Jordan's King Abdullah, like his subjects, is rightly furious that ISIS executed a Jordanian pilot by burning him alive last month. According to some reports, his retaliation might just get personal. As the Daily Caller points out:
Jordan’s King Abdullah ibn al-Hussein, who has trained as a pilot, may fly a bomber himself on Thursday in the country’s retaliation against the ISIS.
Several Arabic-language newspapers reported late Wednesday that the monarch would personally participate in bombing raids on the terrorist group, citing his vow Tuesday to “strike them in their strongholds.”
The king was in Washington when news broke Tuesday of pilot Muadh al-Kasasbeh’s demise at the hands of ISIS extremists. Meeting with the House Armed Services Committee shortly before leaving for Amman, he reportedly quoted the Clint Eastwood’s film “Unforgiven” and said that Jordan would pursue the jihadis until it ran “out of fuel and bullets.”Nowadays, heads of state don't normally go into combat, but there was a time when kings, emperors and pharoahs commonly led their military forces into battle. I only regret that I don't know how to say "Give 'em one for me" in Arabic. Read the story at the two links above.
UPDATE: From Al Arabiya, the Jordanian air force conducts air strikes against ISIS, reported by Iraqi media to have killed 55 of their fighters, including a commander known as the "Prince of Nineveh". Whether King Abdullah was involved in this specific operation has not been indicated.
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