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A Tale of Top IS Leaders Killed Under Two Administrations
Townhall.com ^ | February 10, 2022 | Larry Elder

Posted on 02/10/2022 4:27:06 AM PST by Kaslin

When President Donald Trump, in October 2019, ordered a successful takedown of top Islamic State group leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, Democrats and even the anti-Trump media celebrated the death of the terror leader. But top leaders of the Democratic party still chastised Trump for failing to notify top congressional Democrats of the impending strike.

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi issued the following statement: "The House must be briefed on this raid, which the Russians but not top congressional leadership were notified of in advance, and on the administration's overall strategy in the region. Our military and allies deserve strong, smart and strategic leadership from Washington."

Trump did inform two Republican leaders of the strike, but admitted he completely excluded Democrats, including Pelosi. As to informing Pelosi, Trump said: "No, I didn't. I didn't do that. I wanted to make sure this kept secret. I don't want to have men lost, and women. I don't want to have people lost." He also said: "(I was) going to notify (congressional leaders) last night, but we decided not to do that, because Washington leaks like I've never seen before. Washington is a leaking machine. And I told my people, we will not notify them until our great people are out -- not just in, but out. I don't want to have them greeted with firepower like you wouldn't believe."

House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam B. Schiff, D-Calif., called Trump's lack of notice "a mistake." Schiff said, "In terms of notifying the Gang of Eight, that wasn't done," referring to the leaders of both parties in the House, the Senate and their Intelligence Committees.

And according to former National Security Adviser Susan Rice, Trump also broke protocol by not informing his predecessor of the elimination of this ISIS leader. Rice said: "There is a tradition of common courtesy of presidents informing their predecessors of things of significance like this. Since the White House seemingly didn't feel it necessary to inform the leadership of the intelligence committees on a bipartisan basis, I'm quite confident that they didn't do the normal protocol with respect to predecessors either."

That was then.

Last week resident Joe Biden ordered a strike that killed al-Baghdadi's successor, Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurayshi.

Did Biden, pre-strike, notify top congressional leaders or give former President Donald Trump an advance warning? The same Democrats who criticized Trump said nothing about whether they received notice of the strike. But it appears that Biden, like Trump, kept House intelligence leaders in the dark. The Washington Post wrote: "A House Intelligence committee official, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive matters, said Thursday that the committee was not notified before the Syria mission 'and will ask for additional information from the administration on that decision.'" What about Pelosi? The Post said: "Gen. Mark A. Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, called House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., on Thursday morning to inform her about the Syria mission, according to Pelosi spokesman Drew Hammill. It is unclear whether Milley's call to Pelosi came before or after the strike." Whether Pelosi received notification before or afterthe strike, given her criticism of Trump, seems awfully relevant. But Dems and the media appear blase about the difference.

Did Biden, like Trump, worry about leaks from congressional intel leaders, including Democrats like Pelosi and Schiff? Did Biden, like Trump, fail to follow what Rice called "the tradition of common courtesy" by notifying his predecessor, the man the Biden administration calls "the former president," of the impending strike against the IS leader?

Who knows? And it appears than neither Democratic intel leaders nor the pro-Biden media care to find out or even to ask. Oh, what a difference a Democratic administration makes.


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Editorial; Foreign Affairs
KEYWORDS: donaldtrump; islamicstate; trumpadmin

1 posted on 02/10/2022 4:27:06 AM PST by Kaslin
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To: Kaslin

None of this matters because others will arise from their ranks to take control.


2 posted on 02/10/2022 4:37:35 AM PST by DarthVader (Not by speeches & majority decisions will the great issues th the day be decided but by Blood & Iron)
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To: Kaslin

Trump did not notify them because congress is filled with traitors and spies. Who would trust that mooslimb Omar from Minnesota? She would assuredly give the information to ISIS since she is a card carrying member of that group. /spit.


3 posted on 02/10/2022 5:33:32 AM PST by Flavious_Maximus (Fauci is a murderer)
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To: DarthVader

Sounds to me they knew we were coming.


4 posted on 02/10/2022 5:40:19 AM PST by nikos1121
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To: Kaslin

I loved how Trump got under their skin.


5 posted on 02/10/2022 5:50:43 AM PST by bk1000 (Banned from Breitbart)
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To: Kaslin

Always more room at the top.


6 posted on 02/10/2022 6:38:27 AM PST by SkyDancer ( I make airplanes fly, what's your super power?)
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To: SkyDancer

Hypocrisy, thy name is leftism.


7 posted on 02/10/2022 7:14:42 AM PST by No name given (Anonymous is who you’ll know me as. )
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To: Kaslin; Red Badger; Liz

Telling Pelosi before the strike means you tell her staff. Which means you’ve EVERY member of EVERY staff.


8 posted on 02/10/2022 10:59:21 AM PST by Robert A Cook PE (Method, motive, and opportunity: No morals, shear madness and hatred by those who cheat.)
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To: nikos1121

They may have been tipped off! But by who?


9 posted on 02/10/2022 12:40:14 PM PST by DarthVader (Not by speeches & majority decisions will the great issues th the day be decided but by Blood & Iron)
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