Why Jordan's Badass King Plans To Destroy ISIS
Jordan’s King Abdullah II is not taking the grisly video of a Jordanian pilot being burned alive by ISIS militants lightly.
The king vowed a relentless war and an "earth-shaking response" against the Islamic State in the wake of a video released by the terror group that shows the execution of 26-year-old Lt. Muath al-Kaseasbeth, a Jordanian air force pilot who was taken hostage after his plane crashed.
The same day the video was released, Jordan executed two ISIS jihadists, one a female suicide bomber.
But, the country’s swift response did not stop there.
On Wednesday, the Jordanian army confirmed airstrikes against the Islamic State would begin, but did not specify which regions might be targeted. Thursday morning, airstrikes took place in Syria against the group.
According to local Jordan TV reports, the jets conducting those airstrikes flew over Lt. Muath al-Kaseasbeth’s town, where his wife and family members live, when returning to their base.
Dubbed the “warrior king,” Jordan’s leader even took to social media to express his plans to crush the organization responsible for a slew of terror attacks and recent execution videos of journalists and military personnel from all over the world.
The official Facebook page of The Royal Hashemite Court published a pic of the King in full military garb. Apparently, the King has 35 years of military service under his belt and is not happy with the way ISIS is treating its prisoners.
The most recent video of one of his military’s pilots was just the straw that broke the King’s back.
His most badass response yet? If you can’t already tell, King Abdullah doesn’t appear to be the type to fight his battles from behind a computer screen.
The infuriated king sat down in a private meeting with US lawmakers shortly after news broke of ISIS’ execution video. He wanted to express his immense anger to the group, and how else does one go about expressing his feelings than by citing Clint Eastwood? That’s right. Clint Eastwood.
The Washington Examiner shared this quote from a US congressmen who was in the meeting. Rep. Duncan Hunter Jr., a Marine corps veteran of two tours in Iraq and one in Afghanistan, recalled about the King:
He said there is going to be retribution like ISIS hasn’t seen. He mentioned "Unforgiven" and he mentioned Clint Eastwood, and he actually quoted a part of the movie.
Although the congressman did not say exactly what lines the King chose to recite in what was probably one of the most epic monologues ever made, I’d like to think it is from a particular scene in which Eastwood’s character, William Munny, says,
“Any man I see out there, I’m gonna kill him. Any son of a bitch takes a shot at me, I’m not only going to kill him, I’m going to kill his wife and all his friends and burn his damn house down.”
Now, the fear of joining anti-ISIS missions has dissipated in Jordan, and the country is seeking revenge against the terror group as it mourns the loss of Lt. Muath al-Kaseasbeth.
The country’s leader is gearing up for a war he says will not stop “until we run out of fuel and bullets,” and many other international leaders are joining the fight against the Islamic State.
King Abdullah II could very well bring the dedication, resilience and badassness that will be needed to eradicate the Islamic State.
