Most of Iraq is under new leadership, so now is a good time to become better acquainted with the partial country’s new ruler: As a democratically elected leader, he has promised to bring together the warring Sunni and Shia factions, which have been threatening to tear the country apart for generations.
Just kidding.
In reality, the new leader of much of Iraq, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, commands a highly trained bloodthirsty militant group known as ISIS, which stands for the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria. As the name suggests, the group is hellbent upon creating an Islamic state where Syria and Iraq currently stand. The group itself is an offshoot of the al-Qaeda global terrorist network. Due to creative terrorist differences, however, the two parted ways, and in February, al-Qaeda formally disavowed any relation to ISIS.
Baghdadi himself is a shadowy figure and is therefore the current recipient of our western curiosity. Time magazinecalled him “the world’s most dangerous man,” and Le Monde dubbed him “the new bin Laden.”
While we do not know much about him, it is clear that Baghdadi spent four years held in custody at Camp Bucca, an American-controlled detention facility in Iraq, meaning he has had a lot of time to sit around getting good and pissed at the West.
American forces gave Baghdadi over to the laughably incompetent Iraqi forces in 2009. Although American officials said that he should stay in custody, the Iraqi government instead made an awesome call and released him from prison.
Within about a year, it was formally announced that Baghdadi would be taking control of the ISI, the group that later came to be known as ISIS.
We know that Baghdadi told American troops, “I’ll see you in New York,” when he was turned over to the Iraqis. Much is being made about this statement in the press, but that is just stupid and sensationalistic journalism.
Baghdadi was simply referring to the fact that the Iraqis would release him quickly from custody, and he knew most of the American troops guarding him were from New York. New York Mayor DeBlasio made an announcement about Baghdadi’s comment, but he probably should have just kept his mouth shut.
We also know Baghdadi does not photograph well. There are two known images of him, and he is said to wear a bandana around his mouth in public, only revealing his face to his innermost circle, a sort of homicidal, fundamentalist Michael Jackson if you will.
Last week, ISIS and Baghdadi made headlines when they invaded and took over Mosul, the second-biggest city in Iraq with a population of about 1.8 million. Fighting did not last very long. Members of the Iraqi Army reportedly dropped their weapons and ran or surrendered almost immediately.
In the wake of the terrorist takeover, 150,000 people fled from Mosul. However, life is reportedly returning to normal in the city, and for the time being, people seem to be content with their abrupt change in leadership.
That happiness likely will not last that long, however, if history proves to be any indicator. ISIS has a nasty habit of beheading its enemies and torturing through means of chopping off hands and imprisonment. Outside of Mosul, an estimated 1,700 Shiite soldiers had been brutally executed.
For ISIS fanboys, however, the good news is that the group is recruiting. A call for volunteers to support the group went out in the neighborhood of Al-Sumer, a Sunni neighborhood in Mosul. The recruiting event reportedly brought hundreds of young men out into the streets to sign up.
Meanwhile, America is sending 275 troops to Iraq. The group is strictly meant to provide security for embassy workers in that country, but President Obama is now said to be considering airstrikes.
Critics on both sides of the aisle have said we should consider taking back the city of Mosul from ISIS, noting that failure to do so may allow the terrorist group to gain a significant foothold in southern half of the country, whose sympathies could strengthen the ISIS cause.
All that aside, what would have been a slam-dunk is if the Iraqi government had not gone against American advice and released Baghdadi in the first place five years ago.
Joel Mazmanian is a contributing journalist for TheBlot Magazine. He is also a second-year graduate student at the VCU Brandcenter. Follow him on Twitter @joelmazmanian.
