Show of hands (or not) who here knew Al Baghdadi's name?

[underpants]

Before this morning. I'd never heard of him and I am pretty sure Trump's never mentioned him before.

[irisblue]

1. I googled him last night.

[underpants]

9. I've been out of the loop

Long week at work (running a conference) and just chilled started Friday afternoon.
I saw this headline pop up and I thought "Who?" And now I see that Trump is trying desperately to have an "I killed Osama Bin Laden" moment.

[mainstreetonce]

2. I definitely never heard Trunp mention him.

Never

[Arkansas Granny]

3. I knew of him. His name has been in the news many times.

[LittleGirl]

65. Yup.

[Dennis Donovan]

4. I knew who he was - and he's been killed several times...

...according to different sources over the years. Not entirely convinced he's dead this time.

[underpants]

6. He must have been a real gamer

It's not easy being killed several times.

[Dennis Donovan]

11. He killed Donkey Kong enough times to keep re-spawning...

[rpannier]

78. MCU

Marvel Comics Universe
In the 2000's, I vaguely remember people talking about Marvel characters dying in comics and then reappearing in later editions

[Yavin4]

37. Beric Dondarian? n/t

[Stallion]

66. Yeah I Thought He Was Killed or Mortally Injured Years Ago

[TreasonousBastard]

5. Never heard of him. But, I tend to block out a lot of terrorist talk.

[dalton99a]

7. How many Americans did ISIS decapitate?

Far more Americans have been killed by Trump-inspired white supremacist terrorists in the U.S.

[sinkingfeeling]

8. I knew who he was, but he's been killed a couple of times

before this.

[Greybnk48]

10. Never heard of the guy. Not a clue.

This is now old and tired bullshit, and horribly embarrassing. Trump's mentally ill, clearly.

[Kaleva]

12. He's often been in the news for several years so I knew of him.

[Gidney N Cloyd]

13. I might have picked his name on a 'Who runs ISIS?' multiple choice quiz question but...

...but he was never on my radar.

[karynnj]

14. I knew his name

I followed the detailed effort by the Obama administration to create both the coalition to fight ISIS and to push the Iraqi government to become sufficiently inclusive to enable them to provide the governance of areas in Iraq won back. Obama made an initial speech that laid out what Iraq needed to do before we would help them, and there were two (covered on CSPAN I think) UN sessions as we were assembling allies - one including foreign ministers, led by Kerry, the other led by Obama included many leaders of countries.

In addition to that, there were many articles about ISIS - most describing Al Baghdadi..

I AGREE that few would have heard or known the name. The media in 2014-2016 when Obama led a world wide effort to intelligently fight ISIS did not consider it interesting. It was not shock and awe which they love to cover. It was meetings of the coalition that often were reported to discuss how to demine, rebuild and to have local people able to provide good governance to areas won back.

It is commendable that Obama was more concerned with doing this in a way that would be more likely to lead to stability in the area than to quickly have military victories that would last only as long as we stayed there. Not to mention, the small footprint of the US and EU meant that the local people were the key part of winning back their land. With Trump, much of that was thrown away in the last few weeks as he betrayed the Kurds. In both Syria and Iraq, it was Kurdish fighters who did the lion's share of the work.

If we ever have to go back in, I doubt we can do what Obama did. Why would anyone trust us?

[lark]

15. Being the news junkie that I am, I was vry well aware of his name.

Also know his death was previously claimed, so either he lied then or is lying now. Well, it being drumpf, he might have found a way to make both of those lies and Bagdadi is still around somewhere. Actually, I'd bet it's that.

[MineralMan]

16. I did.

[unc70]

17. I did

Knew quite a bit about him. Previous times he was reportedly killed, about his video appearance this year, his failing health, and his selection of a successor.

[erpowers]

18. Knew About Him

I had seen news stories.

[malaise]

19. I knew it because he was declared dead several times before today

[Maeve]

22. Exactly!

https://www.theatlantic.com/news/archive/2017/07/isis-baghdadi-dead/533193/

[malaise]

24. The best part of your link - the Con's tweet

Donald J. Trump
✔
@realDonaldTrump
Big wins against ISIS!

114K
7:23 AM - Jul 11, 2017witter Ads info and privacy
39.9K people are talking about this


The Syrian Observatory of Human Rights is a London-based monitoring group that is widely relied upon by Western news organizations for information on the Syrian civil war. It is seen as reliable in its reporting.

