Islamic State Prepared for Life without Its Leader

 

The United States is promising¹ there will be no easing of its offensive against the Islamic State after the death of the group’s leader.

U.S. officials say Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi was killed as part of a “dangerous” nighttime raid in northern Syria.

Baghdadi took command of the group formerly² known as al-Qaida in Iraq in 2010. The Islamic State (IS) is also known as the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, or ISIS.

President Donald Trump³ announced on Sunday that Baghdadi died “whimpering and crying” in a dead-end tunnel. His death shows America’s “commitment to the…defeat of ISIS and other terrorist organizations," the president said.

"We know the successors,” he added. "And we already have them in our sights."

Efforts to find them may be helped by the raid on Baghdadi’s camp in the Syrian province of Idlib. The raid led to the capture of a small number of Islamic State group officials and fighters.

Trump said U.S. forces found "highly sensitive material and information... much having to do with ISIS, origins, future plans, things that we very much want."

That information may have led to the death of Abu Hassan al-Muhajir, a spokesman for the group. The commander of the U.S.-supported Syrian Democratic Forces reported Sunday that he was targeted and killed in an operation in northern Syria.

U.S. officials have yet to confirm reports of his death.

Islamic State: an adaptive, potent⁴ terror group

Military and intelligence officials admit that finding and killing⁵ IS operatives has not been effective enough to stop the group. It has, however, severely⁶ limited its ability to strike at targets.

At one point, in late 2015, officials said airstrikes by the U.S.-led coalition⁷ were killing one mid-level or senior-level IS leader every two days.

U.S. anti-terrorism officials later described some of those strikes as “significant blows.”

Yet, IS continues its campaign of terror, even as its self-declared caliphate collapsed⁸. As the Syrian city of Idlib fell to coalition forces, the group’s leadership worked to create an active and growing resistance force.

“ISIS is working (toward) an insurgency⁹ in Syria and Iraq” that is made of different groups in both countries, a U.S. official recently told VOA.

“The group is using these (groups) to undermine local governance and reconstruction¹⁰ efforts,” said the official, who added that IS creates ethnic¹¹ and religious divisions to fuel unrest.

Baghdadi death

Former U.S. Director of National Intelligence James Clapper describes the operation that killed Baghdadi as important because of its symbolic¹² value. But he added that Baghdadi’s death alone will not destroy the terror group.

“ISIS has been more de-centralized and has groomed¹⁴ leaders for just this eventuality,” Clapper told VOA.

Terrorism experts say there is growing evidence that suggests strikes like the one that killed Baghdadi are rarely death blows.

“The death of a jihadist leader is always a dangerous moment for the group as it can lead to internal struggles,” said Michael Horowitz. He is head of intelligence for Le Beck, a Middle East-based security company.

“[Al-Qaida leader Osama] bin¹⁵ Laden¹⁶ was replaced by his former number two, [Ayman] al-Zawahiri,” he said, adding that the al-Qaida leader is still powerful.

Recent intelligence from the U.S. and other countries suggests Islamic State will easily survive without Baghdadi. While the group has lost its caliphate in Syria and Iraq, it still had an estimated 10,000 to 15,000 thousand fighters across those countries. Officials also believe it still has a lot of money, possibly up to $300 million.

And U.S. officials say IS has many of its trained fighters, moving them underground as it lost its Syrian base to U.S.-backed forces.

“The group has tens of thousands of seasoned fighters and hundreds of leaders who have survived decades of war,” said Bill Roggio. He is with the Washington-based Foundation for the Defense¹⁷ of Democracies.

U.S. officials have warned that IS has built itself in such a way that the loss of its caliphate had less effect on the group than many believed.

"The so-called ISIS caliphate has been destroyed, but the ISIS (name) lives on around the world,” State Department Counterterrorism coordinator¹⁸ Nathan Sales said in August.

I'm Susan Shand.

