Tag Archives: Ibrahim Awwad al-Badri al-Samarrai

Defeating the Islamic State for Good

18 Replies

Originally published at The Henry Jackson Society

By Kyle Orton (@KyleWOrton) on December 2, 2016

Islamic State fortifications in Deir Ezzor (from an IS video, 11 July 2016)

The Islamic State (IS) is nominally under attack now in its twin capitals, Mosul in Iraq and Raqqa in Syria. This is necessary task, of course, but, as I’ve written repeatedly over the last few months, clearing IS from its urban centres is not sufficient. IS lost its overt urban holdings once before and nonetheless rebuilt in the deserts between 2008 and 2013, rising again to seize increasingly-large tracts of territory that were eventually declared a caliphate. IS was able to do this because of the success of its long-term method of war-making, and political changes in Baghdad—toward greater sectarianism and authoritarianism—that gave it more space to manoeuvre. The flaws in the strategy and partners the U.S.-led international Coalition have chosen to eliminate IS are creating a situation in which what will be called “victory” is really the resetting of the cycle. More evidence of this has recently come to the fore. Continue reading →

Al-Qaeda’s Leader Calls for Jihadi Unity in Syria, Building a Caliphate

12 Replies

By Kyle Orton (@KyleWOrton) on May 9, 2016

1

The leader of al-Qaeda, Ayman al-Zawahiri, released an audio statement on 8 May 2016. The speech was entitled, “Hasten to Syria,” “Go Forth to Syria,” or “March Forth to Syria,” depending on translation.[1] An English-language translation has been made available and is reproduced below, with some editions in transliteration and some important sections highlighted in bold. Continue reading →

Al-Qaeda Leader Focuses on Main Enemies: Saudi Arabia and the Islamic State

3 Replies

By Kyle Orton (@KyleWOrton) on January 13, 2016

1

As-Sahab Foundation for Islamic Media Publication, al-Qaeda’s media outlet, produced an English translation of a speech by the organization’s leader, Ayman al-Zawahiri, on 13 January 2016. The speech was entitled, “Syria Is Entrusted Upon Your Necks”. The speech does focus on the West, particularly its de facto alliance with the pro-Assad coalition—namely Russia and Iran—and calls for the Syrian rebellion to unite with al-Qaeda to resist this conspiracy. What is more noticeable, however, is the two enemies on whom Dr. al-Zawahiri really focuses: Saudi Arabia and the Islamic State. The Saudis are accused—not without reason—of having been allied closely to the West and thwarting the jihadist projects at every turn. And al-Zawahiri makes a fierce ideological assault on the Islamic State, comparing them with the Khawarij and the Armed Islamic Group (GIA), whose conduct in Algeria in the 1990s and their justifications for it took Islamist extremism to new depths. The speech is reproduced below with some minor editions, to transliteration and punctuation, and some interesting and important sections highlighted in bold.
Continue reading →

Islamic State Leader Threatens Saudi Arabia and Israel

1 Reply

By Kyle Orton (@KyleWOrton) on December 28, 2015

Ibrahim al-Badri (Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi), the leader of the Islamic State, gave a speech, “So Wait, We Too are Waiting with You” (or “We, Too, Will Wait With You”), on December 26, 2015. The title is drawn from Qur’an 9:52. This is al-Badri’s fifth speech since the declaration of the caliphate in June 2014, and his tenth speech since becoming leader in 2011. The speech acknowledged some struggles for the “caliphate” and made a rare threat against Israel. Al-Furqan Media released a transcript of the speech, which is reproduced below. Continue reading →

The Riddle of Haji Bakr

67 Replies

By Kyle Orton (@KyleWOrton) on November 10, 2015

Samir al-Khlifawi (Haji Bakr): in Saddam's army, in American prison, as a commander of the Islamic State

Samir al-Khlifawi (Haji Bakr): in Saddam’s intelligence service, in American prison, as a commander of the Islamic State

In the last few months I’ve increasingly focussed on the former (Saddam) regime elements (FREs) within the Islamic State (IS). There’s now an entire section on this blog about it, and Aaron Zelin over at Jihadology recently gave me time to elaborate in a podcast.

