Tuesday, June 21, 2016

Really? That's what you're going with?



What the government originally released:

"I pledge allegiance to [omitted] may God protect him [in Arabic], on behalf of [omitted]."

What eventually came out:

“I pledge allegiance to Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi may God protect him [in Arabic], on behalf of the Islamic State,” 

So the key question is... WHY? Why would you release a redacted version in the first place?  The intent was to protect? ISIS? Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi? 

Here is a full transcript of one of the calls:

OD: Emergency 911, this is being recorded.
OM: In the name of God the Merciful, the beneficent [Arabic]
OD: What?
OM: Praise be to God, and prayers as well as peace be upon the prophet of God [Arabic]. I wanna let you know, I’m in Orlando and I did the shootings.
OD: What’s your name?
OM: My name is I pledge of allegiance to Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi of the Islamic State.
OD: Ok, What’s your name?
OM: I pledge allegiance to Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi may God protect him [Arabic], on behalf of the Islamic State.
OD: Alright, where are you at?
OM: In Orlando.
OD: Where in Orlando?
[End of call.]
The full transcript was only released after public and political outcry.

And silly me, I always thought OCO stood for Overseas Contingency Operation when in reality it is [omitted] Contingency Operation, who'd have thought? 

This call was followed by a nine, sixteen, and a three minute call.

According to TIME:

In these calls, the shooter, who identified himself as an Islamic soldier, told the crisis negotiator that he was the person who pledged his allegiance to [omitted], and told the negotiator to tell America to stop bombing Syria and Iraq and that is why he was “out here right now.” 

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