Special to WorldTribune.com

Rowan Scarborough, Washington Times

The U.S. held him captive for a time in 2004 before an unconditional release put him back into Iraq’s growing Sunni insurgency. …

The elusive al-Baghdadi, known then by his nom de guerre, Abu Du’a, would go on to become the most dominant figure in today’s radical Islamic movement.

A Sunni mullah who is in his early 40s and reportedly hails from Fallujah or Samarra, al-Baghdadi commands his own terrorist army and controls much of Iraq north and west of the capital, Baghdad, as well as a smattering of towns in Syria. He also has declared the establishment of a new country — the Islamic State.

Some suggest he is the next Osama bin Laden but with his own expeditionary land force. Last week, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel upped the ante on a possible war against the Islamic State by calling it an imminent threat to the United States.

“He’s a hard-core jihadist,” said retired Army Lt. Gen. William Boykin, who was the Pentagon’s No. 2 intelligence official. “He has been able to appeal to those who have felt that Al Qaida was on the ropes after the killing of bin Laden, and he was able to step in and bring back the pride and the determination of those who really were hard-core jihadists. As a result, he’s been able to build a strong network of pretty evil people.”

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  Al Qaida, ISIL, ISIL leader al-Baghdadi was a U.S. captive in 2004, LIFE, WorldTribune.com