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By Miriam Raftery
October 27, 2019 (San Diego) – Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, founder and leader of the terrorist group ISIS, committed suicide after being trapped during a raid yesterday by U.S. military special forces in northwest Syria, President Donald Trump announced at a White House press conference.
Trump announced that the “number one terrorist leader” has “been brought to justice.” No U.S. personnel were lost in the operation, though a “large number” of Baghdadi’s associates were killed or captured including two women wearing suicide vests that detonated; they are believed to be Baghdadi’s wives.
Eleven children were removed prior to the raid, but reportedly Baghdadi took three of his children into a dead-end tunnel, where he ignited a suicide vest, killing himself and the youngsters. "He didn’t die a hero. He died a coward,” the President said. “Crying, whimpering, screaming and bringing kids with him to die"
CNN reports the military confirms al-Baghdadi was killed, though a DNA test remains pending. The terrorist leader has been the subject of an international manhunt for years, with several false reports of his death in the past.
But Acting Director of National Intelligence Joseph Maguire voiced confidence that Baghdadi is dead. He thanked special forces for bringing “one of the world’s most wanted terrorists to justice.”
The daring raid occurred in a region of northwest Syria that has not been a U.S. stronghold.Trump left top Democrats in the dark about the operation, breaking protocol for such high-profile military actions. The success of the mission drew bipartisan praise, though House Speaker Nancy Pelosi questioned why “Russians but not top Congressional leaders were notified of the raid in advance.”
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, the Senate’s top-ranking Democrat, learned of the raid on TV but told media afterwards, “Look, it’s great that we’ve gotten al-Baghdadi…He’s a dangerous man, an evil man. The fight against ISIS has to continue.” But he added, ""New Yorkers know all too well the destruction a small group of terrorists thousands of miles overseas can cause from so far away. I look forward to receiving a briefing about this raid and the plan to deal with the escaped ISIS prisoners."
The raid comes on the heels of the U.S. withdrawing troops from Syria, a move that drew international and bipartisan criticism of Trump. The action, done at the request of Turkey’s president, cleared the way for a Turkish assault on Kurdish fighters who were allies of the U.S. in our fight against ISIS in Syria. Trump has since indicated a larger residual force will be left in the region, but not before many Kurds fled the area, some Kurdish soldiers and civilians were killed, and over 800 ISIS fighters guarded by Kurds escaped.
According to the Washington Post, Vice President Mike Pence said that he and President Trump were informed Thursday of the raid’s location at the militants’ compound. Pence said Trump authorized the raid Saturday morning.
Death of Baghdadi, if confirmed by the DNA test, would be the highest-level terrorist death since special operations forces killed Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Ladin during a raid in Pakistan in 2011 ordered by President Barack Obama.
Locally, San Diego Congresswoman Susan Davis issued this statement on word of Baghdadi’s death: ““My gratitude to our well-trained and accomplished military and national security professionals, as well as our allies, for bringing Baghdadi down. The world is grateful for this barbarian’s end. Hopefully, this brings some relief to the families of his victims.”
Comments
Who’s hiding?
Correction ran. Who's the one really hiding? You 8East? Trump doesn't, though he has in the past. Takes a bit of courage to identify yourself and own your own words. Perhaps consider a Post showing some courage, character, and man-up on what's otherwise empty ramblings.
Dear Miriam,
Names on the site
We have never required use of real names, howver Gene uses a shortened version of his full name, which is not hiding. Since there was once a serious threat of harm posted here I support his right not to use his exact legal name. He is not an employee or paid worker.
As for harassment, there has been far more harassment posted by conservatives on the site than by non-conservatives.
That said I would prefer to see all posters refrain from insulting others in our community and stick with a civil discussion of facts and issues.
Sounds good.
8East and Gene, please read:
There was a serious threat made in the past that included someone posting an address they believed belonged to a poster they wished to harass, but it in fact belonged to an elderly man with the same name, and he could have been put at risk.
Safety of posters is the main reason we don't require real names.
But Gene, I have to agree that if you don't want to use your full name, in fairness you shouldn't chide others for not posting theirs. It is fine to disagree with viewpoints.
That said, 8East, I do see a difference in motive between someone not using a full name because they've had their safety threatened by a harasser, and someone using a false name to harass or harangue others anonymously.
P.S. Love the "I identify as an Interstate" quip. There are times where the whole identity thing gets taken to ridiculous extremes.
Much appreciated!
It’s how I was raised and what I respect
It's difficult for me, Miriam, to see you constantly harrassed and disrespected on a site that you work very hard on. I know you do your best to be factual based on National New's stories. I have followed your site for several years. I've witnessed stories run by you that are very critical of so called Liberals and I've never criticized or borderline slandered you for that, I walk my talk and consider it one of my core values, something very important to me. There are many Conservative values that I agree with and respect. If there are those that feel compelled to continue to treat you and ECM with a constant barrage of hateful disrespect, while hiding behind the very real comfort of anonymity, for whatever reason they claim, and you find that tolerable, I will respect that even though I find it cowardly and guttless when accusers aren't willing to proverbially come forward, face to face so to speak, with their accusations or pointing their fingers at you. Here's a thought Miriam, run your site and everything associated with it under a pseudonym like many of your Posters do. That way your constant critics can rant and rave, in a New York minute, about that! :)
Thank you, Gene.
I am bothered by people who anonymously attack our coverage, especially when at times the criticisms ignore actual facts. But we know that our efforts are appreciated by many more people than the handful of critics here.
FYI, last night we picked up three more journalism awards from San Diego Press Club for our coverage of the Kalasho scandals and the fire in Alpine last year.
Congratulation’s to ECM
Kudo's Miriam to you and all your Team for your efforts to make East County a little brighter!
Okay Robinhood,
He did the right thing
re:he did the right thing
I don't even know
It turns out the photo in the situation room was probably staged
It was time stamped not during the raid, but later. Trump was reportedly golfing at the time the raid took place, several major media outlets have reported.
Trump does deserve credit for authorizing the raid, which was apparently successful assuming Baghdadi is really dead this time.
There are however reports coming out that his withdrawal of troops from Syria actually delayed this raid on Baghdadi's compound and jeopardized the mission initially, but fortunately Baghdadi remained at the same place long enough for our forces to mobilize and take him out. The world will certainly be a safer place without him, for now.
He should however have told top House and Senate leaders in both parties. One reason for that is to assure that no members are traveling in areas where they might inadvertently come into harm's way. Just days ago we had prominent Democratic leaders in Afghanistan and other Middle Eastern countries, fortunately not where the raid took place. Sharing such info with high-level leaders in both parties with proper security clearances is an action every prior president has done, not merely for courtesy but for security's sake.
It turns out you're wrong....again.
The correction was issued after my comment.
Glad Souza corrected the information that was apparently inaccurate on the timing.
It was more than "inaccurate"
Stop this.
Local media outlets are not in Washington D.C. so have no option other than to rely on normally reliable sources in the mainstream media. It is impossible for local media to independently verify what happens in Washington D.C. That includes small newspapers and online news sites as well as even most large newspapers that don't have correspondents in the Capitol. If we find out any source is wrong, we will correct the information. The alternative would be no reporting at all, or very little, on national news stories.
While we appreciate having an error pointed out so we can correct it, calling us "fake news" is inappropriate. New rule, comments along that line will be removed. We work hard and take pride in our work; harassment and name-calling of our staff or nonprofit is unacceptable. If you get something wrong, do you want to be insulted and called names? Of course not.
Easy fix