King Abdullah II of Jordan personally led bombings against ISIS, people said – and although that rumor is untrue, these photos show how a modern-day King with special-forces training kicks ISIS where it hurts.
King Abdullah cut short his visit with Obama in the U.S. to return to Jordan after ISIS released a video showing Jordanian pilot Muath Al Kasasbeh being burned alive in a cage.
Just how will Jordan’s King deal with ISIS?
Abdullah II promises that the war against ISIS will be “relentless,” and the murdered pilot’s father says Jordan will “annihilate” them.
Abdullah II quoted Clint Eastwood’s character from the movie “Unforgiven,” where the character says, “Any man I see out there, I'm gonna kill him. Any son of a bitch takes a shot at me, I'm not only going to kill him, I'm going to kill his wife and all his friends and burn his damn house down," Rep. Hunter (R-Calif.) told The Washington Examiner.
“There is going to be retribution like ISIS hasn't seen," said the angry King. 'The only problem we're going to have is running out of fuel and bullets.'"
'For you, the enemies of Islam'
This isn’t just talk from the Jordanian King – he had F-16s launch 20 airstrikes against the Islamic State to revenge their brutal killing of al-Kasabe. A sortie flew over al-Kasabe’s village of Aya in tribute to their slain brother-in-arms.
The King went to Aya and met with al-Kasabe’s father, who said to Abdullah, “You are a wise monarch. These criminals violated the rules of war in Islam and they have no humanity. Even humanity disowns them.”
ISIS, renowned for their recruiting savvy, is no match for Jordan on the social media front. To accompany their waves of retaliatory bombing, Jordan released this slickly-edited video.
“For you, the enemies of Islam,” the Jordanian people write on the bombs.
Warrior King
Abdullah spent most of his life thinking he would be a special-forces commander, and “the military milieu is one in which the King is most comfortable,” said David Schenker, former adviser to Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and director of the Arab politics program at The Washington Institute. Abdullah's time training with the special-forces proved especially valuable when he became King, when he made it a priority to make Jordan’s 14,000 strong special-forces unit one of the most effective fighting and intelligence forces in the region.
Jordan’s 100,000 strong army is one “of the best militaries in the world,” said Jon Alterman, director of the Center for Strategic and International Studies’ Middle East Program to FOX, and that is due to King Abdullah’s efforts.
Jordan’s king doesn’t lead “from the back of chauffeured cars” either, added Alterman. “He did that from Black Hawk helicopters and command posts at the site of terrorist raids.”
A certified Cobra Attack Helicopter pilot, he’d “rather be jumping out of airplanes than meeting in Davos with the rich and powerful," said David Schenker, former adviser to Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and director of the Arab politics program at The Washington Institute.
“We are waging this war to protect our faith, our values and human principles, and our war for [the slain’s] sake will be relentless and will hit them in their own ground,” he promised on State TV.
He sounds like just the man to take on ISIS.