DragonI

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

“I'm honored to be considered that by Donald Trump because he also called Meryl Streep an overrated actress. So I guess I'm the Meryl Streep of generals and frankly that sounds pretty good to me.”

“And, you do have to admit, between me and Meryl, at least we've had some victories.”

“I earned my spurs on the battlefield. Donald Trump earned his spurs in a letter from a doctor.”

"I think the only person in the military that Mr. Trump doesn't think is overrated is Colonel Sanders."

“A year is — according to White House time — about 9,000 hours of executive time or 1,800 holes of golf.”

“The cynicism which has infected the Western democracies, for all weary and knowing airs it affects, is not realism. Cynicism is just cowardice. It is nothing less than a form of surrender.”

“The surest path to catastrophe is to ignore our better angels and sever those bonds of affection,”

“They see our freedoms and vitality, long tradition of democratic government, our chaotic and exuberant culture and they want in.”

“’We must, ourselves, be its author and finisher.’” I think often of Abraham Lincoln’s speech because it embodies both our greatest hopes and our darkest fears.

“Today, in our own time, we need only look around us. For decades, our political conduct has been woeful and a source of national paralysis.”

• We have supplanted trust and empathy with suspicion and contempt. 
• We have scorched our opponents with language that precludes compromise. 
• We have brushed aside the possibility that persons with whom we disagree might actually sometimes be right.”

“We owe a debt to all who have fought for liberty including those who tonight serve in the far corners of our planet. Among them, the American men and women supporting our Kurdish allies.

Mattis told the president, “You’re going to have to get the next secretary of defense to lose to ISIS. I’m not going to do it.” 

He handed Trump his resignation letter, a letter that would soon become one of the most famous documents of the Trump presidency thus far.

“I have no ambition in this world but one, and that is to be a firefighter..." #Truth #NeverForget 

— NYCFireWire @NYCFireWire

Osama Bin Laden News Pre-Empts Donald Trump's 'Celebrity Apprentice'

The interruption comes one night after Trump was skewered at the White House Correspondents' Assocation Dinner, where Obama made fun of Trump's show.

www.hollywoodreporter.com

"We all know about your credentials," he [Obama] quipped, bringing up Trump's decision to fire Gary Busey in a recent episode of Celebrity Apprentice, joking: "These are the kinds of decisions that would keep me up at night. Well handled, sir. Well handled."

Just one night after Donald Trump was skewered by President Obama at the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner, Trump's Celebrity Apprentice was pre-empted by Obama's announcement that Osama Bin Laden had been killed by U.S. forces.