Huh. Is Trump going to announce that the ISIS fighters he set free now plan to lead quiet lives as accountants, the Turks will un-kill the Kurds, the Russians will go home, and Assad will turn himself in to the Hague? I ask because, if not, I'm going to sleep in tomorrow.
— Walter Shaub (@waltshaub) October 27, 2019
Curious how this 2012 sentiment will match up with tomorrow morning’s statement https://t.co/bLMUZzPTng
— Glenn Kessler (@GlennKesslerWP) October 27, 2019
Publicity-grab sequels seldom match the success of the originals. Title of this post from a Christopher Dickey article in the Daily Beast, “Trump Turns Baghdadi’s Killing Into a Reality Show”:
PARIS—President Donald J. Trump wants you to see his new movie: “Bring Me the Head of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.”
At a special Sunday morning press conference in Washington D.C., Trump described the way U.S. Special Operations Forces attacked Baghdadi’s compound and killed him in such graphic and explicit detail that some intelligence professionals worried he may have revealed, again, too much about sources and methods.
But Trump knows great television when he sees it, and he was enthusiastic about the images he was watching from the White House situation room Saturday night. “It was absolutely perfect, as though you were watching a movie,” he said…
The reasons such a video of the 2011 Osama operation was not released are the same ones that the intelligence community will use to argue against dissemination of the Baghdadi death: because such images could compromise so much about the operation.
But quite apart from Trump’s worthy desire to undermine the messaging of the still virulent ISIS organization, there is also his unworthy inclination to gloat. Remember when Trump tweeted a highly classified high-resolution image of a failed Iranian missile launch earlier this year for little more reason, it would seem, that smug self-satisfaction?
Trump hates it when the fast-turning news cycle that he uses effectively to obscure his failings also works to push his accomplishments into oblivion…
He’ll be tweeting obscenities — not dirty words, but actual graphic images & descriptions — no later than tomorrow morning. And that’s only if the Fox News prime-time lineup lathers sufficient Kim-Jong-un – style propaganda all this evening.
Trump was away from the White House for a round of golf until 4:18 pm yesterday. It appears this photo was staged. https://t.co/1K5TA6xwDQ
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) October 27, 2019
Turkey gave up the leader of a group Trump swore he had already defeated as repayment for paving the way for genocide. https://t.co/VOoXD1Vg6P
— The Hoarse Whisperer (@HoarseWisperer) October 27, 2019
The death of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the Islamic State leader, happened largely in spite of President Trump’s actions, not because of them, according to military, intelligence and counterterrorism officials https://t.co/f7iowu8U54
— NYT Politics (@nytpolitics) October 27, 2019
Trump notified the Russians in advance, but not US’ congressional leadership.
In the press conference, First country Trump thanked: Russia, even though the Russians played NO role in assisting the operation.
In Trump’s “America First,” All roads lead to Putin. pic.twitter.com/4aCtKSsj61
— Rula Jebreal (@rulajebreal) October 27, 2019
And somehow, some way, Trump just ensures the killing of the leader of ISIS would be an even more potent recruitment tool as he strongmanned the announcement and reinforced the perception that the US is amoral and bloodthirsty.
— Jared Yates Sexton (@JYSexton) October 27, 2019
Wag the Dark Thirty
— Virginia Heffernan (@page88) October 27, 2019
Sorry he’s ruining your big moment to declare this the day he became president. https://t.co/PmhfrZaUrL
— Boo-risma Executive Board Member (@agraybee) October 27, 2019
and, tbf, the bin laden raid… wasn’t even enough for Obama to coast to reelection on! These kill missions in the post-9/11 era do not matter in so many ways as much as leaders would like them to… which tells u something about the war on terror and its descendant
— Asawin Suebsaeng (@swin24) October 27, 2019
germy
I thought the guy ran into a tunnel and then blew himself up. How can they have footage of that?
