Isis raid successful "in spite of" Trump's actions say U.S. Military and Intel officials

BY VINNIE LONGOBARDO

PUBLISHED ON OCTOBER 27, 2019

While Donald Trump was quick to claim the credit and the glory today for the U.S. military operation that resulted in the death of ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi late yesterday, military, intelligence and counterterrorism officials said that the raid succeeded in spite of the president rather than due to any of his actions or intent.

In the aftermath of the raid, details of the operation are leaking out and revealed that the information about the elusive ISIS leader’s whereabouts was first discovered last summer when one of al-Baghdadi’s wives and a courier whom he used to communicate with other ISIS cells were captured and interrogated, according to an account in The New York Times.

With that crucial information in hand, CIA officers collaborated with their counterparts in Iraqi and Kurdish intelligence agencies to get more precise details of the ISIS head’s exact location and to begin to surveil his activities.

Trump’s sudden and unexpected announcement that he would withdraw American troops from northern Syria, however, threatened to undermine the months of highly detailed planning that was underway to capture al-Baghdadi.

More:
https://washingtonpress.com/2019/10/27/isis-raid-successful-in-spite-of-trumps-actions-say-u-s-military-and-intel-officials-2/