Once again, President Donald Trump is taking credit for defeating ISIS, and he’s demanding Syria thank him for it.
On Wednesday, Trump threatened to attack Syria with missiles in response to Russia warning the United States to not take action in the wake of the alleged chemical attack that killed dozens of people in Douma.
Russia vows to shoot down any and all missiles fired at Syria. Get ready Russia, because they will be coming, nice and new and “smart!” You shouldn’t be partners with a Gas Killing Animal who kills his people and enjoys it!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 11, 2018
Trump’s threat was a complete shift from his earlier promise that he would not “telegraph” military actions beforehand.
In a tweet on Thursday morning, Trump tried to spin his hypocrisy and then congratulated himself for the weakening of ISIS forces in the region. Trump also whined about not getting thanked by Syria.
Never said when an attack on Syria would take place. Could be very soon or not so soon at all! In any event, the United States, under my Administration, has done a great job of ridding the region of ISIS. Where is our “Thank you America?”
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 12, 2018
Trump repeatedly claims credit for the weakening of ISIS since taking office.
The problem is that former President Barack Obama is the president that really deserves thanks since it was his strategy that originally took the fight to ISIS and it’s the same strategy our military is still using today under Trump to fight the remaining ISIS fighters on the battlefield.
According to The Washington Post:
By the time Trump took office, Islamic State territory had fallen to 23,000 square miles…As of June of this year, the Islamic State controlled 14,000 square miles — and it has fallen further since. But far more of the “liberation” of territory, in square miles, took place before Trump took office, including the recapture of east Mosul as well as cities across Anbar province (Fallujah) and key Syrian cities such as Manbij that controlled the Turkish-Syrian frontier.
Michael Morell, former CIA Deputy Director, agrees.
“There is no doubt that the Trump administration followed the basic strategy set in place by the Obama administration. There is no doubt that Obama would have gotten where Trump is at this moment as well.”
Indeed, when we declared victory over ISIS in Iraq earlier this year, the Pentagon credited the training Obama ordered our troops provide to Iraqi forces in 2015 as the primary factor in ISIS’ defeat.
In fact, U.S. military spokesman Col. Ryan Dillon confirmed that “Most of [the high-ranking ISIS targets} were killed in the last year of the Obama administration.”
The bottom line is that Obama put together the military coalition, approved the strategy, and began successfully executing that strategy long before Trump took office. Had Obama served a third term, these victories would have still occurred under his watch. The only thing Trump is responsible for is killing more innocent civilians.
In short, Syria and America have Obama to thank for putting ISIS on the run, not Trump.
Featured Image: YouTube screenshot.