Cameras in the tunnel? Even bodycams on the soldiers wouldn’t show an explosion; if they were close enough for that they would have been killed, too.
JPL
@germy: trump just makes up shit. That’s what he wanted to happen.
Mike in DC
RIP Former Rep. John Conyers. He was 90. Co-founded the CBC. 6th longest-serving congressperson in history.
Rough month.
gene108
I don’t believe Trump got Baghdadi. Until some actual government agency also corroborates it.
It’s too convenient that he blew him self up into unrecognizable bits and pieces.
The Dangerman
And now, tossing out tonight’s first bitch (and moan), it’s…
FelonyGovt
I thought Trump defeated ISIS months ago. Then why is taking out their leader such a big deal?
philostopher
@The Dangerman: I believe it’s Jose Andres, the chef who keeps setting up emergency kitchens in places like Puerto Rico and the Bahamas. Oh, yeah – and who refused to work at the DC hotel the president* bought and is using as an emoluments sink.
(And hello, everyone – I lurk most of the time, I haven’t posted here before, as far as I know. Just couldn’t resist that answer, because it gave me such satisfaction.)
Rusty
Despite his long winded description the news is tarting to report he was on the golf course when it all went down. He lies about everything.
NotMax
Credit where it’s due: someone had the presence of mind to hustle the buckets of popcorn and super-size soda cups out of range before the photo was snapped.
//
My Side of Town
Who ever heard of an instant DNA test?
oatler.
There’s club sauce stain on Trump’s lapel.
zhena gogolia
@philostopher:
Welcome!
My Side of Town
Wasn’t Al BagDaddy killed by the Russians a couple years ago?
dmsilev
@Rusty:
Please tell us that was deliberate instead of a typo. Lie if you must.
TS (the original)
@gene108:
A reality show – I don’t believe him either. As for that gaggle of men supporting him – they have no shame.
Luthe
@Mike in DC: If deaths come in threes, can the last one be on the other side of the aisle? I can think of some obituaries I would read with great pleasure…
debbie
All that “we” shit was really ticking me off.
prostratedragon
Some of the details sounded improbable to me, not least because I don’t see how he’d have known of them so soon. Then I noticed that this had hit Daily Beast around 5am:
sukabi
@Luthe: I can think of someone who should choke to death on the massive amount of bullshit and lies he spews on a daily basis. A world wide celebration would commence.
Yutsano
@philostopher: Let me be the first to offer you your first Jackal “FUCK YOU!!!”
All pleasantries aside, welcome to the scrum!
?BillinGlendaleCA
@philostopher: Welcome.
Juju
If I were to guess, the reason there’s a time difference in when the raid seemingly took place and the stunt photo. Is because Trump watched a video of what had already taken place and didn’t know that it had already taken place. Would you tell Trump anything before it happened If you wanted to keep that information a secret? The man doesn’t know how to keep his mouth shut.
Chris
1) It goes without saying that the ethnic cleansing of an entire region isn’t remotely worth a terrorist’s head, even a terrorist like Baghdadi. Though I know the millions of racists who voted for Trump think otherwise, it still deserves to be said.
2) Nations or groups that I’ve heard being credited with helping us in this operation so far include… the Kurds, the Iraqi government, Turkey, and Russia. With that many people supposedly involved, I’m beginning to wonder if any Americans were involved at all.
Rusty
@dmsilev: For you, it was intentional. :)
My Side of Town
Out takes from a Mission Impossible Movie is my guess.
Chyron HR
When the FBI comes for Trump, I hope he remembers to get his kids’ equally horrible spouses/mistresses in the room.
dmsilev
@Rusty: Much appreciated, thank you…
TS (the original)
@Juju:
I’m just catching up on the photo news – notice from the last thread the NYT is giving out a timeline to make the photo-op fit the raid – I guess trump’s bff is doing her bit to save the king.
My Side of Town
Conveniently wearing a suicide vest when they came for him.
Juju
@My Side of Town: Or one of the Rambo movies?
