Pretty much every American adult knows who Osama bin Laden was and could point him out in a picture. Very few are familiar with the name Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi and have any idea what he looks like. The reality is that he’s a much bigger threat than bin Laden ever was.
The reason that Americans don’t know about him yet is simple. He hasn’t directly attacked America the way that bin Laden and al Qaeda did on September 11, 2001. However, his presence worldwide and his influence in the Middle East through the Islamic State has caused much more death and destruction than anything bin Laden was able to initiate.
There’s a big difference between bin Laden and al-Baghdadi. While bin Laden was a spiritual and military leader, he wasn’t truly revered by his agents. They loved and protected him most did not think that he was anything other than their leader. The Islamic State follows al-Badhdadi as the caliph, the chosen spiritual and temporal leader of the growing Muslim empire.
Osama bin Laden was a leader and his death was felt throughout Islamic extremist organizations. Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi is more than a leader. He’s allegedly a direct descendant of Muhammed. He ascended to lead the Islamic State against the wishes of bin Laden, a minor note to the western world but an important difference to his followers. They have grown to view bin Laden as a failed leader who was not able to deliver the rise of Islam that he promised. The Islamic State leader, however, is delivering in their eyes.
America put a ton of money and resources towards finding and killing bin Laden. The same money and resources must be put into stopping al-Baghdadi, preferably to capture rather than kill him. He is emboldening the Islamic State. They believe in him in ways that al Qaeda never quite believed in bin Laden. Looking at their pedigree, bin Laden was a rich boy exposed to western culture while al-Baghdadi was a a poor and pious child who worked his way up through the ranks.
Taking out al-Baghdadi will have an immediate effect on the Middle East. It will shake the faith of many in the Islamic State, particularly those who are involved because of the prophetic holy war spoken of in the Koran. Unlike killing bin Laden which was symbolic, taking out al-Baghdadi will be substantive.
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