Thursday May 14, 2014

I've Been Thinking:

The Iraqi defense ministry announced on its website that the number two leader of ISIS, the man who was successor to Baghdadi, was killed yesterday in an allied coalition air strike on a mosque in Northern Iraq.

Abu Ala al- Afri was reported killed.
"Based on accurate intelligence, an air strike by the coalition forces targeted the second in command of IS, Abu Alaa al-Afari,
(sic)" the ministry said in a statement on its website.

If this is true --- it is a huge victory for the West and for moderates in the region.

ISIS leader Baghdadi was reported to be badly wounded and suffering from a spinal injury. He was thought to be wounded in a coalition attack at the end of March. Al-Afri assumed the mantel of ISIS leadership the first week of April.

If, in the course six weeks, the West successfully hit both ISIS number #1 leader and ISIS replacement leader #1, it will hamstring the organization and their ability to govern and make decisions.

If true, this is a huge setback for ISIS. For everyone else, it is very good news.

But the question lingers: What does Iraq gain by releasing this information?

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