ISIS was plotting to assassinate George W. Bush: Forbes

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An FBI search-warrant application that was filed on March 23 and unsealed this week in the Southern District of Ohio revealed that "an alleged ISIS operative in the U.S. was plotting to kill George W. Bush," Forbes reported.

The alleged operative, who had traveled to Dallas in November and took videos of former US President George W. Bush's residence - wanted to smuggle several people into the US from the Mexican border, the FBI indicated.

According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the plan was revealed with the help of two confidential informants and through surveilling the alleged ISIS operative's WhatsApp account.

Based in Columbus, Ohio, the operative - who had been in the US since 2020 - pointed out that he wanted to kill Bush, who was in office from 2001 to 2009, "because he felt the former president was responsible for killing many Iraqis and breaking apart the country after the 2003 U.S. military invasion," Forbes mentioned, citing the search-warrant application.

Investigators also mentioned that the plotter was planning to assassinate a former Iraqi general who helped the US during the invasion of Iraq.

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"Federal agents used two different confidential sources to investigate the plot, one who claimed to offer assistance obtaining false immigration and identification documents, the second a purported customer of the alleged people smuggler, who was willing to pay thousands of dollars to bring his family into the country," the magazine indicated.

According to the FBI warrant, the alleged ISIS operative said he belonged to a unit called “Al-Raed” (Thunder), which was led by a former Iraqi pilot for former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.

The warrant also revealed that as many as seven members of the group would be sent to kill Bush, as the suspect’s job was “to locate and conduct surveillance on former president Bush’s residences and/or offices and obtain firearms and vehicles to use in the assassination.”

Talking with a confidential FBI source, the suspect mentioned that he wanted to smuggle four Iraqis located in Iraq, Turkey, Egypt, and Denmark into the US, claiming that one of them was “the secretary of an ISIS financial minister,” the Federal Bureau of Investigation said.

According to the FBI, the suspect claimed that the four men were “former Baath Party members in Iraq who did not agree with the current Iraqi government and were political exiles,” adding that he wanted to charge $15,000 each.

The warrant revealed that the suspect asked the FBI insider in November 2021 whether it was possible to smuggle the plotters out of the US once their mission was done.

It is noteworthy that the Baath Party was former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein's political organization.

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Spying via mobile location & WhatsApp

Forbes mentioned that "while the suspect seemed convinced his WhatsApp account was secure, he was unaware that investigators could see every message sent to the confidential sources. Nor was he aware that starting in October he was using a phone that he was given by the informant at the FBI’s request."

The magazine said the FBI received permission to acquire mobile location information from telecommunications company AT&T and used a “pen register” on the suspect's WhatsApp account to surveil his communication.

The FBI informant pointed out that the ISIS operative was a member of Baath and ISIS chat groups on WhatsApp, adding that the suspect claimed to have “been in recent communications with a friend in Qatar who was a former minister in Iraq under Saddam Hussein who had access to large quantities of money."

According to the FBI warrant, the ISIS operative said he had killed many US soldiers in Iraq between 2003-2006, "packing vehicles with explosives and detonating them when U.S. soldiers were near," Forbes reported.