U.S., Coalition Counter Terror Attack ISIS Boss Blows himself, Family Up

UPDATE DOD:

Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurayshi, the leader of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, died last night when he detonated an explosive device during a U.S. military operation that aimed to kill or capture him, a Pentagon official said.  

An ISIS deputy and some of al-Qurayshi’s family members were reportedly killed when al-Qurayshi detonated the explosive device, the official said. 

Biden Official Statement Last night at my direction, U.S. military forces in the northwest Syria successfully undertook a counterterrorism operation to protect the American people and our Allies, and make the world a safer place. Thanks to the skill and bravery of our Armed Forces, we have taken off the battlefield Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurayshi—the leader of ISIS. 

The bodies of 13 including children were recovered.

Biden announced the Counter terror operation in Syria, the war he and Obama launched in 2011. An ISIS operative was killed, he said.

What Biden did not mention is that he blew himself and his family up.

President Biden, Vice President Harris and members of the President’s national security team observed the counterterrorism operation responsible for removing from the battlefield Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurayshi — the leader of ISIS.

Last night, operating on my orders, U.S. military forces successfully removed a major terrorist threat to the world: the global leader of ISIS. Thanks to the bravery of our troops, this horrible terrorist leader is no more.

Last night’s operation is a testament to America’s reach and capability to take out terrorist threats — no matter where they try to hide in the world. I am determined to protect the American people from terrorist threats, and I will take decisive action to protect this country.

“U.S. Special Operations forces under the control of U.S. Central Command conducted a counterterrorism mission this evening in northwest Syria.  The mission was successful.  There were no U.S. casualties. More information will be provided as it becomes available.” DOD

The Syrian war launched without International Law justification—last resort— as Syria was no threat to the United States, has created the greatest humanitarian disaster since World War II.

The Red Line

Obama: “I will not put American boots on the ground in Syria. I will not pursue an open-ended action like Iraq or Afghanistan. I will not pursue a prolonged air campaign like Libya or Kosovo. This would be a targeted strike to achieve a clear objective: deterring the use of chemical weapons, and degrading Assad’s capabilities.”^[8]

2013 “Our intelligence shows the Assad regime and its forces preparing to use chemical weapons, launching rockets in the highly populated suburbs of Damascus, and acknowledging that a chemical weapons attack took place. And all of this corroborates what the world can plainly see — hospitals overflowing with victims; terrible images of the dead. All told, well over 1,000 people were murdered. Several hundred of them were children — young girls and boys gassed to death by their own government. … And finally, let me say this to the American people: I know well that we are weary of war. We’ve ended one war in Iraq. We’re ending another in Afghanistan. And the American people have the good sense to know we cannot resolve the underlying conflict in Syria with our military. In that part of the world, there are ancient sectarian differences, and the hopes of the Arab Spring have unleashed forces of change that are going to take many years to resolve. And that’s why we’re not contemplating putting our troops in the middle of someone else’s war.”^[12]

According to estimates by the United Nations, more than 400,000 people have been killed in Syria since the start of the war. The UN reports that, as of January 2019, more than 5.6 million have fled the country, and over 6 million have been internally displaced. Many refugees have fled to Jordan and Lebanon, straining already weak infrastructure and limited resources. More than 3.4 million Syrians have fled to Turkey, and many have attempted to seek refuge in Europe, CFRhttps://www.cfr.org/global-conflict-tracker/conflict/civil-war-syria