Words in This Story

whimper – v. to make a quiet crying sound

tunnel – n. an underground passageway

successor – n. one that follows; replacement¹⁹

origin – n. root; a rise of beginning

senior – adj. involving a higher level or standing²⁰

caliphate – n. the kingdom of a Muslim ruler

reconstruction – n. the act of rebuilding something

groom¹³ – v. to educate someone to do a specific thing

jihadist – n. someone who is fighting a religious war

internal – adj. within an organization

1 promising   

adj.有希望的，有前途的

参考例句：

• The results of the experiments are very promising.实验的结果充满了希望。
• We're trying to bring along one or two promising young swimmers.我们正设法培养出一两名有前途的年轻游泳选手。

2 formerly   

adv.从前，以前

参考例句：

• We now enjoy these comforts of which formerly we had only heard.我们现在享受到了过去只是听说过的那些舒适条件。
• This boat was formerly used on the rivers of China.这船从前航行在中国内河里。

3 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

4 potent   

adj.强有力的，有权势的；有效力的

参考例句：

• The medicine had a potent effect on your disease.这药物对你的病疗效很大。
• We must account of his potent influence.我们必须考虑他的强有力的影响。

5 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

6 severely   

adv.严格地；严厉地；非常恶劣地

参考例句：

• He was severely criticized and removed from his post.他受到了严厉的批评并且被撤了职。
• He is severely put down for his careless work.他因工作上的粗心大意而受到了严厉的批评。

7 coalition   

n.结合体，同盟，结合，联合

参考例句：

• The several parties formed a coalition.这几个政党组成了政治联盟。
• Coalition forces take great care to avoid civilian casualties.联盟军队竭尽全力避免造成平民伤亡。

8 collapsed   

adj.倒塌的

参考例句：

• Jack collapsed in agony on the floor. 杰克十分痛苦地瘫倒在地板上。
• The roof collapsed under the weight of snow. 房顶在雪的重压下突然坍塌下来。

9 insurgency   

n.起义；暴动；叛变

参考例句：

• And as in China, unrest and even insurgency are widespread. 而在中国，动乱甚至暴乱都普遍存在。 来自互联网
• Dr Zyphur is part an insurgency against this idea. 塞弗博士是这一观点逆流的一部分。 来自互联网

10 reconstruction   

n.重建，再现，复原

参考例句：

• The country faces a huge task of national reconstruction following the war.战后，该国面临着重建家园的艰巨任务。
• In the period of reconstruction,technique decides everything.在重建时期，技术决定一切。

11 ethnic   

adj.人种的，种族的，异教徒的

参考例句：

• This music would sound more ethnic if you played it in steel drums.如果你用钢鼓演奏，这首乐曲将更具民族特色。
• The plan is likely only to aggravate ethnic frictions.这一方案很有可能只会加剧种族冲突。

12 symbolic   

adj.象征性的，符号的，象征主义的

参考例句：

• It is symbolic of the fighting spirit of modern womanhood.它象征着现代妇女的战斗精神。
• The Christian ceremony of baptism is a symbolic act.基督教的洗礼仪式是一种象征性的做法。

13 groom   

vt.给（马、狗等）梳毛，照料，使...整洁

参考例句：

• His father was a groom.他父亲曾是个马夫。
• George was already being groomed for the top job.为承担这份高级工作，乔治已在接受专门的培训。

14 groomed   

v.照料或梳洗（马等）( groom的过去式和过去分词 )；使做好准备；训练；（给动物）擦洗

参考例句：

• She is always perfectly groomed. 她总是打扮得干净利落。
• Duff is being groomed for the job of manager. 达夫正接受训练，准备当经理。 来自《简明英汉词典》

15 bin   

n.箱柜；vt.放入箱内；[计算机] DOS文件名:二进制目标文件

参考例句：

• He emptied several bags of rice into a bin.他把几袋米倒进大箱里。
• He threw the empty bottles in the bin.他把空瓶子扔进垃圾箱。

16 laden   

adj.装满了的；充满了的；负了重担的；苦恼的

参考例句：

• He is laden with heavy responsibility.他肩负重任。
• Dragging the fully laden boat across the sand dunes was no mean feat.将满载货物的船拖过沙丘是一件了不起的事。

17 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

18 coordinator   

n.协调人

参考例句：

• The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, headed by the Emergency Relief Coordinator, coordinates all UN emergency relief. 联合国人道主义事务协调厅在紧急救济协调员领导下，负责协调联合国的所有紧急救济工作。
• How am I supposed to find the client-relations coordinator? 我怎么才能找到客户关系协调员的办公室？

19 replacement   

n.取代，替换，交换；替代品，代用品

参考例句：

• We are hard put to find a replacement for our assistant.我们很难找到一个人来代替我们的助手。
• They put all the students through the replacement examination.他们让所有的学生参加分班考试。

20 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。