(Abu Muhammed al Adnani*)
Abu Muhammed al Adnani (real name: Taha Subhi Falaha), the number 2 man within the Islamic State and its commander for special operations (terrorist operations outside of the declared caliphate, recruitment, social media, and communications), is dead. It is being reported that al Adnani was killed in Aleppo earlier today and had been targeted by the US military led coalition forces in a precision strike near the town of al Bab. Here is CENTCOM’s release of the coalition strikes in Syria for today, as well as the past several days. Al Bab is not mentioned, but that may just mean it will be in tomorrow’s press release on coalition strikes. Expect the information on this to solidify over the next 24 to 48 hours. We’ll also see what this does to the Islamic State’s operational capabilities, especially those outside of the self declared caliphate in Iraq and Syria.
* Image found here.
Joe Falco
Is this where we cue the rememberance music and see his face in the sky a la The Hunger Games?
Yutsano
Al Bab means “the gate”. How fitting for him to meet his punishment there.
redshirt
Number 2 is always dead.
SiubhanDuinne
I heard this actually pretty early today, and repeated at frequent intervals (on NPR and BBC), but always with the proviso of .awaiting confirmation.
Good.
redshirt
@Joe Falco: I’d read that tween novel.
Adam L Silverman
@redshirt: Usually its the number 3 guy.
Davebo
Good news but it is seeming like there’s a near endless supply of “number 2 men” out there.
Adam L Silverman
@SiubhanDuinne: The BBC link indicates that CENTCOM’s spokesperson released a statement. And MSNBC has also confirmed it.
SiubhanDuinne
@Joe Falco:
Or in a plate of spaghetti à la advertising an Italian restaurant in Atlanta?
Amir Khalid
@Adam L Silverman:
You know, like the drummer in Spinal Tap.
mike in dc
Good. If their operational tempo outside Syria/Iraq slows, then that’s an indication of how important he was to their operations.
SiubhanDuinne
@Adam L Silverman:
Yes, the hedged-about reports were earlier today. I would assume all is confirmed and double-confirmed by now.
Doug R
Homer Simpson
Adam L Silverman
@Davebo: No, that’s the number 3 guys. In this case al Adnani was a particularly high value target because he was overseeing the recruitment of foreign fighters to carry out attacks in their home countries in Europe or the US or Canada or Australia or New Zealand etc, as well as their training, the planning of these attacks, etc. So removing him from the field should have a big impact.
Adam L Silverman
@SiubhanDuinne: Well the spokesman was still hedging a bit in the statement provided to the BBC:
http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-37224570
The MSNBC report was with the reporter that broke the big story on al Adnani’s network earlier this month and she made it clear that every source she has access to is confirming that al Adnani is dead.
SiubhanDuinne
@SiubhanDuinne:
@Joe Falco:
Sorry. Here’s the link.
Mary G
Open thread, I got good news today from my angiogram. All my coronary arteries are clear and I did not have to have a stents or bypass surgery.
It turns out that my heart is both a different shape than normal and in a different place and is facing a different direction than usual, which is why I failed all the preliminary tests. It works just fine though. Whew.
Joe Falco
@SiubhanDuinne: I’ve probably eaten at that Italian restaurant then. OT but Dragon Con is happening this weekend. Whoo!
Adam L Silverman
@Mary G: So you’re a Vulcan? Or from the Mirror Universe?
And Congratulations!
SiubhanDuinne
@Mary G:
Oh, such good news!! Yay, you, and your weird-shaped heart!!
Davebo
@Adam L Silverman: Well, it’s sometimes #2 guys.
Wasn’t Omar al-Shishani billed as the #2 when killed in July? And I believe the Pentagon described Abd ar-Rahman Mustafa al-Qaduli as a #2 when he was killed in March.
Comrade Scrutinizer
@Adam L Silverman: Funny thing, Adam. If I had heard this on a MSM outlet, I’d’ve done the “just another number 2” shrug. When you say it, it means something.
I’m not sure I’m entirely comfortable with that, but I’m not sure why.
SiubhanDuinne
@Joe Falco:
Will you be there? It’s a big weekend in Atlanta, also Decatur Book Festival.
I’m actually heading out of town, to Asheville, NC. One of my fave mystery writers, Louise Penny, is giving a talk and signing of her latest book, and I’m staying with an equally-admiring friend.
Adam L Silverman
@Davebo: As far as I know al Adnani has always been the #2 guy. Al Qaduli was reported as the #2 guy, but I’m not sure how accurate that was given al Adnani and his role/responsibilities. al Shishani was reported as a top ISIL official/commander, but I never saw a ranking on him.
