"Top ISIS Leader Killed in Iraq" Topic

One of Saddam Hussein's former top aides was killed in a wide scale military operation in Iraq Friday, Iraqi officials said.

Al-Douri was known as the "king of clubs" in the deck of playing cards issued to help U.S. troops identify key members of Saddam's regime. He later allied himself with Islamic State militants and is believed to be the mastermind of the insurgency against the current Shiite-led government.

Salahuddin province Gov. Raed al-Jabouri says soldiers and allied Shiite militiamen killed al-Douri early Friday in an operation east of the city of Tikrit. A graphic photo issued by the government purports to be of al-Douri's corpse…

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Just checked my deck – yup, King of Clubs.

Pretty old dude. 73 or so. I'm a little unclear as to which insurgency he was masterminding, since there seem to be so many in Iraq.

Well … better late then never. I've got a deck of those cards. Still unopened. It seems he and Daesh had a bit of a falling out. He wanted a Baathist government. Not a caliphate like Daesh. So I see this as a good thing, regardless.

He was running a pro-Sunni, anti-shia, Bathist (Hussein era Bathists were not really big fans of AQ or other extremists) that has fought ISIS.

While he was likely on the Shia dominated Iranian-backed government hit-list, so far as I can tell all the reports that he was fighting "with ISIS" come from the government in Bagdad.

One of the big fears of the Sunni minority was/is that the Shia militias and their Iranian backers (and in some cases officers) will use the "hunt for ISIS" as a way to settle scores in the Sunni tribal areas.

Western media might want to try going back to reporting the news and actually digging rather than just taking one of the partisan side's in a conflict "word for it."

I'll say a Rosary for him.

He was running a pro-Sunni, anti-shia, Bathist (Hussein era Bathists were not really big fans of AQ or other extremists) that has fought ISIS.

Never heard of his "group" fighing Daesh. But it would not surprise me. For the reason I mentioned. Regardless if so it would be a good thing.

While he was likely on the Shia dominated Iranian-backed government hit-list, so far as I can tell all the reports that he was fighting "with ISIS" come from the government in Bagdad.

Sounds reasonable, but I don't always see the Iraqi government as being a reliable source. So in reality it could go either way.

One of the big fears of the Sunni minority was/is that the Shia militias and their Iranian backers (and in some cases officers) will use the "hunt for ISIS" as a way to settle scores in the Sunni tribal areas.

Had heard that some of this has been going on already.

Western media might want to try going back to reporting the news and actually digging rather than just taking one of the partisan side's in a conflict "word for it."

The media never lets the truth get in the way of a good story. Regardless, I for one will not be upset with his passing. [Nice way of saying, I'm glad he's dead …]

@ Legion 4

You can say that again :)

He never gets tired.

Me !? I like a nap in the afternoon !

Apparently, reports of his death were a bit exaggerated…

longwarjournal.org/archives/2015/05/izzat-ibrahim-al-douri-refutes-reports-of-his-death.php