Another Scott
@My Side of Town: That part doesn’t actually surprise me – he obviously didn’t want to be taken alive.
What does surprise me is the amount of destruction of the scene, according to locals and tape from the BBC and Al Jazeera. It looks like the US came in, got what they wanted, then absolutely pulverized the place when they were done.
:-/
Cheers,
Scott.
My Side of Town
@Juju: heh
Ocotillo
Sometimes over here on Team D, it seems like his supporters are a cult and impenetrable and make no mistake, the overwhelming majority are and cannot be reached. But I am seeing some slivers of hope.
One of my old high school buddies on Facebook was special ops and I gritted my teeth through numerous posts of his. He is also Evangelical and he would post memes with God Bless President Trump and other such tripe.
Since the abandonment of the Kurds, one of his friends is tagging him with stories about what a disaster this has been not just for our foreign policy but especially for screwing over a reliable ally. Radio silence. I think Trump finally hit a nerve with him.
A veteran here, a true Christian there and he could lose what, maybe single digit support from his base? Couple that with a motivated left and the fact that the Dems were spotted 3 million votes already. It is going to take a lot to lose this election.
All bets are off though on how he reacts if he loses in a popular landslide. Who knows what he will try and pull.
Luthe
@sukabi: I was thinking more at the Congressional level. You want to think tactically here.
My Side of Town
@Another Scott: Jeebus. That scene.
Just Chuck
@Luthe: Everything happens in threes because shit doesn’t stop happening the second time it happens.
Though it is interesting that so many artists die at 3**3
Another Scott
Lazy horse plays dead every time people try to ride him.
Smart horse.
(via nycsouthpaw)
Cheers,
Scott.
sukabi
@Luthe: he can take Graham and the entire freedumb caucus with him.
My Side of Town
Then he has to go and trash Obama and the Bin Laden killing. Like I can do you one better. Though, if the Russians killed Al Bag Daddy in 2017 like they said, then our military just allowed Dirty Don to claim the murder of a innocent family as equivalent. The lies. And you know it’s a lie, because that’s all he does.
Chris
@Another Scott:
One of my favorite comics from childhood was a M*A*S*H like antiwar comic that had a horse like this. His owner, a cavalryman who’d been drafted and desperately didn’t want to be there, had trained her to fall down and play dead every time she heard the word “CHARGE!”
(This is used against him at least once, when he’s trying to run away on horseback, and his friend who’s gotten wise to him simply has to scream “CHARGE!” for the horse to immediately drop dead).
Another Scott
@Chris: A friend in HS helped his father raise horses on their farm. He always said horses were incredibly stupid – maybe it was just the ones they had. ;-)
They were smarter than the goat that was always getting his horns stuck in the chicken wire fencing though… ;-)
Cheers,
Scott.
James E Powell
Killing Osama bin Laden didn’t do much for Obama because he is a black Democrat. Cf. Obama’s stimulus saving jobs for white people who eat in diners and hate him no matter what he did.
If George W Bush had done OBL it would have been JAPAN SURRENDERS! and plans to put his face on money.
Chris
@Another Scott:
Did not know that. Seems like that one at least was pretty smart.
@James E Powell:
It’s kind of a shining example of the double standard, whether against black people or Democrats, in national security matters. A Democrat has to literally kill Osama Bin Laden in order to temporarily, like maybe for a week or so, achieve the same level of public confidence that a Republican can achieve simply by existing and being Republican.
Sister Golden Bear
Meanwhile, thanks to Murdercorp, NoCal is burning, and they’ve extended the fire evacuation zone from Napa roughly 35 miles west to the Pacific Ocean. Because, yeah, fire officials are fearful it might burn that far. at least 180,00 people evacuated so far.
Meanwhile another fire near Vallejo has down both one of the major bridges in the Bay Area and I-80.
3 million people without power, not just in rural areas, but also numerous cities and urban areas.
