Al-Baghdadi: US Set ISIS Leader Free In 2009
According to a shocking report, Abu Bakr al Baghdadi, the vicious leader of the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant, was once in US custody, until officials decided to set him free.
The allegations, which were reported by MailOnline, contend al Baghdadi was among prisoners released by the United States in 2009, as the Camp Bucca detention center was closed down. Now, five years later, al Baghdadi is at the head of a radical Islamist army threatening the security of Iraq. The militants have cut a bloody swath across Iraq as they march toward Baghdad, opening fire on civilians and publicly beheading some individuals.
Multiple theories have been presented for al Baghdadi’s radicalization, which may have bearing on why the United States set the vicious killer free. One theory espouses that al Baghdadi entered Camp Bucca un-radicalized, and converted to the violent ideals while a prisoner there. This fits with a reported narrative that al Baghdadi, a farmer, was apprehended by the U.S. Military as part of a widespread sweep.
Another version of the story, however, contends that al Baghdadi was radicalized before he was imprisoned by US forces. Claiming that he also uses the alias Abu Duaa, a 2005 American intelligence report connected him to militant actions in Quaim, MailOnline reports.
ISIS (which can also be translated as ISIL) has been on a brutal warpath across Iraq, in a military action that largely caught the United States unawares. As The Inquisitr reported, al Baghdadi’s militants seized the cities of Mosul and Tikrit this past week, in efforts to establish an Islamic Caliphate in territory controlled by the militants.
Adding to the debate about al Baghdadi, some observers assert that the ISIS leader may be a combination of several individuals, all using the same name. As The Telegraph notes, British Lieutenant-General Sir Graeme Lamb, claims that forces in Iraq “either arrested or killed a man of that name about half a dozen times.” Speaking of al Baghdadi, Lamb added that he is “not sure where fact and fiction meet,” in relation to the terrorist. Very mindful of the $10 million dollar price on his head, al Baghdadi is notoriously media shy, wearing a mask in front of all but his most devout followers, giving further credence to the idea that he may be an amalgamation of leaders.
While it was not immediately clear why al Baghdadi was set free, the reason why will no doubt be the subject of much speculation in the days to come.
[Images via MailOnline and NPR]