As I reported after the Russian claim on June 16:

Baghdadi has been reported dead several times previously, but Russia has rarely made such claims since its military involvement in the Syrian civil war began in September 2015. The report, which was published in Sputnik, the state-run news service, would be a devastating blow to the group that has steadily lost ground in Iraq and Syria in recent years—pushed back by U.S.-led airstrikes, as well as ground offensives by Iraqi, Kurdish, Shia, and other forces in the region. Russia’s involvement in Syria has also hurt the group, which still provides potent reminders of its ability to carry out deadly attacks in Western cities.

At the time, the Russian Defense Ministry said Baghdadi was killed along with about 30 mid-level field commanders and up to 300 militants. On June 22, Russia’s deputy foreign minister told state media it is highly likely Baghdadi was killed in the Russian airstrike on May 28.

[malaise]

20. I knew it because he was declared dead several times before today

[ananda]

21. I did.

But he'd been off my radar for awhile.

[Laura PourMeADrink]

23. I did. I've been saying it for years. I wanted him out!

Ha. That's what Dipshit said. I did read he was paralyzed and had already given up leadership.

[LakeArenal]

27. I had to google him. But am embarrassed to tell anyone.

[Laura PourMeADrink]

28. Yup. Guess Trump's smarter than you. Lol. Hes

Been saying it since day one - I want him.

You would make a far better president than he would LA

[LakeArenal]

30. Faint praise indeed, my friend.

Your left shoe would make a better prez than Dump. But I love you anyway.

[Laura PourMeADrink]

32. Ya...guess that didn't turn into much of a compliment huh

[LakeArenal]

35. ❣️

[Takket]

25. I did.

[dhol82]

26. I did. His name has been around for a while.

[Tracer]

29. Yes, I knew of him.

I saw a photo of him (apparently the only one news orgs ever found) giving a sermon and what the news found interesting was the expensive Rolex on his wrist.

[GeorgeGist]

31. I have known his name for a long time.

[customerserviceguy]

33. I knew the name

Let's face it, what made bin Laden more infamous was the 9/11 attacks, which occurred wholly within the US. While that turned the attention of Americans to radical terrorists, al-Baghdadi faced a more cautious America, and he was never able to do any significant damage on our soil.

But, ISIS became as well known as Al Qaeda, and millions of Americans knew about the terrorist beheadings of people incautious enough to go into the Middle East.

I don't like to say it, and most here will not want to hear it, but this is a big deal, at least through the holidays.

[underpants]

34. I hadn't kept up with the leaders of ISIS

Yes they will try desperately to shove this down everyone's throats but I didn't see it as a big deal. Not a household name by any means.

Stories at trickling out now and this could head towards PFC Jessica Lynch territory.

[denbot]

36. I did. n/t

[ooky]

38. Pretty sure I had heard of him, just didn't remember his name.

When I read the news I had to google his name, and then I was like "oh, that guy".

[obnoxiousdrunk]

39. I did.

I think 90% of DU also did know about him....

[MaryMagdaline]

40. Name sounds familiar but barely

I remember bin laden because he killed 3k Americans on our shore

[Ani Yun Wiya]

41. I dd.

This fellow has been in the news since at least 2003...

[Grammy23]

42. I recall Hillary Clinton mentioning him

either during a debate or some other time during the 2016 campaign.

[LeftInTX]

43. I knew a decent amount about him

I knew his was credited at the founder of ISIS. I knew what he looked like. I certainly knew his name because it had "Baghdad" in it. I have seen documentaries about him.

I believe he's a Sunni, but I always thought he dressed like an Iranian cleric. I always thought it was odd that an Arab was dressed like an Iranian cleric, but didn't give it too much thought.

[jpak]

44. I did

He raped and murdered an (American ?) woman captured by ISIS.

Fucking asshole

[Historic NY]

45. He's been killed so many times its almost like its a household name...

for dead ISIS leader.

[Nature Man]

46. Al Qaeda #2's cousin perhaps?

that was another guy killed more than once.

[CrispyQ]

47. It would be even more interesting to know how many of his base know who Al Baghdadi is.

Al Baghdadi is not nearly as infamous as bin Laden. It gives me immense pleasure to know that the Con is being eaten away from the inside with jealousy & envy over Obama.