Miss Bianca
@Adam L Silverman: Yeah, I was going to say…were they aiming for the number 3 guy and just missed?
hovercraft
@Mary G:
Congrats !!
Have you by any chance ever been to Roswell?
Just askin’.
Jean
@Mary G: Great news!
NotMax
So glad that Rodgers and Hammerstein chose to change the lyrics to “Pore Jud” during out-of-town previews.
SiubhanDuinne
@Comrade Scrutinizer:
Adam = gravitas.
Comrade Scrutinizer
@SiubhanDuinne: Where is the book signing? I’m planning on going home this weekend (home is Asheville; I work in Fayetteville, long story). I’m guessing Malaprops?
hovercraft
OT Nieto’s office has issued a statement confirming the invitations, but also saying that nothing has been confirmed as far as actually holding the meetings.
SiubhanDuinne
@NotMax:
Yeah, doesn’t scan very well.
Major Major Major Major
Glad to see other people already asked; glad it’s a real #2. Good riddance.
I'mNotSureWhoIWantToBeYet
@Mary G: A working heart is good! :-) Congratulations! Celebrate a little – you deserve it.
Cheers,
Scott.
Miss Bianca
@Mary G: Kermit Arms, Yay!!
Comrade Scrutinizer
@NotMax: A shame, that. “Poor Abu Muhammed al Adnani is Dead” has such a nice ring to it. So what if it doesn’t scan?
Helen
Both Trump and Nieto have confirmed meeting tomorrow as per Lawrence. Charlie Pierce says that if Trump tries to negotiate anything it’s a felony.
hovercraft
@Adam L Silverman:
This is an important one, Richard Engel and that ‘terrorism expert’ Evan Coleman both said that he was the guy who issued the edict telling would be ISIS fighters to stay in their home countries and attack there. Many of the attackers in the West have cited jim as their inspiration. This one is not as easily replaced.
Adam L Silverman
@Comrade Scrutinizer: Thanks. But I’m basing my analysis on this excellent reporting by Rukmini Callimachi:
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/04/world/middleeast/isis-german-recruit-interview.html
I highly recommend you take the time to read it. It provides excellent information on how the IS network works and is set up.
replicnt6
Leo McKern was the definitive #2.
Emma
@Mary G: Mirror person? Whoo-hoo! Congrats on the good news.
Adam L Silverman
@SiubhanDuinne: More like I’m just dense!
SiubhanDuinne
@Comrade Scrutinizer:
Yes, Malaprop’s is sponsoring her appearance in Asheville but the lecture is actually at the Ariana Wortham Theatre. Here’s the link to order tickets.
If you decide to attend, PLEASE let me know! I’d love to meet you.
NotMax
@SiubhanDuinne
Was Ali Hakim in the country legally?
Inquiring minds want to know …
;)
(One of the most unintentionally funny moments ever saw on a stage happened during Oklahoma. Nearly impossible to describe properly via typing, though.)
Adam L Silverman
@Helen: They confirmed the invite. Nieto’s office has indicated that no meeting is confirmed as of this time.
Smedley Darlington Prunebanks (Formerly Mumphrey, et al.)
I hate to be Debbie Downer, but what good does this do? There’ll be another psychopath sadist to take his spot within days, if somebody hasn’t already. They’ll never run out of these guys.
SiubhanDuinne
@Adam L Silverman:
Never.
Adam L Silverman
@hovercraft: Coleman got that from Callimachi’s reporting. He is a creation of Steven Emerson. Found him fresh out of law school, funneled a bunch of Daniel Pipes’ funding to him. Does all his work out of his home.
Wag
@Mary G:
Dextrocardia is a really interesting anomaly. And one that has a normal prognosis.
Adam L Silverman
@Smedley Darlington Prunebanks (Formerly Mumphrey, et al.): You’re not wrong that someone else will take his place. The question is whether that someone else can actually replace him. He appears to have created a cult of personality around himself. Again, I highly recommend the Callimachi article from earlier this month for a lot of the details.
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/04/world/middleeast/isis-german-recruit-interview.html
Helen
@Adam L Silverman: MSNBC, CNN, and FOX all reporting that a meeting is confirmed.
NotMax
@replicnt6
The Prisoner trivia: The diminutive butler has zero lines of dialogue because in real life the actor was mute.
Adam L Silverman
@SiubhanDuinne: Actually 24/7! I can’t take Nyquill or most cold medicines because I am heavy equipment…
Joe Falco
@SiubhanDuinne: No unfortunately. Family obligations and little spending money prevent a trip this year. I went to the Decatur Book Festival last year to see Ted Rall and get a signed book for my brother.
