Baghdadi generated an international "bogeyman" image, by rare media appearances coupled with Daesh’s terrifying media campaign. But, to many Iraqis, he was merely a U.S. stooge.
Throughout the battle against Daesh and even after the group was declared defeated in Iraq, military commanders routinely answered the question: "Where is Baghdadi?" with the simple answer: "Ask America."
Special Forces second lieutenant Hassan, 28, who the Middle East Eye first met during a January 2017 advance against Daesh through the "Mosul Jungle," a riverside playground nestled in a wooded area of the city, was ambivalent about Baghdadi's death.
"I'm not happy or sad about this news. It's not important," he told MEE. Many of his comrades fell during Iraq's battle against Daesh. Among those, 18 were close friends. He softly listed off the names of his slain friends, pausing sadly at Ali, the popular chef in his unit and a talented singer.
"Yes, they died because of him, but actually Baghdadi was just a frontman, like a picture. He was one Iraqi man, but behind him was something much bigger. When you see the massive reach of Daesh and what it achieved, it's impossible that this was the work of one man, or even one country. Many countries were involved in creating IS."
Hassan said many Iraqis viewed Baghdadi - who spent 10 months in U.S.-run detention centers in Abu Ghraib and Camp Bucca in 2004 - as an American stooge.
"Look at where he was before. Baghdadi was probably working for America. Of course, we don't know for sure, but that's what most Iraqis believe," he said. "There's a lot we don't know, and maybe Baghdadi is not even dead."
Fake News to Give Trump a Boost?
"I don't believe he is dead, and I hope one day that I will kill Baghdadi myself, with my own hands," said Muslim Amerli, the commander of Sayyed Shorhadat Brigade, a Turkmen unit in the Hashd al-Sha’abi, who led a successful defense of his Shia Turkmen town, besieged by Daesh for 89 days.
Amerli's brother, a widely respected member of the community, was killed in the battle. Amerli has remained active in the battle against Daesh, even single-handedly hunting down Daesh remnants in the Iraqi desert.
Fellow Turkman, Jawdat Assaf, described the news as "a piece of theatre" staged by the Americans and designed to boost U.S. President Donald Trump's popularity before next year's elections.
Baghdadi's death is a much-needed media boost for America, after its recent troop withdrawal from Syria was widely reported as a cruel abandonment of Syria's Kurds, with whom U.S. forces had been allied for years.  
The "fake news' sentiment was echoed in other former Daesh strongholds. At its height, Daesh controlled almost one-third of Iraq's territory and, from its Mosul capital, ran a reign of terror across swathes of Iraq and Syria, controlling several "satellite states," including in Libya, and orchestrating global terror attacks.
"Some Libyans, especially those not personally affected by Daesh, still doubt it's true,” said Libyan oil worker Fadiel, 46, who was displaced from his home near Sirte by Daesh in 2016. "Others say it's all a U.S. conspiracy - that the Americans promoted (Osama) bin Laden, then killed him and promoted Baghdadi, then killed him."