Of course Murdercorp didn’t turn off the power to the line that started the fire. It’s almost like they’re trying to be seized by the state.
More fires in SoCal.
Governor declared a statewide state of emergency. If we get any aid from the feds I expect it’ll be Trump-branded rakes.
I’m not angry nor bitter. //
C Stars
Open thread, so…
Anyone riding out the fires in Sonoma County? I’ve heard all the evacuation centers are at capacity up to Marin. My immediate family’s OK in the East Bay but the winds are beastly.
Humboldt Blue, are you getting smoke and ash where you are?
patrick II
@Chris:
Which begs the question- – how long has Turkey known and not guen him up?
Also, Trump has mentioned great work by the CIA (ifyou believe it wasn’t Turkey). Is that the same CIA he has been denigrating and now investigating?
Calouste
@germy: A dead-end tunnel apparently. Now why would you build a compound with a dead-end tunnel? What’s the purpose of a dead-end tunnel?
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Sister Golden Bear: The bathrooms on the beach at Leo Carillio State Park are not in service because they burned down in last year’s Woolsey fire. Some of the big fires literally burn to the water’s edge*.
*Being a native Southern Californian, contrary to what the news readers were saying, this has happened before.
Jinchi
@FelonyGovt:
I’m pretty sure his exact words were “I defeated ISIS. Not Obama!”
For contrast, here’s how Obama announced the death of bin Laden:
Chris
@Ocotillo:
It’s always been kind of funny to me how the military, including all those very Christian very conservative types, had all these strong feelings towards the Kurds considering how much the Kurds, the ones in Syria particularly, were a pretty damn secular and left-wing bunch.
Supposedly, this actually did lead to massive culture shock with a few of those Americans who volunteered to go and fight Daesh with the locals, only to discover that “the locals” were exactly the kind of godless commies they excoriated at home (only much more so).
@patrick II:
Yeah. It’s the same question with Pakistan and Bin Laden. The elephant in the room ever since 9/11 has been that the jihadist movement’s main support base has never been the Ayatollahs, or Assad, or Saddam Hussein, or any other hostile regime that was conveniently separated from us by geopolitical lines. It’s among our own allies in the region, be it Pakistan or Turkey or most of the Gulf kingdoms. Eighteen years later, we’re still not within light-years of doing anything that might address or acknowledge that.
DemJayhawks
I’m glad I’m not the only one who thought, “Who gave al-Baghdadi up?”, and “what did we pay?”.
Another Scott
@Chris: +1
“We have always been at war with Eastasia.” :-/
Cheers,
Scott.
Ruckus
@Sister Golden Bear:
I have friends who live in Sonoma county. Not been able to get ahold of them. One of them had to evacuate the fires in 2017. I went up there later on and saw some of the devastation. It wasn’t pretty, this seems to be worse as the winds are stronger.
Take care if you live north of the bay.
James E Powell
@Chris:
And the Republicans can maintain that “strong on defense” cred simply by giving bellicose & jingoistic speeches. I am not sure of the genesis of this, but I feel like it probably goes back to the McCarthy Era.
??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ??
@Calouste:
Maybe it was still being built?
joel hanes
@Calouste:
What’s the purpose of a dead-end tunnel?
Shelter during bombing, strafing, or artillery attack.
zzyzx
I finally found a transcript. Here is Trump praising forced relocation of an ethnic group:
I don’t understand why this is just being ignored.
https://wamu.org/story/19/10/27/read-trump-statement-on-baghdadis-death/
My Side of Town
So the Idlib district where this attack occurred is in western Syria, about 50 miles from the Med Sea. I thought our troops were in eastern Syria evacuated to Iraq, but what do I know? So where did this US attack force base itself? 400 miles to the east? Or Incirlik, which is about 100 miles away?
??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ??
@joel hanes:
This is most likely it
Another Scott
@My Side of Town: The reporting I saw said the choppers left from Iraq and it took about 70 minutes to get there.
