radiation effect. They were used because the slug of depleted uranium that hits the enemy armored vehicle is so dense that it knocks a hole in it. Do you actually have any knowledge at all of the things you go on about. The military stopped buying those because of the mindless prattle of people like you. They now buy anti tank rounds in which the slug is not as dense, not as effective but you got your way. When some mother's son lies dead just remember to be smug about it. Were your ancestor Tories? Were they happy to be servants of the King. I was opposed to the Iraq War and it cost me, but you are just a self satisfied dummy. Goodbye

[Fred]

Mark,

Obama won because G W Bush went to war in Iraq after 9-11. Any Democrat but Hilary would have won the 2008 election. Mandatory voting? God forbid. We have millions of willfully ignorant citizens who should never be encouraged or required to vote.

[turcopolier]

Artemesia

You seem to lack an understanding of the simple fact that history is just "things that happened." Badly flawed people make badly flawed decisions often from a lack of any real knowledge of the world. I opposed the Iraq War and the other Israeli driven follies but I have no intention of allowing you or any other to malign the United States by claiming we are evil. We are not, just inept.

[Babak Makkinejad]

Ah, to have a cosy cottage in Surreyfor the holidays, leaving Londonistan after attending that tiresome ball for Gormenghast Children. It is so good to be a humanitarian, relaxing by the fire, sipping G..

[turcopolier]

oldman22

i have warned you all not to use SST as a bulletin board for non SST writers. You are banned.