"Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, austere religious scholar at the helm of Islamic State, dies at 48" —The Washington Post's second of three headlines announcing the death of a terrorist in terms befitting a hero, causing many to realize al-Baghdadi was a hero to the Deep State media complex

"Thank God for the Deep State!" —Former CIA acting director John McLaughlin, confirming the fears of Americans that a working conspiracy is thwarting Americans' chosen representatives

Operation Kayla Mueller

Subsequent to Nancy Pelosi's and Adam Schiff's return from their Middle Eastern visit during the ceasefire between Turkey and Syria, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, evil terrorist extraordinaire, died on October 26, 2019, as the result of Operation Kayla Mueller. Upon being asked if he had informed Speaker Pelosi of the raid in advance, President Trump answered bluntly, "I didn't do that. I wanted to make sure this was kept secret. ... I don't want to have people lost." Apparently, Trump perceived great danger in letting Pelosi have foreknowledge of the attack plan.

Flashback to Nancy Pelosi's Big Leak

On June 20, 2019, Kevin Liptak posted a video on Twitter of Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer celebrating after a "Situation Room meeting on Iran with the President and [Senate majority leader Mitch] McConnell at the White House." Were they high-fiving an opportunity to make mischief for Trump by leaking? Shortly thereafter, Trump canceled the military action planned against Iran that he had informed them about, likely due to Deep State leaks to Iran about the strike, thereby compromising the operation.

The Deep State Supports, Lionizes, and Warns Terrorists

After al-Baghdadi, the leader of the most despised terror organization in the world, was killed in a Trump-sponsored military operation, the Deep State media decried the killing. Take, for example, the Washington Post's "Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, austere religious scholar at the helm of Islamic State, dies at 48." Also, Post columnist Max Boot made the dignifying assertion that al-Baghdadi did not die as a coward, in an effort to grant the terrorist leader a heroic image. Can there be any doubt that the Deep State not only supports terrorists, but lionizes them?

It is also true that, if The New York Times had not leaked important military secrets in the past, al-Baghdadi would probably have died years ahead of the raid that finally brought him down. Nick Short, on July 17, 2017, tweeted the following: "Gen. Tony Thomas explains how a leak to NYT foiled U.S. attempt to kill ISIS leader Baghdadi. Publishing leaks undermines our Natl Sec!" This is an apparent reference by the leader of the Special Operations Command to a thwarted 2015 attempt to get al-Baghdadi. The Deep State and their media are, without doubt, leaking to benefit terrorists. President Trump was right not to tell Speaker Pelosi about the planned strike.

Was the Timing of the Raid, Following Pelosi's and Schiff's Mid-Eastern Visit, Just a Coincidence?

What if there were some truth to the speculation that "al-Baghdadi was located [by President Trump] when ... Adam Schiff (Head of the House Intelligence Committee) and Nancy Pelosi (Speaker of the House) were Secretly Followed (by Military Intelligence) to al-Baghdadi's Secret Head Quarters Location"? On Twitter, 40Head surmised the following possibility: Trump knew that, during the American troop withdrawals from Syria, if any Deep State operatives were going to communicate with al-Baghdadi, it would have to be on foot, during the ceasefire Trump had arranged between Turkey and Syria (trackable cell phones being out of the question as a mode of communication). So, likely because there was, in fact, a ceasefire, Deep State operatives Pelosi and Schiff suddenly departed for the Mid-East; while they were there, al-Baghdadi's location was, coincidentally, discovered. Did Pelosi and Schiff attempt to contact al-Baghdadi on the ground — in person or by messenger — thus springing a trap by unwittingly revealing the terrorist's whereabouts? Pelosi and Schiff, as U.S. congressional representatives, probably would not have expected that they themselves would be covertly watched.

Remembering Obama's Protection of the Islamic State

It must be remembered that President Barack Obama himself, in the spring of 2009, released Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi from Camp Bucca, a detention facility in Iraq. In 2011, Obama withdrew U.S. troops from Iraq, without negotiating to leave behind residual forces that might oppose any newly formed terrorist organization. Later, when Obama was warned that the Islamic State in Iraq & Syria (ISIS) was becoming a problem, he ignored military advice to take the terrorists out early, before they became a serious menace, combatively referring to ISIS as nothing more than a "J.V. team." After ISIS did develop into a significant threat, Obama actually pledged not to harm ISIS on the ground. Were these innocent mistakes? Or was ISIS being intentionally built into the army of the Deep State, as it were, to protect terrorist-controlled oil fields — and therefore an important source of funding — for the Deep State?

Securing the ISIS Oil Fields

Mark Esper, Trump's defense secretary, has said the securing of the ISIS oil fields is a top priority: "At the height of Baghdadi's reign, these oil fields provided ISIS with the bulk of financial resources used to fund its terror. U.S. troops will remain positioned in this strategic area to deny ISIS access to those vital resources and we will respond with overwhelming military force against any group that threatens the safety of our forces there." Loss of these oil funds, as a result of al-Baghdadi's death, potentially spells the doom of ISIS while, simultaneously, striking a disabling financial blow to the entire Deep State.

Four-Dimensional Chess

So, in taking out al-Baghdadi, has President Trump succeeded in beating the Deep State in a brilliant round of 4-D chess (where the human pieces are manipulated into moving themselves)? While they were in the Middle East, were Nancy Pelosi and Adam Schiff maneuvered unawares into outing al-Baghdadi's position? President Trump is not talking, but this much is known: Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, a hero to the Deep State, is dead at 48.

Correction: Washington Post "austere religioius scholar" headline was not the first used by the newspaper, but the second.

Paul Dowling has written about the Constitution, as well as articles for American Thinker, Godfather Politics, and Eagle Rising; his blog is Conservative Notions.