ISIS fighter trained by the United States. Is this as big a deal as the report suggests?

This is typical media scare propaganda. So he knows how to "plan counter-terrorism operations". So does every ISOF, Peshmerga and Afghan Kandak commander, and every military commander any US Force has trained within the last 15 years. Like anything else, just because you are trained in something doesn't make you an expert.

He shot a tomato at 25 yards through a scope. While that is impressive for an ISIS Sniper, it hardly makes him elite. Did you notice his barrel resting on a support while he was posing for the camera? Dead give away he doesn't know much about barrel harmonics. Nobody I know, sniper trained or not, would pose that way.

The most accurate portion of the report is at the end when they talk about him speaking Russian. Clearly this video is intended to be used as propaganda in the recruitment of radicalized Muslims across all the former "stans" that were part of the USSR.

A drone strike or a visit by some DEVGRU fellas tells me that no, this isn't a tectonic shift.

Yes, because this individual is using his training against us.