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US
Claims to Have Killed ISIS' US-Trained 'Minister of
War'
Well how about that. First you train them. Then you
kill them! Or at least you do if you're Uncle Sam
By Mark Nicholas
March 10, 2016 "Information
Clearing House"
- "RI"
- In
latest Syria news US
claims to have carried our a series of airstrikes
against ISIS in eastern Syria. It also claims these
strikes "likely" killed a top ISIS commander. The
Chechen-Georgian Abu Omar al-Shishani (born Tarkhan
Batirashvili):
An
Islamic State commander described by the
Pentagon as the group's "minister of war" was
likely killed in a U.S. air strike in Syria,
U.S. officials said on Tuesday, in what would be
a major victory in the United States' efforts to
strike the militant group's leadership.
Abu
Omar al-Shishani, also known as Omar the
Chechen, ranked among America's most wanted
militants under a U.S. program that offered up
to $5 million for information to help remove him
from the battlefield.
Now this
would not be particularly humorous but for the fact
the man Pentagon describes as ISIS' "minister of
war" was
originally trained by Pentagon in the build up
to the Georgian-Russian war of 2008:
According to Batirashvili’s ex-comrades in the
Georgian military, Batirashvili was tapped
immediately upon his enlistment to join
Georgia’s U.S.-trained special forces.
“He was
a perfect soldier from his first days, and
everyone knew he was a star,” said one former
comrade, who asked not to be identified because
he remains on active duty and has been ordered
not to give media interviews about his former
colleague.
“We
were well trained by American special forces
units, and he was the star pupil.”
What's
more, in between his stint in the Georgian army and
his currrent engagement with ISIS Batirashvili al-Shishani
ran with Jaish al-Muhajireen wal-Ansar, a foreign
jihadi group in Syria that "comingled" with the
US-backed Free Syrian Army and the Al Nusra front.
Al-Shishani was specifically praised for
contributing to FSA gains around Aleppo:
Thanks
to Abu Omar’s willingness to speak to Al Jazeera,
we also have video
confirmation of his emerging star status
within rebel ranks and relationship of direct
cooperation with the US backed FSA commander.
Omar
Shishani’s interview was archived online by Al
Jazeera Arabic. While offering a simple
statement about conquering all of the Syria from
“the kuffar,” Abu Omar is surrounded by some of
the same men, including emir Abu Jandal
(identified above by the New York Times) – the
same Abu Jandal that is presented as second in
rank under Robert Ford’s friend Col. Okaidi in
the latter’s victory
huddle.
In
another video where
he stands proudly amidst a mix of fighters, Omar
addresses the camera in Russian and recognizes
the FSA’s valiant efforts in its eight months
long siege of the government airbase.
So, let's
review the timeline:
2006: USA
trains Batirashvili al-Shishani
2013: USA
allied to Batirashvili al-Shishani
2016: USA
glows with pride for having "likely" killed Batirashvili al-Shishani
Maybe USA
doesn't know what the eff it's doing???
See also -
Isis 'minister of war' was
wounded not killed in airstrike, say activists:
Commander known as Omar the Chechen is being treated
near Raqqa, activists report after US officials said
he was probably dead |
