Like Osama bin Laden, Al-Baghdadi was no longer the functional leader of his Islamic terror group by the time we hunted him down, but there is an important difference. While Al-Baghdadi had handed down operational control, he remained the Caliph.
As such, the entire basis for the Islamic State and its alliances depended on him. Now he’s dead and the Caliphate may be gone with him. Abdullah Qardash, the man Baghdadi had appointed to replace him while heading ISIS, is now, in theory, in charge. And, like his boss, we had him in custody and let him go.
Like Baghdadi, Abdullah Qardash had been in Camp Bucca. The two apparently met and bonded there.
There’s been some debate as to when exactly Baghdadi had been released from Bucca. The most famous account pegged it as being in 2009.
The Islamist extremist some are now calling the most dangerous man in the world had a few parting words to his captors as he was released from the biggest U.S. detention camp in Iraq in 2009.
“He said, ‘I’ll see you guys in New York,’” recalls Army Col. Kenneth King, then the commanding officer of Camp Bucca.
It seems likely that the new ISIS leader would have been released around the same time.
And while the Caliph is dead, it’s likely that Qardash will also try to fill those shoes.
According to Sunni jurisprudence, the caliph must be able to trace his lineage directly back to the Quraysh clan of Mecca, to which the Prophet belonged. Shiite Muslims claim that being a Mecca notable by ancestry is not enough to become caliph, saying that potential contenders need to hail strictly from Ahl al-Bayt, the family of the Prophet. This explains why Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi insists on using two important additional last names whenever making a public statement or appearance. One is al-Qurashi, hailing from Quraysh and another is al-Hassani, the descendant of the Prophet’s grandson. Western journalists and non-Muslims tend to drop both titles for practicality, but ISIS media never refers to him without both affiliations. Al-Baghdadi wants to draw as much historical, religious and popular legitimacy as he could; yet this should not be seen as an attempt to placate either the Shiites nor the Sunnis who oppose him. Interestingly, Abdullah Qardash also hails from Quraysh and from Ahl al-Bayt, makes him an eligible future caliph, should Baghdadi decide to bequeath power to him, or should he assume it himself, with or without Baghdadi’s consent. Apart from lineage, conditions for becoming a caliph are fairly straightforward and also apply to Qardash. The caliph must be a Muslim male, is required to lead the masses during prayer and prove knowledgeable in Islamic jurisprudence and history, two traits that also apply to Qardash, a former Iraqi officer under Saddam schooled at the College of Imam Al-Adham Abu Hanifa al-Noueimi in Mosul.
That’s not a coincidence.
The legitimacy of ISIS is theological. Without a Caliph, it would have no future. So its next best is on a guy we once had in custody.
Angemon says
but remember: ISIS has nothing to do with islam… /sarc. off…
somehistory says
Well, this happens time and again with the ordinary moslim terrorist on the street…in custody, on a list, arrested and let go, etc….and then “boom” or “stab stab,” or driving over pedestrians.
Why should it be any different with the big boss at the top? In custody, in the cross hairs, under a bomb- loaded plane, etc. before he makes his big splash in the moslim world.
J D S p says
To some this might be a brash statement but I believe that ANY terrorist proven to have killed people should face the death penalty immediately after being caught and those terrorist who have committed terrorism acts without loss of life should never see the light of day. But of course none of this will happen because the west has become a SOFTIE and have been held in FEAR….fear of being labeled islamophobic, racist and bigots and Muslims use that as a springboard for their antics.
Robert B, Sklaroff, M.D. says
i think he’s also deceased
Robert B, Sklaroff, M.D. says
Likely Successor to Dead ISIS Leader Also Reported Killed – Abu Hassan al-Muhajir, spokesman of the Islamic State, is believed to have been killed a day after the American raid that left the group’s leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi dead. THUS, this guy was second-in-line.
LB says
It doesn’t matter who the “caliph” is, he’s just a figurehead. ISIS is the physical embodiment of what ALL MUSLIMS strive towards — jihad upon infidels by sword. Cutting off the snake’s head so its body will die does NOT apply here. As long as there is islam and muslims who follow it to the letter, there will be jihad, one way or the other.
J D S p says
Killing off leaders of these terrorist groups is fine and to say correlating off the head of the snake will do the job but if anyone has ever cut the head off a snake they will see that the snake still moves…..Therefore the best way to destroy such terrorist group is to DESTROY IT!.
