On October 27, President Trump announced that U.S. Special Operation Forces executed a daring night raid on ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi’s headquarters in northwest Syria, and the 48-year-old ISIS leader was killed. 

This was good news for the whole world. 

But the news media has been silent about Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi being released from prison in 2009 by the Obama administration.

Baghdadi was one of the many Iraqi fighters captured by U.S. forces in the early stages of the war in Iraq, and placed in a U.S. military prison (Camp Bucca) in southern Iraq.  James Skylar Gerrond, a former prison commander between 2006 and 2007 said the prison was “glutted with tens of thousands of radicals, including Baghdadi.” 

At about that same time, the Washington Post and New York Times newspapers began writing articles claiming many of these prisoners were incarcerated without probable cause and saying: “They were simply suspicious looking-military-aged males captured in the vicinity of an attack” – and – “This is an appalling miscarriage of justice where prisoners were not charged or permitted to see evidence against them.” 

The Washington Post also reported that Sharia courts were set up inside the prison to enforce rules – and anyone whose behavior was seen as “Western” was severely punished by the extremist elements inside the compound.

The media began spreading the word that “Camp Bucca was a breeding ground for radical Islamic terrorists” and this prompted President Obama to close Camp Bucca in 2009 and set the captives free. You may recall, President Obama also tried to close the Guantanamo Bay military prison located at the U.S. Naval Base in  Cuba.  However, the United States Congress did not let that happen.

Baghdadi spent five years in prison, and upon his release in 2009, told Army Colonel Kenneth King, “I’ll see you in New York.”  Colonel King was the commander of Camp Bucca at that time.

After his release, Baghdadi became the leader of ISIS, and eight of his fellow prisoners became high-ranking officers in the Islamic State’s top command.  All nine of them held an extreme hatred for the United States and were determined to stage another massive attack on New York City.

The death of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi is good news for the world, but the threat of radical Islamic terrorism is not over.  ISIS is only one of many terrorist groups determined to annihilate all enemies of Islam.

May God have mercy on us, and protect us from those who are determined to destroy the American Way of Life.