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Rukmini Callimachi on Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi’s Death and ISIS | October 28, 2019

Rukmini Callimachi; Frank Luntz & Elizabeth Holtzman; Aarti Shahani

www.pbs.org

• After each of its leaders was killed, ISIS grew larger.
• Pentagon: There are “between 14,000 and 18,000 fighters between Syria and Iraq”

We defeated 100% of the ISIS Caliphate and no longer have any troops in the area under attack by Turkey, in Syria. We did our job perfectly! Now Turkey is attacking the Kurds, who have been fighting each other for 200 years....

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 10, 2019

Some context: ISIS operates in West Africa, Libya, Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula, Afghanistan and the Philippines, and has followers in Europe and elsewhere. That in addition to, according to a report issued by the Pentagon’s Inspector General in August, between 14,000 and 18,000 fighters between Syria and Iraq.

— CNN

So, we sort of started by asking a question, does this actually decapitate this movement, this terrorist organization or does it pave the way for some kind of, you know, resumption of an underground insurgent, movement that is nonetheless lethal and that can continue without their leaders?

Look, on the one hand, I don’t want to minimize what has happened. I think that this is a very big deal for ISIS. It is a very big blow to them and I would consider the death of Baghdadi to be the biggest news in terms of the death of a terror leader since the death of bin Laden.

I think you will have the same style of ramifications for ISIS.

But that said, ISIS has now — this is a group that implanted itself in Iraq after the American-led invasion. And since 2003, 2004, they have now gone through three leaders. And with each — with the decapitation of each leader, what we have seen is that the group reconstituted itself and, in fact, grew ever stronger.

In 2011, when U.S. forces were pulling out of Iraq, this is a group believed to have less than 700 fighters. Now, today, after the loss of all of its territory in Iraq and Syria, after all of the air strikes, after the ground troops, after the artillery fire, after the war that we have seen for the past five years, the Pentagon estimates that the group, just in Iraq and Syria, still has 18,000 members. 18,000. So, more than 18 times what they had in 2011. That gives you a sense, I think, of the scope of this group.

• Iraqi president: It's reckless to think defeat of ISIS is complete, Axios
• French Armed Forces Minister: "Early retirement for a terrorist, but not for his organization", CNN
• Baghdadi Is Dead, but ISIS Remains Emboldened Since Trump’s Drawdown, Foreign Policy

The 41 most shocking lines from Donald Trump's Baghdadi announcement

On Sunday morning, President Donald Trump announced that ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi had died as a result of a US raid in northern Syria. And then he kept talking. And taking questions. And more questions.

www.cnn.com|Analysis by Chris Cillizza, CNN Editor-at-large

• “Stable Genius” Trump’s words incite more violence against Americans.
• Republicans, terrorists will be repeating Trump’s words after they’ve killed members of the U.S. Armed Forces and American citizens.

5. "Baghdadi was vicious and violent. And he died in a vicious and violent way, as a coward, running and crying."

6. "He died like a dog. He died like a coward."

8. "Russia treated us great. They opened up. We had a fly over certain Russia areas, Russia-held areas. Russia was great."

13. "You know, they use the internet better than almost anybody in the world, perhaps other than Donald Trump." 

14. "And what they've done with the internet through recruiting and everything -- and that's why he died like a dog, he died like a coward. He was whimpering, screaming and crying."

19. "That was to notify you guys that you have something big this morning, so you wouldn't be out playing golf or tennis or otherwise being indisposed."

25. "The European nations have been a tremendous disappointment, because I personally called, but my people called a lot, take your ISIS fighters. And they didn't want them."

26. "They can't walk to our country. We have lots of water in between our country and them."

37. "I wrote a book. A really very successful book. And in that book, about a year before the World Trade Center was blown up, I said there's somebody named Osama bin Laden, you better kill him or take him out, something to that effect, he's big trouble."

38. "And I'm writing a book. I think I wrote 12 books, all did very well."

@LindseyGrahamSC talks out of both sides of his mouth. No matter what he says, just watch how he acts. He toes the line like the toady he is. #GrahamIsTwoFaced #GrahamBetrayedTheKurds #GrahamIsStillRussiasBoy

—  𝐒𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐚  #Resist & #Remain @Serena_Spencer