Comrade Scrutinizer
@Adam L Silverman: Thanks for the link, Adam. I liked this part:
Thanks, NRA. One good terrorist with a gun.
Adam L Silverman
@Helen: Yep, just heard the update. But MSBC is stating that Trump has accepted the invitation. I haven’t seen anything that indicates that the Mexican government has stated the meeting will happen. The real question is going to be whether they can actually get the security details worked and this doesn’t get called off. This leaves very, very little time to work those details. Until he actually goes there, I think this is still iffy.
ETA: Just heard the update that Nieto has confirmed the meeting. This should be good.
Lizzy L
@Mary G: Excellent news. Congratulations.
NotMax
@replicant6
Speaking of McKern, true story.
Once heard someone misspeak the title of the movie Rumble in the Bronx as Rumpole in the Bronx.
Which would have been a helluva weird film in its own right.
Adam L Silverman
@NotMax: Can you even get a peruke in the Bronx?
NotMax
@Adam L. Silverman
Free with purchase of six cases of Chateau Mosholu.
cmorenc
@Comrade Scrutinizer:
You must have pissed off someone very powerful in your company to be exiled from beautiful Asheville to FayetteNam for any extended period. (Yeah, the town still has that nickname to many locals, even though the Vietnam war has been over for 40 years).
Adam L Silverman
@NotMax: Cool, good to know.
You all set for the storms if they don’t deviate off their courses?
NotMax
@Adam L. Silverman
The second one is the one to keep an eye on for this island. Way too soon to tell what’s gonna be with that one, other than it is expected to weaken considerably by the time it gets into the area on Sunday.
First one will bring rain but is trending well to the south.
Lizzy L
@Adam L Silverman: Adam, what do you expect to happen? This seems very strange. Nieto isn’t popular at home right now; I don’t see what possible good it does him to meet with Trump. Trump can’t go back on his strong stance on immigration w/o pissing off a lot of people for whom it is the central issue. They can talk, I guess, but what can they possibly “agree” to or upon? Trump has no negotiating power; he’s a candidate. It seems screwy to me. What am I missing?
hovercraft
@Adam L Silverman:
Her reporting is excellent. I’m not surprised about Coleman he strikes me as basically a neo-con.
hovercraft
@Lizzy L:
I imagine it will be like these trips usually are basically a meet and greet. Nietos’ Tweet said it will be a private meeting, so maybe Trump will get a photo, but not much else. He’ll get to say he met with the President of Mexico, and now has some foreign policy under his belt.
Pogonip
@Mary G: glad to hear it!
Adam L Silverman
@Lizzy L: This is what I expect to happen:
The real interesting thing to watch for is what Trump claims they discussed and Nieto agreed to versus what, if anything Nieto’s office releases. My guess is that Trump will try to get his version out first and then if Nieto comes out and contradicts it he’ll accuse Nieto of backtracking, Mexico being an untrustworthy ally, and that the wall just got ten feet taller!
Trump has done this before with meetings. Its his MO and part of his dominance politics. It will also set him up well for the speech tomorrow night. He’ll be able to go full grievance, resentment, and ressentiment. It’ll get his crowd whipped into a froth and they will pay less attention to the specifics of whatever he’s going to say if those specifics vary from his previously stated positions on immigration.
Adam L Silverman
@hovercraft: He is a creation of Emerson and Emerson is a creation of Pipes.
Adam L Silverman
@NotMax: Good. Stay safe!
JR in WV
@Mary G:
Very glad to hear you’re OK, if a little off kilter.
Our Dr has one patient who is completely reversed backwards. Heart is on the right, and is photo-image reversed. When the nurses do his EKG they have to carefully put the sticky sensors in the exactly reversed left-to-right places on the patient’s chest, arms and legs.
Imagine being in an accident somewhere, being received at the ER – “His pulse seems normal, but I can’t hear a heart!!!”
Lizzy L
@Adam L Silverman: So; trolling the entire country of Mexico, and labeling its President as a liar in league with Crooked Hillary, in order to set up a speech in which he will say nothing of substance. His base will LOVE it. S. O. P. Got it.
Amir Khalid
@Adam L Silverman:
Back in the 1970s, when Malaysian lawyers and judges still wore those absurdities in court (ah, that wonderful colonial heritage) they all had to order them from the few specialist wigmakers remaining in the UK.
Adam L Silverman
@JR in WV: Who knew Fringe was a documentary!
