quote:

President Trump said Sunday morning that he did not tell House Speaker Nancy Pelosi about the U.S. military raid in Syria that resulted in the death

of ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi because he was worried about leaks that could have compromised the mission.

Vice President Mike Pence said this was not an indication of a lack of trust.

When asked if he notified Pelosi beforehand, Trump said he did not because he did not want any members of the U.S. forces to die.

“No, I didn’t. I didn’t do that. I wanted to make sure this kept secret,” Trump said. “I don’t want to have people lost.”

Pelosi issued a statement after al-Baghdadi's death was announced, criticizing Trump for not informing leaders in Congress beforehand.

"The House must be briefed on this raid, which the Russians but not top Congressional Leadership were notified of in advance, and on the Administration’s overall strategy in the region," Pelosi said. "Our military and allies deserve strong, smart and strategic leadership from Washington."

Trump said that he did notify Russia beforehand that the U.S. would be active in the region, because Russia currently has a presence there. The president said he did not reveal the purpose of the mission.

Pence downplayed Trump’s decision to keep Pelosi in the dark in an appearance on “Fox News Sunday" immediately following Trump’s address. The vice president claimed that Trump did not mean to say he did not trust the House Speaker.

“I don’t think that was the implication at all,” Pence said. When pressed on the issue, the vice president said, “We maintain the tightest possible security here,” and focused on Trump’s goal, which was to bring al-Baghdadi to justice.

quote:

Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi’s underpants were obtained by an undercover source and DNA tested to prove his identity before an operation by U.S. forces to kill him, an advisor to the Syrian Democratic Forces said on Monday.

Polat Can, a senior advisor to the Kurdish-led SDF, gave details on Twitter about how SDF intelligence work had helped locate Baghdadi, whose death was announced by U.S. President Donald Trump on Sunday.

“Our own source, who had been able to reach al-Baghdadi, brought al-Baghdadi’s underwear to conduct a DNA test and make sure (100%) that the person in question was al-Baghdadi himself,” Can said.

Trump has said that the Kurds provided some information “helpful” to the operation.

Can said the SDF had been working since May 15 with the CIA to track Baghdadi, and managed to confirm that he had moved from Deir al-Zor in eastern Syria to Idlib, where he was killed.

Baghdadi had been about to change location to the Syrian town of Jarablus when the operation happened, he said.

“All intelligence and access to al-Baghdadi as well as the identification of his place, were the result of our own work. Our intelligence source was involved in sending coordinates, directing the airdrop, participating in and making the operation a success until the last minute,” Can said.

quote:

Al-Baghdadi is a nom de guerre for a man identified as Ibrahim Awwad Ibrahim Ali al-Badri al-Samarrai. The US is offering a $25 million reward for information leading to his death or capture.

quote:

Originally posted by CHAS:

quote:

Early reports of death, bodily harm, and arrest
According to media reports, al-Baghdadi was wounded on 18 March 2015 during a coalition airstrike on the al-Baaj District, in the Nineveh Governorate, near the Syrian border. His wounds were apparently so serious that the top ISIL leaders had a meeting to discuss who would replace him if he died. According to reports, by 22 April al-Baghdadi had not yet recovered enough from his injuries to resume daily control of ISIL.[132] The US Department of Defense said that al-Baghdadi had not been the target of the airstrikes, and "we have no reason to believe it was Baghdadi."[133] On 22 April 2015, Iraqi government sources reported that Abu Ala al-Afri, the self-proclaimed caliph's deputy and a former Iraqi physics teacher, had been installed as the stand-in leader while Baghdadi recuperated from his injuries.[134]

