Just published an interview with Naval War Prof Craig Whiteside about Abu Omar al-Baghdadi IS's 2nd leader after Zarqawi was killed. Abu Omar has been generally denigrated. Originally there were questions about whether he was a real person or not and after that he was called a figurehead. Turns out he had much more standing within the group and helped it survive the Surge Sahwa Awakening and started rebuilding it. Here's a link to the interview.