\n On Sunday morning, October 27,\n2019, President Trump formally announced that U.S. Special Operating Forces\nseized the compound of ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, who detonated an\nexplosive vest rather than be captured. \nBaghdadi was among the world\u2019s most dangerous and evil individuals whose\ndeath makes us all a little safer. As\nleader of ISIS, he was responsible for kidnapping, raping, torturing, and\nmurdering civilians as well as insidious ethnic cleansing and other atrocities. It may normally be bad form to cheer the\ndeath of a person, but this mission was a huge success and cause for\ncelebration. It should have been a key\nmoment of achievement and unity for the President, but Trump just could not help\nhimself, resorting to his favorite salvo of baseless attacks and foregoing any opportunity\nfor praise. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\nPresidents sometimes face suspicion in the timing of such missions,\nespecially during times of political crisis or a tough election. Perhaps people have a reason to think this\nway generally. However, in this regard it\nis unfounded. Targets like this are\nfleeting and the window of opportunity is extremely short. Any hesitation to act could result in losing\nthe opportunity and there may not be another chance for quite some time, if ever\nat all. Leaders who stall, especially\nwith nefarious intent, may find no second chance. Military leaders will not play along with any\nsuch political games. Their sole objective\nis to get the target and do so as quickly and efficiently as possible. That is their duty to the American people. They do not serve the President; they serve our\nnation and they do so with fidelity regardless of who occupies the White House\nor controls Congress at any given time during their career.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\nFormer Presidents, including Bush and Obama, addressed the nation under\nsimilar circumstances, providing brief, solemn, and professional remarks. They reminded people what we were fighting\nfor, the importance of the mission, and most importantly thanked and credited\nthe courage and ability of the military forces. \nThey represented the dignity of the office as expected as part of\nlongstanding practice. Trump\nunfortunately turned a 9-minute address into an almost 50-minute circus. He sacrificed dignity, honor, and\nprofessionalism for his all too common bombast, self-aggrandizement, foolish\nattacks, and of course dishonesty. He\ncould have united the country, but instead shamefully chose partisanship to\nfurther the divide. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\nTrump, as his predecessors, should get credit for authorizing the\nmission. The level of risk to U.S.\npersonnel, civilian casualties, and other critical calculations enhance the\nimportance and consequence of such decisions. President Carter paid a heavy price for authorizing\na mission to rescue the hostages when that mission failed. President Obama made an exceptionally more\ndifficult and complex decision because Osama bin Laden was hiding in Pakistan,\na sovereign nation, and risked their ire by authorizing that operation. The Baghdadi mission was not without its own\nrisk of peril. My initial reaction was\nto say well done. It was a great day to\nrid the world of this ruthless terrorist and show others they cannot hide. Then I watched Trump\u2019s vile presser and\nconsidered the facts of the operation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n According to Pentagon officials,\nthe mission succeeded in spite of, not because of, President Trump. They had to scramble and accelerate the\ntimetable for the mission, greatly increasing the risk of failure and more\nimportantly the risk to our forces. The\nsudden U.S. withdrawal from Syria left a gaping hole in command and control\ncapability. Kurdish forces had played a\nkey role in the planning and intelligence aspects of the mission. Abandoning them to be slaughtered by Turkey threatened\ntheir willingness and capacity to provide assistance. Nevertheless, the raid was launched from a\nU.S. base in Iraqi Kurdish territory. Oddly,\nthere was a much closer base in Turkey that would have been better to use. Did Turkey deny use of that base, as they have\ndone previously, and was this because of their well-known support for ISIS? <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Perhaps more importantly, Trump inappropriately\nreleased an extensive amount of information during his presser, much of it\nsensitive or classified, as he has proven prone to do. This reprehensible practice places intelligence\nand military assets in significant jeopardy and greatly threatens their ability\nto perform essential functions. I will not\nrepeat the specifics for obvious reasons. \nHe also engaged in unprofessional bravado, speaking about Baghdadi\ncrying, whimpering, and begging. These\nterrorist leaders are mostly cowards who leave the fighting to their mindless\nautomaton supporters. Thus, it would not\nsurprise me if that was true about Baghdadi. It would also not surprise me if Trump made it\nup, not simply because of his ongoing reign of dishonesty, but because he would\nnot have gleaned those actions from watching the operation in the situation room.\n Perhaps the military working dog that\nchased Baghdadi down the tunnel called the President and told him about it. This is not about fairness to Baghdadi, who\ndid not merit any consideration, but rather the fact that Presidential remarks\nhave consequences and we should always expect proper, unfettered\nprofessionalism. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\nUnfortunately, Trump went much further than stomping on Baghdadi. While heaping praise on Russia, Iraq, and\nTurkey, he again took aim at our allies and denigrated them. All Russia, Iraq, and Turkey did was not\nobject to short flights over their territory. \nTrump downplayed the role of the Kurds; whose intelligence and ground\nsupport on both ends made this mission possible. Thankfully the Kurds understand Trump will be\ngone at some point and they can meanwhile maintain a long-term relationship\nwith the U.S. military and intelligence communities. He gratuitously attacked our NATO allies for\nnot doing enough when they have provided meaningful support for us between Iraq,\nAfghanistan, and ISIS. They have also\nsuffered from many heinous ISIS attacks in their countries. Whatever the circumstances, that was\nabsolutely not the time or place to disparage our closest friends and loyal\nallies. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\nThe President violated a major law by not informing the \u201cGang of Eight\u201d\nas required prior to any such military mission. \nThis group includes the leadership of the House and Senate as well as\nthe Intelligence Committee leaders of both chambers. Prior Presidents have fulfilled this\nobligation despite any ongoing friction with Congress. The communication is limited to the actual\nleaders, not their staffs. Consequently,\nthere is no history of leaking. Just the\nopposite. When American lives are at\nstake for an important objective, the leaders all come together, even if only\nfor that brief moment. Trump fabricated\nconcerns that the Democrats would leak the mission. There was no legitimate basis to conclude any\nof the Gang of Eight would ever commit such a serious felony or risk American\nlives. Pure fallacy, unbecoming of any\nPresident. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
When confronted with the truth, the administration was not able to point to a single example of where the Gang of Eight leaked classified intelligence. That said, if any such concerns would be founded, the focus would have to be on Trump\u2019s close allies Rep Devin Nunes, who violated security rules concerning classified material, and Rep Matt Gaetz, who led a serious security breach of the SCIF in the Capitol. None of that bothered Trump, not even for a split second. That is because Trump himself revealed classified intelligence to our adversaries (e.g. infamous Oval Office meeting with Russian Ambassador and Foreign Minister). Military and intelligence leaders must withhold sensitive intelligence information from Trump out of well-placed fear he will improperly share it with our enemies. There\u2019s your leak and security threat\u2026 <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Presidents should always get credit for their role in such an operation. Their role is saying yes and authorizing forces to proceed. That is all. The rest belongs to the military leaders, planners, and most importantly the personnel who courageously execute the mission. Thus, good job President Trump in saying yes. It was not too hard of a call to make. Outstanding job by the military in flawless execution. We should all commemorate this occasion of ridding the world of an evil actor. All that said, we must also remember that ISIS is not dead. They lost their territory but have over 30,000 fighters committed to their wicked cause and continue to have a chain of command to replace Baghdadi. Cut the head off the hydra and another grows. Nevertheless, as important as this success was, it has no bearing on Trump\u2019s flawed Syria policy that continues to create additional challenges. All said, this should have been a great and unifying moment for the President. But he could not handle it and had to resort to his usual unprofessional tactics and spoil the victory. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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