Hats off to U.S. intelligence and special forces for a successful mission. Analysts are praising the military effort in Syria that ended the life of a notorious terrorist, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. According to reports, the founder of the ISIS caliphate blew himself up just before he was about to be captured.
Donald Trump knew this was a big deal, but instead of giving credit where credit was due, he instead forced the spotlight off those who deserved it and onto himself. It was embarrassing, cringe-worthy, and laughable.
For example, in his White House appearance, Trump said the raid to get Osama bin Laden, the architect of 9/11, was big. But the raid to get al-Baghdadi was “bigger.”
In his remarks, he first thanked the Russians for their assistance in the operation.
Trump also erroneously stated that he had predicted bin Laden’s attack on the World Trade Center in a book he wrote before 9/11. The Associated Press notes this is a lie.
“But the book, with only a passing mention of bin Laden, did not do more than point to the al-Qaida leader as one of many threats to U.S. security. Trump’s book, “The America We Deserve,” came out more than 1½ years before al-Qaida’s deadly attack on the U.S. on Sept. 11, 2001, not just before.“
Then there was the photo that was released by the White House showing Trump and his defense team watching the raid go down. One problem. Trump was on the golf course when the raid happened.
It’s also notable that no House member, including the Speaker, was notified of the raid in advance. Trump implied that Nancy Pelosi can’t be trusted with military secrets.
