What we know about the military dog injured in the al-Baghdadi raid
By Benjamin Siu Oct 29, 2019
It played one of the most crucial roles in a top-secret U.S. military operation in Syria on Sunday, racing through an underground tunnel and cornering one of the world's most sought-after terrorists faster than any human or robot could.
It's a dog -- a Belgian Malinois, to be exact -- and although top brass is withholding its name, it's being hailed as a hero in the operation that ultimately resulted in the Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi's death.
President Donald Trump, in a hastily-arranged address to the nation on Sunday, called it "a dog, a beautiful dog, a talented dog," and -- though it sustained injuries of its own -- he gave it credit for ensuring that the dozens of operators on the ground completed the two-hour mission unscathed. The president tweeted a declassified photo of the dog on Monday afternoon.
"We had nobody even hurt and that's why the dog was so great," Trump said.
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| President Donald Trump posted a photo saying this is the dog that was involved in the capturing and killing of ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, Oct. 28, 2019. Courtesy of ABC |
According to Trump, the dog was injured when al-Baghdadi detonated a suicide vest, killing himself, three children and causing the dead-end tunnel they occupied to collapse.
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| An aerial view taken on on October 27, 2019, shows the site that was hit by helicopter gunfire which reportedly killed nine people near the northwestern Syrian village of Barisha in the Idlib province along the border with Turkey. Courtesy of ABC. |
Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told reporters at a Pentagon briefing Monday that the dog was "slightly wounded and fully recovering," and explained that because it was returned to duty as part of a classified military unit, he would not be disclosing its identity.
And then he, too, praised the canine.
"The dog, the canine, the military working dog performed a tremendous service, as they all do in a variety of situations," Milley said.
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| Defense Secretary Mark Esper (L) and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley hold a news conference at the Pentagon on Oct. 28, 2019, the day after it was announced that Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi was killed in a U.S. raid in Syria. Courtesy of ABC |
Mark Hertling, a retired Army general, outlined on Twitter the security rationale for keeping the dog's name under wraps: knowing its name threatens the anonymity, and therefore the safety, of its handler and the military unit they're both attached to.
A senior administration official confirmed to ABC News on Monday that, though a formal invitation has yet to be extended, Trump wants the hero dog to visit the White House. The New York Times first reported this detail.
What is unclear, however, is how the president will receive the dog -- if it shows up.
The Trumps are the only first family in modern times to not have any pets at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. And the president, during a February rally in El Paso, Texas, said of having a dog, "I don't know. Feels a little phoney, phoney to me. A lot of people say, ‘Oh, you should get a dog,’ ‘Why?’ ‘It’s good politically.’ I said, ‘Look, that’s not the relationship I have with my people.'"
Working dogs are used in a variety of tactical situations at home and abroad, trained from a young age to complete oftentimes dangerous tasks, including sniffing out contraband and explosives, tracking missing persons and -- as was the case Sunday -- chasing enemy personnel.
David Petraeus, the former CIA director and retired Army general, told ABC News in 2011 that, "by all measures of performance," military working dogs outperform "any asset we have in our industry."
"The capability they [the dogs] bring to the fight cannot be replicated by man or machine," he said at the time. The dog used in the al-Baghdadi raid is not the first to have been involved in a high-profile terrorist operation, nor was it the first Belgian Malinois.
In 2011, Cairo -- a Belgian Malinois attached to Navy SEAL Team 6 -- was credited with helping the elite team find and kill al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden.
ABC News' Luis Martinez and Jordyn Phelps contributed to this report.
- ABC News
- https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/military-dog-injured-al-baghdadi-raid/story?id=66592479&cid=social_twitter_abcn
Donald Trump releases photo of military dog injured in al-Baghdadi raid
ReplyDeleteUS President Donald Trump on Monday shared a picture of the "wonderful" US military dog that was wounded during the daring operation on Islamic State (ISIS) chief Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi in Syria. However, the name of the dog was not revealed.
October 29, 2019
US President Donald Trump on Monday shared a picture of the "wonderful" US military dog that was wounded during the daring operation on Islamic State (ISIS) chief Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi in Syria. However, the name of the dog was not revealed.
"We have declassified a picture of the wonderful dog (name not declassified) that did such a GREAT JOB in capturing and killing the Leader of ISIS, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi!" Donald Trump tweeted.
Earlier, a Washington Post journalist Dan Lamothe confirmed from a source that the wounded dog is doing fine and said that the name of the canine is not 'Classified' but is classified.
"US official confirms that the working dog wounded in the Baghdadi raid is ok. I said, what's the dog's name? Source said, it's classified. I said, really? Source said, yes," Dan Lamothe tweeted.
"Confirmed with a second source: As of this morning, at least, the dog's name is classified. Mind you, the dog's name is not 'Classified.' But it's classified," the scribe said in a follow-up tweet.
Pentagon officials said on Monday that the dog is "fully recovering".
The K-9, which officials declined to identify, accompanied the US special forces during the raid and played an instrumental role in locating and tracking al-Baghdadi at his compound in Syria's Idlib province.
During the operation, the ISIS leader was ultimately killed, along with his wife and three children, The Washington Times reported.
K-9 chased al-Baghdadi through a tunnel at his compound, following which the terrorist killed himself by detonating a suicide vest. The nature of the dog's injury was not revealed, but officials underlined that the canine played a key role in the success of the secret mission.
"The dog is still in theatre. The dog, the K-9, the military working dog, performed a tremendous service as they all do in a variety of situations. (It is) slightly wounded and fully recovering. But the dog is still in theatre (and) returned to duty with its handler," Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Mark Milley told reporters here.
On Sunday, Donald Trump while confirming al-Baghdadi's death, said that the ISIS chief had "died like a dog" and "died like a coward" in the operation conducted by US forces in Syria.
Donald Trump also spoke about the canine, saying a "beautiful dog" was injured during the operation, according to The Washington Post.
Al-Baghdadi, the most notorious ISIS leader, had been in hiding for the last five years. The US had earlier announced a reward of USD 25 million for information leading to the terrorist's death or arrest.
- India Today
- https://www.indiatoday.in/world/story/colonel-testifies-he-raised-concerns-about-ukraine-trump-1613930-2019-10-30