Camp Bucca, ISIS and US Army Concealment

Camp Bucca has been cited time and again as the training mecca for leaders of what we now know as ISIS (or ISIL). It was one of the many camps in Iraq housing detainees, many of them civilian detainees where evidence was too thin to incriminate them directly as a terrorist threat.[1]

The question of ‘who is ISIS Leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi’ (given name is Ibrahim Awad Ibrahim Al Badry) is raised when studying the timelines of Camp Bucca. Why are the dates of this elusive leader’s capture and admittance into the camp contrived? Everything from being detained for several years to not at all, to the reasons why al-Baghdadi was held, are conflicting in their nature. [2]

Recently, evidence has been released of what appears to be the official dates. Arrested in early 2004, al-Baghdadi stayed in Camp Bucca at the height of now infamous ISIS leaders passing through its doors. He was released December 8, 2004; but it was only a short stay of twelve months as a civilian detainee that was needed to groom the man now known for his quiet paranoia and unforgiving, almost Mafioso nature.

The newly declassified military documents shed little light on the detention of the feared ISIS leader, but the phrase ‘civilian detainee’ infers that at that time he was not a member of an organized militia. From an administrative assistant in 2003 to organizer and leader of ISIS, the rise in ranks is an impressive one. One that until a Freedom of Information Act was filed, the U.S. military withheld the information from public scrutiny. Army Corrections Command cites classification reasons for the redacted information on the files. [3]

Al-Baghdadi is a key player in ISIS and is arguably considered to be the one who ‘rebirthed’ ISIS[4] as it is known today. One of his mentors, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the founder of al-Qaeda in Iraq as well as a Camp Bucca detainee, was also a key player until his death. The question remains, why is the US so unyielding in their covering up of as much information about these players, particularly al-Baghdadi, as possible? Why was a percentage of the released information redacted? Administrative assistant to ISIS leader in less than twelve months of exposure to Camp Bucca, for a man apparently renowned for his quiet nature and unremarkable past.

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[1] Watcher, Anon. (2015, February 11). “If there was no American Prison in Iraq, there would be no IS now.” Retrieved from “If There Was No American Prison in Iraq, There Would Be No IS Now.” AnonHQ

[2] Di Giovanni, J. (2014, December 8). Who is ISIS Leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi? [Newsweek].Retrieved from http://www.newsweek.com/2014/12/19/who-isis-leader-abu-bakr-al-baghdadi-290081.html

[3] Walker, H. (2015, February 19). Here is the Army’s declassified Iraq prison file on the leader of ISIS. [Business Insider Australia]. Retrieved from http://www.businessinsider.com.au/abu-bakr-al-baghdadi-declassified-iraq-prison-file-2015-2

[4] Weiss, M., & Hassan, H. (2014). ISIS: Inside the Army of Terror. Chapter 8 -11. Regan Arts: New York.