Adam L Silverman
@Lizzy L: This is what I think his play is based on observing how he operates. We may all be surprised. Apparently he’s bringing Senator Sessions and Mayor Guilianni.
JR in WV
@Helen:
Why? Nixon and Henry Special K did it with Hanoi, and then Reagan and his minions did it with the Iranians, both to seal election by treason.
Why wouldn’t Trump commit treason, given his hiring of a Russian stooge? Seems like he’s already walking that lonely road.
Adam L Silverman
@Amir Khalid: I would have expected you all would have ordered them from the Australian company that makes them for their barristers.
hovercraft
@Adam L Silverman:
@Helen just said in the other thread that Arpiao wants to go too. Good times.
Adam L Silverman
@hovercraft: Arpaio may want to go, but given he’s under indictment for criminal contempt, leaving the country without the Federal Court’s permission is highly unlikely. And not a good idea either.
Amir Khalid
@Adam L Silverman:
I dunno, I guess the Aussie ones just weren’t as authentic as the ones made by the Poms.
Adam L Silverman
@Amir Khalid: Well there’s your next in depth investigation!
Steeplejack (tablet)
@Adam L Silverman:
Nobody wants a crap Aussie barrister’s wig.
hovercraft
@Adam L Silverman:
Pity about the indictment, I would have chipped in to send him.
Lizzy L
@Adam L Silverman: I expect that Ambassador Jacobson and Nieto will have a long conversation before the visit. (Hell, they might be staying up late right now.) I assume she’ll be present for much of it. Heh.
Omnes Omnibus
@Steeplejack (tablet): I wouldn’t want that horse hair on a violin bow, let alone a barrister’s wig.
satby
@Mary G: Great to hear this good news!
Steeplejack (tablet)
@Omnes Omnibus:
Inorite!
Adam L Silverman
@Lizzy L: Not sure if she will. Trump’s a private citizen. This isn’t really official US-Mexican business. I honestly don’t know the protocol for this.
EBT
@Comrade Scrutinizer: I left Asheville almost five years ago. How has it been?
middlelee
The Prisoner always ended with “Who is Number One?”
Achrachno
@middlelee: You are, Number 6.
Achrachno
@Smedley Darlington Prunebanks (Formerly Mumphrey, et al.): Maybe not, but some of them are probably worse at running the organization than others. If the guy killed was capable, there’s some chance the next guy will be less so. Or, maybe this guy was someone they’re better off without. I know little about the late al Adnani.
Tissue Thin Pseudonym
@Achrachno: I don’t even know where to send a
letter bombcondolences card to his office.El Caganer
There’s seven people dead
On a South Dakota farm
There’s seven people dead
On a South Dakota farm
Somewhere in the distance
There’s seven new people born
– B.Dylan
Sloegin
Some orgs are very hierarchical, some are flat. Some are good about cross training and training potential replacements, others are not. This guy being killed may have an impact. Or not.
Or put another way; killing Hitler would have changed everything. Roosevelt dying changed nothing.
Peter H Desmond
More
the islamic state has lost its press spokesman, and the loss shows
The senior Islamic State strategist Abu Muhammad al-Adnani was killed in northern Syria, the group announced on Tuesday. … Mr. Adnani, a 39-year-old Syrian, was the group’s chief spokesman and propagandist.
— NYT
In an elegiac statement, the Islamic State announced Adnani’s “martyrdom,” while “surveying military operations” in Aleppo province. “After a journey filled with sacrifice and defense against disbelief and its party, the lion-like Abu Muhammad al Adnani al-Shami dismounted, to join the caravan of martyred leaders, the caravan of heroes who waged jihad,” isis said.
http://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/abu-muhammad-al-adnani-the-voice-of-isis-is-dead
The Mu‘allaqāt (Arabic: المعلقات), which dates around the end of the sixth century of our common era, is a group of seven long Arabic poems considered the best work of the pre-Islamic period. Despite the elegance of the language, there was little variety of subject: most of them commenced with a lament for the departure of a fair one, and a description of her personal charms, passing abruptly to an account of the noble qualities of the poet’s horse or camel, and proceeding to a narrative of a journey.
for fourteen centuries, poetry-loving Arabs have known that lions do not mount or dismount steeds; rather, they stalk caravans. moreover, it is a truth universally acknowledged that a traveler does not dismount his beast to join a caravan; he mounts it.
if Adnani’s inept stand-in can do such violence to metaphors in such quick succession, perhaps he should be reassigned to the front line, although his prose merits latrine duty. or maybe his botched hackwork is a cri de coeur to get booted from the organization outright.