Member-only story
After ISIS
The leader of ISIS is dead. Now comes the hard part.
On October 26th, 2019, the leader of Daesh (the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant), Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, met his end while fleeing commandos of the elite US Delta Force. Cornered and outnumbered, the self-proclaimed caliph detonated a suicide vest, claiming his own life and the lives of two children he used as human shields.
The death of this figure garnered much support in the United States and abroad. Multiple nations, from Russia to Turkey, expressed their gratitude for the operation, which ended the life of one of the 21st century’s most vile human beings.
Unfortunately, over the period of two days, approximately 60 Iraqi protesters were killed in anti-government demonstrations that rocked the nation. By November 1st, it was reported that Iran was secretly advising the mainly Shi’ite government in their efforts to quell the protests. This — coupled with Turkish incursions into neighboring Syria — hints at the next phase in the never-ending drama that is the Fertile Crescent.
Daesh is crippled, but the situation in the region, once known as Mesopotamia, is far from burning out — and it will likely take more desperate measures to extinguish the flames.
Before October 26th, 2019
