Now Dead “King of Clubs” Looked A Lot Like ‘King of Meth’ Walter White
Recent reports from Iraq hold that former Saddam Hussein higher up, Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri, known by U.S. forces as the “King of Clubs”, has been killed in a recent joint Iraqi/Shia militia security operation.
Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri was one of the highest ranking members Saddam Hussein’s Iraqi regime. CNN reports that al-Douri was also the highest ranking member of the Hussein regime to avoid U.S. capture after the the regime’s fall. The Hussein regime lasted for twenty four years, from 1979 to 2003 when the U.S. lead military coalition, toppled the regime’s capital city of Baghdad.
The BBC reports, however, that it was not until the much reported fall of Hussein that al-Douri’s level of significance truly began to rise. After the fall of Hussein, al-Douri fled the invading U.S. forces and became one of the most wanted former regime officials. It was this “most-wanted” title that led to the more illustrious title of “King of Clubs.” U.S. forces would often display the most-wanted former regime members transposed over the King of Clubs from a deck of playing cards. After fleeing the former hall of Husseinian power, al-Douri led various insurgent forces, some of which have been attributed to aiding the rise of ISIS.
On a minor note however, it ought to be pointed out that the now deceased King of Clubs bears a striking resemblance to another infamous “king” – the King of Meth, Walter White.
Like the King of Clubs, the King of Meth became the most wanted man in the fictional world of Vince Gilligan. In this imagined world, character Walter White, worked tirelessly in the shadows building a global empire based off of the manufacturing and distribution of his iconic blue-hued methamphetamine.
While the King of Meth rose to power on the back of well….meth – the King of Clubs rose to power on the back of insurgent fighters. According to many intelligence speculations, al-Douri was believed to be the man responsible for leading the Sunni extremist group, Naqshbandi Army. It is also widely speculated that Naqshbandi Army has provided support to ISIS’s march across much of the middle east.
While the doppelgangers known as the King of Clubs and the King of Meth had drastically different routes to the “throne” both have met similar violent ends. In the world of Breaking Bad, Walter found his demise via the end of a machine gun. According to recent reports, the King of Clubs has also met his demise via the end of a gun barrel.
[Images via National Post/The Flip Side in Santa Fe]
