President Trump’s elaborate tale of ISIS’s Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi dying “like a dog” and a coward, whimpering pathetically all the while, and watching the whole thing in real time like a Hollywood film is raising eyebrows, mostly on the basis that it didn’t happen like he says.



It’s not just that Trump is known for embellishing on his accomplishments. Rather, officials say that the footage Trump and his staff were watching amounted only to overhead surveillance footage, with no audio, so he couldn’t have seen or heard much of what he claimed.



The story of Baghdadi fleeing into a tunnel “crying and screaming all the way” while being chased by a military dog, before whimpering and blowing himself us, killing himself and his children, and wounding the dog may all be a story, apart from a dog getting injured.



Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Mark Milley said he was unable to confirm any claims of Baghdadi whimpering, and the White House similarly said they have no idea where Trump got that, though neither is denying that it happened.



Whimpering is part of the official Trump story, and it’s politically risky to get in the way of such a story once it’s out there. That said, Trump had no audio, and couldn’t possibly have heard anything himself.



Adding to questions about the DNA test related to Baghdadi’s killing, the Kurdish SDF now claims that they’d seized Baghdadi’s underpants and used those for a DNA test before the raid, to 100% identify him.



Gen. Milley reported that Baghdadi’s corpse, or what’s left of it, was taken by US forces and “disposed of” at sea. Officials insists his body was gotten rid of appropriately, and no more photos or videos will be released.





Author: Jason Ditz Jason Ditz is news editor of Antiwar.com. View all posts by Jason Ditz