In studying this topic there is one inescapable name: Samir Abd Muhammad al-Khlifawi, better-known by his pseudonym Haji Bakr, and sometimes by his kunya, Abu Bakr al-Iraqi. Al-Khlifawi is a former colonel in an elite intelligence unit of the Saddam Hussein regime—focussed on air defence at Habbaniya airbase, though what exactly that entails is murky. Al-Khlifawi was also apparently involved in weapons development.

Al-Khlifawi came to international attention in April when Christoph Reuter published an article in Der Spiegel naming al-Khlifawi as the “architect” of IS’s expansion into Syria, and the man who had been “pulling the strings at IS for years.” Continue reading →

Islamic State Leader Attacks Saudi Arabia, Claims to Be the Sunni Vanguard

Leave a reply

By Kyle Orton (@KyleWOrton) on May 15, 2015

The Islamic State’s “caliph”, Ibrahim al-Badri (Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi), gave his ninth speech on May 14, 2015. The speech was entitled, “March Forth Whether Light or Heavy”, based on the 41st verse of the ninth sura of the Qur’an, Al-Tawba. A transcript of this speech was released and is reproduced below. Continue reading →

Jihadi Cleric Makes the Case for the Islamic State Leader as Caliph

Leave a reply

By Kyle Orton (@KyleWOrton) on January 8, 2015

Soon after the public emergence inside Syria of the then-Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) in the spring of 2013, a treatise was published by the Bahraini jihadi scholar, Turki al-Binali, which is to date the only official biography of the group’s leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, and piloted the idea that he was the caliph, i.e. the leader of Muslims worldwide. Al-Binali’s document, “Stretch [Out] the Hands to Give Allegiance to Al-Baghdadi”,[1] first published on August 5, 2013, would be amplified throughout late 2014 after ISIS declared that it had restored the caliphate last June and Abu Bakr took the mantle of caliph. An English translation of the document was produced on December 21, 2014, by someone using the name Ubaidullah ibn Adam al-Ibrahim on the pro-Islamic State Ansar al-Khilafa blog. It is reproduced below, with some editions for syntax and transliteration, to preserve it for study. Continue reading →

Former Islamic State Leader Advises on Jihadist Conduct

1 Reply

By Kyle Orton (@KyleWOrton) on January 6, 2015

dabiq-6

The sixth edition of the Islamic State’s English-language magazine, Dabiq, published on 29 December 2014, reproduced a “speech” by Abu Hamza al-Muhajir, entitled, “Advice for the Soldiers of the Islamic State”, which dates from 23 September 2007.[1] It is reproduced below with some editions in transliteration and some important sections highlighted in bold. Continue reading →

Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi’s Second Speech as Islamic State Leader

1 Reply

By Kyle Orton (@KyleWOrton) on December 29, 2014

The current leader of the Islamic State (IS), Ibrahim al-Badri (Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi), released his first “proper” speech on July 21, 2012. But this was, in fact, his second public statement: Al-Badri had mourned Usama bin Laden in an audio message released on 9 May 2011 and vowed “blood for blood and destruction for destruction”. The 2012 speech, entitled, “Allah Will Not Allow Except That His Light Should Be Perfected”, was released by Al-Furqan Media and an English transcript—reproduced below—was issued by Fursan al-Balagh Media. Some key parts are highlighted in bold.
Continue reading →

WikiBaghdady Claims to Leak the Islamic State’s Secrets

5 Replies

By Kyle Orton (@KyleWOrton) on October 8, 2014

Before the account, first published in April 2014, by an ostensible Islamic State (IS) defector, “Abu Ahmad”, there was the Twitter account @WikiBaghdady, which released a lot of information in the same vein about the alleged impiousness of the jihadist organization. @WikiBaghdady’s testimony, as collected by Yousef Bin Tashfin, is republished below, with some editions for transliteration and syntax, to ensure its preservation. Continue reading →