Who knows how many US people/friends/helpful allies/etc. were nearby.
I assume more of the details will come out over time, but AFAIK, there are still unknown details about the bin Laden raid (though honestly I haven’t been interested enough to look, and haven’t bought any of the books about it).
Cheers,
Scott.
??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ??
@zzyzx:
I want to know WTF he means by this:
Keeping….what? As in keeping Turkey and Syria as US territories?! Or keeping them from massacring the Kurds?
Viva BrisVegas
So do they have DNA on this guy to confirm who actually blew themselves up?
And who straps on a suicide vest in a firefight and then runs away from the enemy?
Colour me skeptical.
zzyzx
@??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ??: keeping them apart maybe? Who knows.
Now for humor value we have, ” We have — you know, the airport is right nearby. A very big, very monstrous, very powerful airport, and very expensive airport that was built years ago.”
Monstrous, powerful airport…
??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ??
@zzyzx:
Yikes
MisterForkbeard
@Ruckus: @C Stars: We’re in Petaluma. It’s a remarkably calm situation for something with such a huge evac footprint.
It’s less worrying than the 2017 fires, but it’s getting more attention and they’re evacuating more. From my friends in the sheriff and fire departments, it’s more that they just don’t know how bad this will get due to the wind and are erring far on the side of caution.
For example, we’re supposed to have seen the worst of the winds from yesterday to about an hour ago. The fire grew about 20-30% in that time, mostly out in the country and forested areas. There’s a fair amount of small fires popping up south and southwest of the main fire, and I’m not sure what’s going on there.
That said, my parents are right outside one of the Evac zones, and they’ve moved in with me. We still have power. I have other friends in the area who are without power or who also evac’ed to Petaluma. It looks like no one is really worried that the fire will travel down here – but they shut off a ton of power here and in Marin to keep brush fires from touching off.
Interesting times.
Ben Cisco
It continues to be disheartening to know that the country is in such straits simply because it elected someone who looks like me in 2008.
Chris
@James E Powell:
I think so, too. I sometimes wonder what would’ve happened if FDR had chosen to use World War Two to create a McCarthy-like atmosphere against conservatives, constantly going after all of them for being “card-carrying fascists,” “a list of secret fascists,” etc etc etc. God knows he wouldn’t have had to work nearly as hard fabricating things to tie 1930s conservatives to fascism as McCarthy did to tie 1950s liberals to communism.
Keith P.
Wait a minute…bad guy blown up in a tunnel? Special Forces operative spraying bullets galore. This is the plotline of the latest Rambo. This is not the first time Trump has described his life in the way of John Rambo’s life.
My Side of Town
Designed and equipped with open systems architecture to incorporate the latest communications, navigation, sensor and weapon systems
Combat mission speed: AH-64D 145 knots (max speed); AH-64E 164 knots (max speed)
Combat range: 260 nautical miles
Combat endurance: 2.5 hours
Maximum gross weight: 20,260 pounds
Ordnance: 16 HELLFIRE missiles; 76 2.75-inch rockets and 1,200 30 mm chain gun rounds
Crew: Two (pilot and copilot gunner)
Rate of Fire: 600-650 rounds per minute
https://asc.army.mil/web/portfolio-item/aviation_apache-ah-64e/
Expected to crash if launched from Iraq
My Side of Town
@MisterForkbeard: Living in Ukiah 1994 when there was a big fire to the east and wind from the west forcing the burn towards Clear Lake. We just watched it hoping the wind would hold. Clear Lake people were of course freeking out.
HalfAssedHomesteader
@Another Scott: The foundation is gone — like it was never there to begin with! Something doesn’t smell right about that footage.
My Side of Town
This is 6th time al-Baghdadi has been killed since 2016. Convenient announcement during impeachment
Padme Resists 45
@TalkToMeForReal
Staged
6/12/16: al-Baghdadi killed in a US airstrike.
5/28/17: killed in Russian air strike.
