Quote:
Originally Posted by Jim in CT
Pete and GS, what’s the evidence that ISIS recruits more jihadists when Trump speaks offensively, than they did when Obama was, what, more civilized and diplomatic?
i’m the first one to call out trumps offensive rhetoric, when it’s genuinely offensive. i loved what he said here. lived it. unfortunately for you, so do a lot of people
between the coasts.
Posted from my iPhone/Mobile device
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Once again you need "evidence" that what Trump did as opposed to what both Obama and Bush did was misguided.
The death of ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi on Saturday is being celebrated as a major victory, but terrorism and national security experts warn his death could serve as a recruitment tool for the terror group — and that Baghdadi's death doesn't signal the end of the fight against ISIS.
Despite the fall of its so-called caliphate and Baghdadi's death, some experts say ISIS could actually become even more dangerous now — particularly given the nature of the terrorist leader's death.
"It is almost certainly the case that Baghdadi's 'martyrdom' will become a propaganda bonanza for Islamic State," Michael S. Smith II, a terrorism analyst and lecturer at Johns Hopkins University's Global Security Studies Program, said.
Baghdadi killed himself with a suicide vest as US commandos stormed his compound in Syria's northwestern Idlib province. Smith noted that the fact Baghdadi killed himself "versus being captured or killed by the US is a sign of strength in the imaginations of Islamic State's current members, and, crucially, prospective new recruits — particularly people who may be persuaded to perpetrate terrorist attacks here in the West."
Smith said that while it's "good practice" to put "iconic leadership figures" from groups like ISIS and al-Qaeda "out of business," it also "doesn't necessarily make the world a less dangerous place — and it can actually have the effect of improving a group's capabilities to recruit and incite violence, particularly here in the US."
President Donald Trump described Baghdadi as "whimpering, crying and screaming all the way" during the raid. This claim has not been backed up by any clear evidence or other administration officials with knowledge of the operation. And some experts have suggested the president's language could bolster ISIS's narrative that the US is anti-Muslim and imperialistic, which is central to its recruiting efforts.
Michael Leiter, who directed the US National Counterterrorism Center from 2007 to 2011, told Vox that Trump "exaggerated Baghdadi's importance" and "repeatedly used language" that "feeds into the ISIS and the Al Qaeda narrative about the US being at war with Muslims in nations throughout the world, as well as solely caring about our own pecuniary, economic interests like oil."
Leiter said that Trump also exhibited a "clear lack of historical appreciation for how these organizations rise, take hold, and are potentially defeated."
"To the president it all became about finding and killing this one individual," Leiter added. "That's important, but it's not how these terrorist groups are ultimately ousted."
As Javed Ali, a former White House counterterrorism director, put it to The Washington Post: "In the annals of modern counterterrorism so far, what history has shown is these types of strikes do not lead to the strategic collapse or organizational defeat of a terrorism organization."
Consecutive US military operations took out Baghdadi and ISIS spokesperson Abu al-Hassan al-Muhajir in Syria over the weekend. But according to Newsweek, which initially broke the story of Baghdadi's death, the terror group already has already designated a new leader: Abdullah Qardash. It also seems to be the case that Baghdadi had largely become a symbolic leader for ISIS and not intricately involved in the group's day-to-day operations.
Joshua A. Geltzer, a former senior director for counterterrorism on the National Security Council in the Obama administration, told The Independent, "Eliminating a terrorist leader of this significance and prominence is a major accomplishment for the intelligence and military personnel who made it possible. And it's a serious step in degrading ISIS's ability to continue radicalizing and recruiting."
But Geltzer also said that ISIS as a group is "bigger" than Baghdadi, adding that "this operation alone doesn't come close to overcoming the strategic error Trump made in abandoning America's top ground partners in the fight against ISIS — a fight that's far from over."