FBI Uncovers ISIS Plot To Assassinate Former President George W. Bush

According to an arrest affidavit, Shihab told two confidential FBI informants he had plans to smuggle people into the United States to help carry out the assassination of Bush. One of the FBI informants was someone pretending to be a human smuggler and another was pretending to be a fellow customer, the document said.

In August 2021, Shihab allegedly intended to help who he thought was another Iraqi citizen enter the country for a fee of $40,000. According to authorities, the individual was the second informant and the interaction was coordinated under the direction of the FBI.

Shihab – who lived and worked in both Indianapolis, Indiana, and Columbus, Ohio – told one of the FBI informants in November of 2021 that he and four additional Iraqi nationals were planning to kill the former president. Shihab asked the confidential informant whether or not they thought four to six people would be enough to kill former President Bush.

According to the affidavit, the suspect “felt the former president was responsible for killing many Iraqis and breaking apart the country after the 2003 U.S. military invasion.”

Shihab traveled to Dallas in February 2022 to take video of Bush’s home and around his property, according to the affidavit.

The document said Shihab told the FBI informant he wanted to send the videos taken of Bush’s home and office to two former Iraqi intelligence officers who were part of the group wanting to execute the assassination. According to the affidavit, Shihab said the two intelligence officers would be the ones to “carry out the assassination of former President Bush.”

The document also stated that Shihab took video around the George W. Bush Institute near the Southern Methodist University campus.