April 2015: The Guardian reported that al-Baghdadi was recovering from the severe injuries which he had received during the airstrike on 18 March 2015, in a part of Mosul. It was also reported that a spinal injury which had left him paralyzed meant that he might never be able to fully resume direct command of ISIL.[135] By 13 May, ISIL fighters had warned they would retaliate for al-Baghdadi's injury, which the Iraqi Defense Ministry believed would be carried out through attacks in Europe.[citation needed]
20 July 2015: The New York Times wrote that rumors that al-Baghdadi had been killed or injured earlier in the year had been "dispelled."[136]
11 October 2015: the Iraqi air force claimed to have bombed al-Baghdadi's convoy in the western Anbar province close to the Syrian border while he was heading to Al-Karābilah to attend an ISIL meeting, the location of which was also said to be bombed. His fate was not immediately confirmed.[137] There was some subsequent speculation that he may not have been present in the convoy at all.[138]
9 June 2016: Iraqi State TV claimed that al-Baghdadi had been wounded in a US airstrike in Northern Iraq. Coalition spokesmen said they could not confirm the reports.[139]
14 June 2016: several Middle Eastern media outlets claimed that al-Baghdadi had been killed in a US airstrike in Raqqa on 12 June. Coalition spokesmen said they could not confirm the reports.[140][141] The Independent however, later stated that these reports of Baghdadi's death were based on a digitally altered image claiming to be a media statement from ISIL.[142]
3 October 2016: Various media outlets claimed that al-Baghdadi and 3 senior ISIL leaders were poisoned by an assassin but still alive.[143]
18 April 2017: some media reported that al-Baghdadi was arrested in Syria. Citing the European Department for Security and Information (DESI), several media outlets reported that al-Baghdadi was apprehended by Syrian and Russian joint forces.[144][145][146] However, the Russian Foreign Ministry told Rudaw they did not have knowledge of the news and were not aware of his arrest.[147]
11 June 2017: Syrian state TV claimed al-Baghdadi had been killed in the artillery strike that was backed by the US.[148]
16 June 2017: Russian media reported that al-Baghdadi might have been killed in a Russian air strike near Raqqa, Syria on 28 May[149][150] along with 30 mid-level ISIL leaders and 300 other fighters. The Russian claims to have killed 330 ISIL fighters including Baghdadi did not match reports from Raqqa Is Being Slaughtered Silently and Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), which found 17 or 18 civilian deaths and possibly 10 ISIL fighter deaths from an airstrike against buses south of Raqqa on 28 May.[151] The United States cast doubt on the claim, noting a lack of independent evidence.[152][153]
23 June 2017: Russian politician Viktor Ozerov stated that al-Baghdadi's death was almost "100% certain."[154] Iran later claimed to confirm Russia's claim that Al-Baghdadi was killed in an airstrike.[155]
29 June 2017: The Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA), the Iranian government's official media, published an article quoting a representative for Iranian leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei to the Quds Force, stating that al-Baghdadi was "definitely dead." IRNA removed this quotation in an updated version of this article.[156]
11 July 2017: Iraqi news agency Al Sumaria stated on its website that ISIL had circulated a brief statement in Tal Afar that Baghdadi was dead.[157] The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights claimed it had "confirmed information" of his death.[158] The US Department of Defense stated it was trying to confirm the new reports of his death.[159] The Kurdish counter-terrorism official Lahur Talabany told Reuters he was "99 percent" sure Baghdadi was alive and hiding in Raqqa.[160] The search was reported to still be ongoing by The Guardian in January 2018.[161]
28 July 2017: Drone expert and former intelligence soldier Brett Velicovich, described multiple covert missions[162] in which his special operations team led the hunt for al-Baghdadi immediately after they killed his predecessor, Abu Umar al-Baghdadi in April 2011. One of those missions described an opportunity to capture al-Baghdadi when he was discovered via drone meeting ISIL associates in downtown Baghdad ⁠— ⁠a mission that was ultimately delayed due to State Department rules of engagement at the time.[163][164] Velicovich was further questioned by Fox News about the reports of al-Baghdadi's death after a Russian government claim of having killed him in Syria, during which Velicovich stated that he didn't believe the claims and if he was dead the US Government would have announced it.[165]
23 August 2018: Al-Furqan, an ISIL media outlet, released an audio statement "Glad Tidings to the Steadfast" on the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha (Feast of Sacrifice). The statement was made by Baghdadi, ending the speculation about his purported death.[166]
29 April 2019: A video emerged of Baghdadi on ISIS's media network Al Furqan praising the perpetrators of the 2019 Sri Lanka Easter bombings.[167]