World Net Daily ... This week President Donald Trump met with Special Forces soldiers involved in the Oct. 26 raid in Idlib, Syria, ending the terror reign of ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. Also present was their dog, Conan, wounded while chasing the murderous terrorist into a dead-end tunnel. Not wishing to disclose identities of raid participants, Trump met with them privately.

 

One other person deserving recognition for the raid's success will never receive it as his identity must also be protected. He is the spy from within Baghdadi's security circle who made it all happen.

 

People are driven by different motivators to achieve extraordinary goals in life. Whether that goal is positive or negative, its achievement is particularly challenging when the consequence of failure is brutal death.

 

Critical to the raid's success was a spy determined to see Baghdadi's demise. Knowing he risked tortuous death, what then motivated him to risk it by walking into the lion's den?

 

For some, greed is a motivator. And, undoubtedly, the U.S. government's offer of a $25 million reward for information leading to the capture or killing of Baghdadi was enticing.

 

Historically, greed has long served as a trigger for betrayal due to a leader's error in judgment by allowing one access to his inner circle – a decision that later proves deadly.

 

Religious scholars tell us about Judas – a disciple of Jesus – who proved willing to betray the Son of God for 30 pieces of silver. Scholars of history tell us the 480 B.C. story about Thermopylae in ancient Greece where 300 Spartan warriors, vastly outnumbered by the Persian army, held it at bay in a mountain pass, only to have greed motivate a Greek traitor to reveal a secret pass, betraying the defenders. In more recent times, monetary greed has provided motivation for some of America's most damaging national security spies, like John A. Walker, Robert Hanssen and Aldrich Ames.

 

Obviously, for the Baghdadi spy, the negatives of getting caught and means of execution he would suffer clearly outweighed the positives of a $25 million payday – a reward to which he most deservingly is now entitled to and will probably receive. However, money was not his motivation.

 

With the help of a Kurdish commander, Gen. Mazloum Abdi, the spy had somehow been placed, months earlier, within Baghdadi's inner security circle.

 

Abdi explained, "Baghdadi took his security precautions to the highest level. He never used high-tech communications at all. Any place he was in a communications blackout, with the exception of those who were directly responsible for his security – and that was a small group of people. His direct family, the children, his relatives, his siblings, they all formed a tight ring around him. The ISIS leader only allowed a small group of outsiders to meet him. One of them was the spy."

 

Despite developing a trusting five-month relationship with Baghdadi, the spy, as a "newbie" to the circle, submitted to safety precautions they implemented to limit what he was permitted to see. Operating in northern Syria, the spy became responsible for "securing the places where Baghdadi would later hide."

 

When taken to these various locations, the spy was transported by car and instructed not to look around. As the vehicle neared a hideout, he was blindfolded and required to lay prone. But before being blindfolded, he paid keen attention to what he could see; after being blindfolded, he was left to his sense of sound to collect clues as to where they might be. Upon arrival at a location, he memorized everything he could about the layout of the safehouse, its security measures, tunnels, etc. He even gathered samples of Baghdadi's clothes and blood for later DNA analysis to identify his body.

 

On the day of the raid, the spy was already at the safehouse in question. As U.S. forces swarmed the compound, he followed Baghdadi as he embarked upon what would be the last leg of his journey in this life. He watched the ISIS leader enter the dead-end tunnel where he then detonated an explosive device, killing himself and three children. U.S. forces, collecting some of the terrorist's body parts, were able to conduct a DNA test within 15 minutes. Their mission complete, they then rushed the spy off to safety.

 

The spy's motivation was revenge. As Abdi explained, the spy had many relatives within ISIS who had been subjected to very harsh treatment. In a culture where revenge and saving family honor is all-important, the spy was under pressure from his family to avenge what had happened to them.

No longer believing in the ISIS leader, the spy came out from the ISIS fold to get Baghdadi.

 

Abdi heaped praise upon the spy. Until the spy's report on Baghdadi's location, it was believed the terrorist would not allow himself to be cornered in Idlib. Abdi said the Americans were surprised to learn the ISIS leader had been there since April. With confirmation of Baghdadi's location, raid planning was immediately undertaken. 

Abdi was amazed how the spy, despite never having observed the actual route to the safehouse in question, still was able to pinpoint its location.

 

In the Bible, King Darius thrust Daniel into the lions' den for breaking a law making it illegal to pray to God. Later, checking on Daniel's fate, the king was astonished to find him still alive as God had kept the lions at bay. Due to his faith, Daniel knew his fate. However, the spy entering Baghdadi's den did not. 

Armed with but a shield of vengeance, he became Baghdadi's Achilles' heel. Family honor imbued him with phenomenal recall and tremendous courage, allowing him to bring an explosive end to an ISIS demon's evil reign.