Now how is that done? One way would be to destroy everyone whom the Terrorist Group is hiding amongst ….Thereby killing the bad along with the (?) Good (?) they hide amongst supposedly innocents What a quandary?????
DHazard says
“The caliph must be a Muslim male, is required to lead the masses during prayer and prove knowledgeable in Islamic jurisprudence and history…”
That’s where the Washington Post or New York Times would end the description. They might also drop the “male”.
Infidel says
I like this Shi’ite requirement more: under that, it’s even more difficult/impossible to get a caliph.
ABaB was not a Shi’ite, but the Quraysh requirement is certainly there, and he didn’t satisfy it. In al Qaeda, when everybody was around, Zawahiri was nowhere in the line of succession b’cos he was Egyptian, not from the peninsula, much less the Quraysh. It was only the demise of Mohammed Atef and later Osama that shot him to the top. That’s probably why ISIS doesn’t have much support in the Arabian peninsula: not b’cos they’re more tolerant than him, but b’cos he is from outside the peninsula, and therefore doesn’t deserve that title.
Another often overlooked factoid: every caliph in history has had territorial control of Mecca and Medina: the Rashiduns, the Umayyads, the Abbasids, the Fatimids, the Ottomans… ISIS was the only exception, which is why it wasn’t a real caliphate. Otoh, Jihadist groups worldwide from Boko Haram to Abu Sayyaf swore allegiance to ISIS, which satisfies a major caliphate requirement
gravenimage says
All of these fools claim descent from the “Prophet”, no matter how implausible.
Infidel says
What I’ve never understood is that if allah only knows Arabic, if islam is the religion dedicated to proclaiming the greatness of Arabness and so on, why do 1 billion + non-Arabs swear fealty to this religion? I mean what’s in it for the Farsis or Indian subcontinentals, or East Indiesians, or ethnic Egyptians, or Barbers… or even the Turks, who’ve historically been the most zealous advocates of islam, even more than the Arabs?
When the Arabs are so specific about who can lead – must be an Arab, from the Arabian peninsula (that rules out Iraq, Syria, Jordan, Egypt, Libya, Sudan, Algeria, Libya, et al) and within that geography, that too from the Quraysh tribe. If the Catholic church had a law that only an Italian could be Pope, would countries like Spain, Austria, France, et al have historically fought so many wars in the name of the faith?
mortimer says
GI wrote: All of these fools claim descent from the “Prophet”.
A DNA test would show they are not descended from him, but mostly from slaves from a widespread variety of regions.
They deny what their evil ancestors did.
Check it out: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WcqBfQ9ya-Q
gravenimage says
This is true, Mortimer. But few pious Muslims would ever submit to DNA tests.
Ned Kelly says
Sadly my DNA + tree have confirmed Im a direct descendant from mo. Im a 62 yr old nana from NZ, 77 % British. lol
Ned Kelly says
and a CHRISTIAN, born again.
gravenimage says
🙂
Infidel says
Also, on a different note, I’m against the US capturing anybody, since we don’t seem to know how to bring them to trial. Like the 9/11 hijackers are still awaiting theirs, and ABaB was captured before he was released and returned to found ISIS, just like Qardash was before. So next time, just kill them when you find them – don’t worry about discovering new intel.
Also, since Europe and other countries where ISIS prisoners are from no longer seem to want them, just have them executed w/o a trial. Since it can’t be done by the US w/o the likes of Dick Durban or Ilhan Omar protesting, just quietly pay one of our myriad ‘allies’ to do it – be it the Kurds, the FSA, the Iraqis, the Jordanians, whoever… Maybe just bomb one of those camps until no one there is left standing, and that’ll take care of that quandry.
No, we won’t miss Shamima Begum or any of those ugly broads who left to join ISIS and got impregnated by male jihadists
gravenimage says
US Had New Islamic State Leader in Custody
……………
This is awful, but who can be surprised. How many of these Muslim thugs have we let go?
In related news, so often Jihadists turn out to have been “known to police”, or even under police surveillance when they commit acts of terror.
mortimer says
How can a graduated military officer who has been trained in international law and the laws and protocols of ethical warfare stoop so low?
Qardash, you have disgraced yourself.
gravenimage says
That’s what Islam does to you.
Rooster says
At the end of the day, it will be “We the People”(infidels) to put Islam where it belongs, Gehenna. All muslims are the enemy of America and all free people of the world. Pray for peace but be prepared for war!