6/11/17: killed in Syrian artillery strike.
6/29/17: Iranian leader says he’s “definitely dead.”
7/11/17: Syrian Observatory for Human Rights confirmed his death.
10/26/2019: Killed again
1,065
2:09 PM – Oct 27, 2019
Twitter Ads info and privacy
916 people are talking about this
6/12/16: al-Baghdadi killed in a US airstrike.
5/28/17: killed in Russian air strike.
6/11/17: killed in Syrian artillery strike.
6/29/17: Iranian leader says he’s “definitely dead.”
7/11/17: Syrian Observatory for Human Rights confirmed his death.
10/26/2019: Killed again
Chris
@My Side of Town:
Is it too soon for a Dread Pirate Roberts joke?
philostopher
@zhena gogolia: Thank you!
James E Powell
@Chris:
Never too soon, never too late.
philostopher
@Yutsano: Thanks – I did at least know what I posted shouldn’t cause anybody too much agita, including me!
Ruckus
@MisterForkbeard:
Thanks.
The friend I’ve known the longest lives in eastern Santa Rosa and she’s not in an evacuation zone but she spent about a week in 2017 in Petaluma with friends but I have no idea where she is now. I have friends who were living in Sebastopol last time I asked and I have no idea what is going on with them either.
Just for the record I lived in Novato for 6 yrs. Was considering retiring to Sonoma. Not so sure now.
Immanentize
I just ate the most fabulous white bean, tomatillo and poblano soup (with chicken!) that I ever had. Why yes, I made it.
Sister Golden Bear
@?BillinGlendaleCA: Yep. I lived in SoCal most of my life and remember how more than a few times fires in the Santa Monica mountains were only stopped by a firebreak called the Pacific Ocean.
Ruckus
@HalfAssedHomesteader:
Many parts of the world do not build housing like we do here. Few if any building codes, inspectors with hands out, etc. In fairness, some places build far better than our minimums and there are people everywhere with their hands out.
Immanentize
@Ben Cisco:
Ah. Finally! It’s your fault!
You doing OK?
C Stars
@MisterForkbeard: I’m glad you’re outside of the evac areas. My parents are in the east county and it doesn’t look like the fires will creep to where they are (closest mandatory evacuation from them is about 20 miles). However all of my friends from high school who stuck around are now evacuated. Yes, the evacuation process is horrendously stressful (my parents had to do it in 2017) but better to be able to come back to your intact home alive than the alternative.
Immanentize
@My Side of Town:
Are you saying Obama killed Baghdadi BEFORE Trump killed Baghdadi?
Oooo. Burn!
Immanentize
@James E Powell:
My thoughts exactly!
philostopher
@?BillinGlendaleCA: Thank you!
MisterForkbeard
@C Stars: Yeah. Most of my highschool friends that stayed here ended up moving to Santa Rosa because it’s cheaper. Only a few are in the evac zones, but they’re definitely worried. I have another friend who lost her home in the 2017 fires and decided not to rebuild – she’s really grateful today that she made that decision.
Enhanced Voting Techniques
@Ocotillo: The thing I been seeing is a lot of double speak from the conservatives I know. It feels like they are losing sleep trying to come up with ways Trump’s stupidity is really the Left’s fault and not Trump is just a useless idiot.
Ben Cisco
@Immanentize: I’m… trying. Job is good and getting better, family is better, I’ve had some physical setbacks that I am recovering from. All in all, I should be happy. And I am, mostly. But I have had someone disappear from my life, and I am still trying to figure out what the hell happened. It’s very depressing, to be honest.
J R in WV
@Ben Cisco:
Hang in there… we’re all, the whole Jackal tribe, in there with you if you need us. Seriously!!!
Well, except for the trolls, and no one wants them in with us!
C Stars
@MisterForkbeard: I’ve heard of a couple of people who rebuilt after 2017 and are now looking at the possibility of losing their homes again. Tragic.