And when that shithole is finally out of office, I will delight in knowing that his tweets will no longer get the attention he craves. He will jones so bad it will drive him crazy. Asshole deserves every bad thing coming his way & more.

[tavernier]

48. Certainly not like bin Laden.

But I do think I remembered hearing that he had been killed before.

[maxsolomon]

49. He was more prominent when ISIL was ascendent.

I sure as fuck knew his name, but I pay close attention to the clusterfuck we've created in Iraq.

[California_Republic]

50. Who?

[MineralMan]

51. I recognized the name right away.

[paleotn]

52. I have.

News junkie since Weekly Reader.

[RobinA]

53. Heard The Name

Knew he was a major terrorist of some sort. That's it. He's been in the news. Didn't really know he's been killed before.

[Caliman73]

54. I had heard it.

I knew that he was one of the leaders of ISIS, but unlike Osama Bin Laden, there was not a consensus public knowledge that he was "the world's most wanted terrorist".

The news certainly did not have the impact of hearing about Bin Laden's death. I am not sure that it would have gotten fan fare in the Obama Administration. Maybe a press release.

[Deb]

55. "Hey, they just killed Al Bag Daddy, come see this."

Loved one then asks,"Who is Al Bag Daddy?"

[Beakybird]

56. We have a homeless guy who's called, "Bag Daddy." I thought they killed him!

Then I saw him walking with his bags the next day, and I breathed a sigh of relief.

[SamKnause]

57. I did.

[Jarqui]

58. I knew his name and that this is the sixth or so of this cat's nine lives ... nt

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

59. I'd heard of him, but there are so many of those dirtbags

that it's hard to keep track.

[gibraltar72]

60. I have been hiding under my bed

in ear of him.

[yellerpup]

61. I knew his name from all his obits

over the last couple of years. Isn't he supposed to be dead already?

[dewsgirl]

62. I had heard it in passing. I honestly thought he was one

of the 9/11 hijackers though.

[njhoneybadger]

63. I would bet the farm 90% of tRump voters never heard of him

[underpants]

69. I'd get in on that bet.

[demosincebirth]

64. I thought he was Shiite

[Liberty Belle]

67. Yes, I've known of him since the early rise of ISIS.

He's been the subject of many news reports through the years.

[Buzz cook]

68. Heard the name way back. It didn't stick.

If you had asked me who was the head of ISIS I wouldn't have been able to recall. Al Baghdadi. If you had said his name I would have not been able to say he was the head of ISIS but the name would have sounded familiar.

Put the two together I would have said, oh ya that's right.

The guy wasn't as good at self promotion as Osama.

[TomSlick]

70. I did.

He's been killed several times. Maybe it took this time.

[Evolve Dammit]

71. Why do I feel like Drumpf didn't know his name? Maybe the way he very carefully said the name?

Like it was the first time he said it was via teleprompter? Sorry, but I think he is clueless in addition to bat shit crazy.

[LAS14]

72. I didn't, but the actual soldiers (U.S. and Kurds) who...

... accomplished the mission should get all the praise we can give them.

[YOHABLO]

73. Whether you knew about Baghdadi or not makes no difference.

It's the way in which Trump constructed the whole mission to support his sick ego. It's more about his one-up on Obama than anything else. He had to grandstand the success with a big speech.

[drray23]

74. I'm surprised you had not.

Anybody who closely follows news and read about what's going on in the world from reputable sources knows about him. Of course, the operating world is "reputable " sources, meaning one has to read foreign press to get a full picture.

[IronLionZion]

75. He's been in the news for years

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abu_Bakr_al-Baghdadi#Leader_of_Islamic_State_of_Iraq_and_the_Levant_(ISIL)

[doc03]

76. I remember him and the #2 man getting killed several times. nt

[smirkymonkey]

77. Never heard of him before this.

But Trump of course insists he is bigger than Bin Laden, whom everyone has heard of. He is so jealous of Obama it's pathetic.

[rpannier]

79. I had heard of him

Pretty sure Obama mentioned his name several times
I read Euronews and rerl, and they cover that area of the world fairly extensively
And I lived in Korea for about two decades (Japan since last March) and he was covered in both Korean and Japanese press in the early-mid 20-teens

[Bettie]

80. The name was familiar

as if I'd heard it mentioned before, but I wasn't quite sure of the context.

Once I heard the context, I recalled seeing it in a news article at some point.

So, not really...but kinda?