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THREAD: Key points from Baghdadi appearance:
casual show of new "wilayah" (branch, province) of Turkey
Important setting: he's hosting IS officials in his diwan (court) & discussing affairs of the caliphate & its constituents. As caliph, he can't be seen on the run & secretly filming a msg, so they create this scene to indicate he's still strong & able to attend to Cal matters
The scene of him going through files showing the various IS branches and discussing them with the seemingly top IS officials sitting with him is also meant to indicate he's not only alive, but playing an active role in the "caliphate" and its affairs
The audio of him hailing the #SriLankaTerrorAttacks and their perpetrators adds that they were carried out "in revenge for their [attackers'] brothers in Baghuz". The initial IS claim had made no ref to Baghuz, the last foothold in Syria IS lost in Mar
This is in line with the group's claims of attacks in various parts of the world in April in which the group said were part of its campaign to avenge Baghuz.
Congratulates new IS joiners - ref to pledges of allegiance offered to IS recently. Names Burkina Faso, Mali and hails "our brother Abu al-Walid al-Sahrawi", implying/confirming he's IS's man in that region. Urges them to intensify attacks esp against French, and stay united
Mentions pledges of allegiance from "Khorasan", but doesn't name or specify from where. Seems to indicate they came from members of existing local groups.
Mentions protests in Algeria and Sudan and the toppling of their leaders, but warns protesters that their efforts are futile as they will fail to uproot the regimes; tells them jihad is the only solution
Urges IS militants to prepare for a long war, "a war of attrition" that will drain the enemy (not different from al-Qaeda's strategy from a long time ago). Rationalises/ justifies territorial losses by saying “God ordered us to do jihad. He did not order us to achieve victory"
A big part of the address is dedicated to Baghuz which al-Baghdadi said showed "wonderful" examples of bravery and steadfastness. There is a lot of focus on this word "steadfastness" in his speech, and IS has been using it extensively in its propaganda in recent months
Baghdadi pays tribute to commanders, soldiers and residents of Baghuz who showed resilience. He names many key people, including the string of IS chiefs (emirs) in Baghuz who were from KSA, Iraq and Sinai, judging from their noms de guerre.
Pays tribute to slain media operatives in Baghuz, naming some foreign ones, such as “Abu Abdallah al-Usturali, Khallad al-Qahtani from Saudi Arabia, Abu Jihad al-Shishani and Abu Anas [Fabien Clain] al-Faransi and his brother Abu Uthman"
Commends the various IS wilayaht, saying they rallied to take revenge for Baghuz,claiming the revenge campaign resulted in 92 ops in 8 countries. He said the response indicated the unity of IS branches worldwide. IS had attributed a flurry of attacks in Apr to a revenge campaign
Baghdadi's appearance is bound to boost the morale of IS militants and supporters, especially that he was made to appear strong, healthy, defiant, and confident of IS's strength in the current and coming phase.
Judging from his weight, Baghdadi doesn’t seem to have suffered the starvation and “suffocating embargo” he said his followers experienced in Baghuz! #fatcat
Very unlike IS to publicly name key members of the group, but clearly wants to make a point to credit those who perished in Baghuz
