Good news this morning, with the death of this bastard. I've learned not to trust anything I hear on the tactics and events of an operation like this until the smoke clears. Much of what we'll hear in the first aftermath is fantasy by media and political personalities, but in a few days we should hear some concrete news. I was amused that the Washington Post changed their death notice from “Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, Islamic State’s ‘terrorist-in-chief,’ dies at 48” to “Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, austere religious scholar at helm of Islamic State, dies at 48.” It shows how politically divided we are that a left leaning media source has to make Baghdadi sound like Ghandi. Anyhoo, I thought it might be interesting to kick around this operation as real facts come online. .
I'd be interested in the tactical aspects. Political not so much. Unless political forms the tactical. Hope we have some friends and assets in the region to I.D. the new spiritual leader/war commander. They mix politics and religion unlike our constitution mentions keeping those separate. Hell, their religion IS their politics. Anyway, good that they got him.
Politicians will take credit, but we all know that is hot air. So yeah, let's keep this to the tactical aspects as they become clear. .
Then they must have changed it a third time, because the online headline is Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, extremist leader of Islamic State, dies at 48 the intro reads
Some people don't want to believe the report about his death, apparently because such reports have appeared before. Is that the case?
Joseph Djugashvilli, noted Soviet scientist, literary and art critic, and penal reformer, passed away peacefully today, surrounded by family and friends...
Classy My WWII hobby/interest is in the commandos and their tactics so I'm interested in how they have evolved here. I've heard that the SF team went in airborne and lost a dog in the action. I've also read that the team blew through walls to gain entry. Sounds safer and smarter than "You go through the door, private. I've got you covered if they start shooting"
I've also heard they lost a dog, and blew through the walls rather than use the gates. Somebody is also saying they sent a robot thingy into the tunnel after Baghdadi. They seem to have known the complete layout of the place, including the tunnels. They must have had a guy inside giving up all this. It's hard to say how much is true, because this is all coming from the media who will use the flimsiest rumors to get a story. .
The failing NYT has a story outlining the raid and saying that much of the intel was gathered by the Kurds and CIA..
Look closer at the username. Sean Spicier rather than Spicer. An intentionally spicier troll version of Spicer. Is it cruel that I admire the grim tenacity of the US military and their incessant steamroller effort against these terror leaders? They don't ever forget and they don't ever stop trying to eliminate these guys, and al-Baghdadi's successor will immediately be hunted in the same way. Very glad they got him.
The dog noted in various reports as chasing Baghdadi down the tunnel wasn't killed and will recover, according to an NSC spokeswoman! That's the best news yet. This bloodsucking tick wasn't worth the life of a dog. .
The main thing here is the bad guy is dead. Media accounts and announcements (from wherever sources) will always spin to their own advantage. Having said that; There is a short video allegedly showing the moment of impact of what, to me, looks like several rockets/missiles hitting the residence. Pretty fortuitous timing on the person taking the video if you think about it. Also pictures showing the aftermath makes me question how anyone could enter a hallway or tunnel? Just looks like a pile of rubble to me. But I could be missing something. Also, I find it doubtful Baghdadi would have been sitting around wearing a 'suicide-vest'. That's not to say he couldn't have grab one but again, it appears the whole scenario took place in a matter of seconds. They also took out the head ISIS spokesman, Abu al-Hassan al-Muhajir while this was going on. My own conjecture is: helo's pounded the Hell out of the house and the Special Forces spend the next couple hours digging through the broken concrete blocks looking for bits and pieces.
The emerging timeline says ground forces hit first, supported by some gunships that fired on a couple of places where tangos were shooting back. The vids of the place being blown up is after ground guys and helos withdrew, when jets launched six missiles to flatten the place. The drone footage of people milling about in the rubble is after all manned aircraft withdrew. Those people are locals looking for valuables, guns, etc. .
Ahh I see. Hadn't seen the reports of jets hitting the compound other than the ones smoking the spokesman.