1. A big development from the battlefield in Syria: Coalition forces have captured an American man suspected of having fought for ISIS. His name is Ibraheem Musaibli, a 28-year-old from Michigan and we are the first to break this news: nytimes.com/2018/07/19/wor…
2. Only a few dozen Americans made it all the way to Syria to join the jihad. @SeamusHughes's database at @gwupoe has counted 71, a third of whom have died. Only a handful of the men have been captured alive on the battlefield - Musaibli is only the second to be arrested in Syria
3. Musaibli, who was born in Dearborn, Michigan, and dropped out of high school to help his father run a perfume shop, is believed to have traveled to Syria circa 2015. The government will be transporting him back to he US to face charges
4. Musaibli is a test case of sorts for the US government. The last time an American was captured on the battlefield last September, the government was not able to pursue charges him after determining that the evidence they had would likely not be admissible in court.
5. As I learned during the reporting for Caliphate, it's surprisingly hard to press charges against suspected members of ISIS who made it to the war zone. Much of the evidence available to prosecutors is not up to the standards of Western courtrooms: nytimes.com/interactive/20…
