Tag Archives: ISIS

NBC News reports: U.S. service members were among those killed by an explosion in Syria on Wednesday, a spokesperson for the coalition fighting the Islamic State group said. Earlier, a senior Kurdish security official told NBC News that members of the U.S.-led coalition were caught up in a blast at a market in the northern city of Manbij. The official …

Mediaite reports: On New Year’s Eve, President Trump apparently felt the need to clear the air and defend his position via a short series of tweets that explained his process as a simple fulfillment of his campaign promise. And, as his is wont, he included some not-so-subtle digs at his detractors. Trump’s dig at “some failed generals” is certainly a …

“The way [Trump] did it in the face of the president of Turkey, basically abandoning our allies [the Kurds], who the Turks see as terrorists, is just a horrible piece of foreign policy. I am very disappointed in the president that he would do this in this fashion. We need to stand for our allies, particularly allies who have fought …

“There doesn’t seem to be any strategic rationale for the decision. And if there’s no strategic rationale for the decision then you have to ask, why was the decision made? People around the world are asking this and some of our friends and our allies in the Middle East are asking, did Erdogan blackmail the president? Was there a payoff …

Politico reports: President Donald Trump claimed Saturday he gave outgoing Defense Secretary James Mattis “a second chance” after the retired Marine general was ousted from military leadership under the Obama administration. Former President Barack Obama fired Mattis as head of U.S. Central Command in 2013 in large part because of Mattis’ increasingly hawkish posture toward Iran. Mattis resigned from the …

Mediaite reports: President Donald Trump tweeted this morning to decry “mostly FAKE” news about the shutdown and his decision to withdraw from Syria. He also defended his Syria decision, though he said this time that ISIS is “largely defeated.” Trump’s tweets were posted around the time news broke that the top U.S. envoy to the global coalition fighting ISIS submitted …

NBC News reports: Brett McGurk, the special envoy for the global coalition to defeat Islamic State, submitted his resignation on Friday, effective Dec. 31, a U.S.State Department official said on Saturday. A person familiar with the matter said McGurk has quit because he objected to President Donald Trump’s decision to pull out U.S. troops from Syria, a decision followed by …

The Hill reports: “Fox & Friends” co-host Brian Kilmeade on Friday said President Trump had “re-founded ISIS” and was giving Russia “a big win” with his decision to pull U.S. troops from Syria. Kilmeade made the remarks during an interview with White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders. “He also is doing exactly what he criticized President Obama for doing. …

Lindsey Graham, like many others, has called out Trump’s lie that ISIS has been defeated. Therefore he too must be destroyed. “I give the president all the credit in the world for changing their policies regarding the fight against ISIS, but I will not buy into the narrative that they have been defeated,” Graham said, adding that he had just …

Mediaite reports: Co-host Brian Kilmeade did not hold back in criticizing the Commander in Chief’s stunning announcement via Twitter plans to withdrawal 2,000 U.S. troops from Syria, saying it was “stunning and irresponsible” and blindsided Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis. As many commentators have pointed out, in no way has ISIS been “defeated” in Syria — contrary to what is …

From the Russia state agency TASS: The US decision to pull its troops from Syria creates good prospects for a political solution in that Arab country, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Maria Zakharova said on Channel One on Wednesday. “A milestone story which might evolve from this decision is a real prospect for a political solution,” she said adding that the …

Mediaite reports: Following reports that the president is planning a full withdrawal of U.S. troops from Syria (along with his proclamation on Twitter that ISIS has been defeated in Syria) Graham broke from the White House and bashed the move. “With all due respect, ISIS is not defeated in Syria, Iraq, and after just returning from visiting there — certainly …

The Wall Street Journal reports: In an abrupt reversal, the U.S. military is preparing to withdraw its forces from northeastern Syria, people familiar with the matter said Wednesday, a move that throws the American strategy in the Middle East into turmoil. U.S. officials began informing partners in northeastern Syria of their plans to begin immediately pulling American forces out of …

“I’m not in charge of the Democratic Party’s messaging but I don’t understand it. I don’t understand why they and some of their neighbors in the mainstream media talk more about Russia than they do America. They talk more about abolishing ICE than abolishing ISIS. And we’re in very dangerous times and ICE, the men and women of ICE, they’re …

The Associated Press reports: Army wife Angela Ricketts was soaking in a bubble bath in her Colorado home, leafing through a memoir, when a message appeared on her iPhone: “Dear Angela!” it said. “Bloody Valentine’s Day!” “We know everything about you, your husband and your children,” the Facebook message continued, claiming that the hackers operating under the flag of Islamic …

Yahoo News reports: Donald Trump has backpedaled on earlier warlike statements about missile strikes in Syria – with a new Tweet where he says an attack may happen ‘not so soon at all’. His new statement may perplex allies, as it comes as British ministers consider the possibility of backing military action in the region. Theresa May is believed to …

Bloomberg reports: Secretary of State Rex Tillerson urged patience in waiting out Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, saying there’s no place for him in the war-torn country’s future while vowing that the U.S. military will remain to counter Islamic State, al-Qaeda and Iran. In remarks prepared for a policy speech Wednesday on the Syrian war, Tillerson called for closer cooperation with …

CNN reports: President Donald Trump claimed Friday morning that the United States military is hitting ISIS “much harder” after an alleged ISIS-inspired attacker drove a truck down a bike lane in New York, killing eight, though he didn’t provide any evidence. Trump, in a series of tweets ahead of his five-country, 12-day trip to Asia, labeled the accused attacker, 29-year-old …

The Independent reports: A group of LGBT people fighting against Isis in Syria have formed their own military unit as the battle to eradicate the Islamist organisation continues. Isis has brutally persecuted LGBT people for several years and considers being gay to be a crime punishable by death. Now a number of international volunteers fighting alongside Kurdish forces in northern …

Politico reports: The New York Times on Sunday took the unusual step of requesting an apology from a competitor, asking “Fox & Friends” to retract a report that the Times was to blame for the 2015 escape of an ISIS leader. Fox subsequently updated the story on its website with the NYT letter. “I am writing on behalf of The …