While conflicting reports emerged over the weekend of whether Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, leader of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), was injured in an air strike, the mere unfounded rumours generated about his fate emerges a critical juncture of the US-led air campaign. It has been exactly two months since this campaign was declared and more than 800 aerial sorties have been launched. In this time, questions have been asked as to why the US has avoided targeting and killing Baghdadi or other high profile leaders of ISIL, otherwise known as a “decapitation strike”.*
Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi may have been killed or critically wounded from an airstrike, but what does it mean in terms of longterm effects either way? Cenk Uygur breaks it down.
*Read more from Al Jazeera:
http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2014/11/baghdadi-dead-alive-does-it-ma-2014111251257418964.html