Rep. Jim Banks: Trump was right on al-Baghdadi move – Dems could not be trusted with info about secret mission
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}We learned Sunday that the Trump administration cut off the head of the serpent that is ISIS. In great detail, President Trump described the successful operation that resulted in the death of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.
Picture the frowning Democrats, sitting in front of their televisions on Sunday morning, realizing that Donald Trump just threw a bucket of paint on the portrait of a Don Quixote in the Oval Office making foreign policy decisions in the Middle East willy-nilly.
You see, the president ordered White House aides not to inform congressional Democrat leadership of the operation, accurately explaining “Washington is a leaking machine.” He did, however, brief some members of Congress like Senate Intel Chairman Richard Burr.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}As a frustrated House Republican who cares very much about our national security, I think President Trump made the right call.
Would someone like Rep. Adam Schiff have jeopardized the viability of the mission to hurt Donald Trump? It’s not hard to imagine a scenario in which, yes, Schiff and his allies would have leaked classified information to their friends in the media and railroaded this operation.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}After all, these are the same Congressional Democrats who have decided to halt all productivity in the House of Representatives to impeach an innocent president ahead of the 2020 election. It’s not hard to imagine they would jeopardize the mission to kill al-Baghdadi out of partisan vindication.
Watching the resistance’s reaction to al-Baghdadi’s death further vindicates the president’s decision. At every turn, enemies of Donald Trump tried manipulate the story to take shots at the president.
Remember, they tell us each and every day that the biggest national security risk to this nation resides in the White House. By their own logic, why wouldn’t they do all that they can to remove him? Even if it meant letting one ‘austere religious scholar’ live another day.
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There's even more evidence President Trump made the right call. Previous attempts to get al-Baghdadi have been foiled by leaks. In 2017, Gen. Tony Thomas explained how a leak to the New York Times foiled good intelligence that could have led to al-Baghdadi’s kill or capture.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}How disturbing is it that our military and intelligence officials are too afraid to brief congressional Democrats on important intelligence matters because of fears the classified subject matter will be leaked and politicized.
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Watching the resistance’s reaction to al-Baghdadi’s death further vindicates the president’s decision. At every turn, enemies of Donald Trump tried manipulate the story to take shots at the president.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Obama’s photographer suggested the photo taken in the situation room during the raid was ‘staged.’ The New York Times angrily scribbled that “Mr. al-Baghdadi’s death in the raid on Saturday occurred largely in spite of, and not because of, Mr. Trump’s actions.” The Washington Post eulogized al-Baghdadi as an "austere religious scholar."
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In another era, every citizen across the nation would have taken to the streets Sunday in celebration. But, as has become custom since November 2016, petty partisan resistance-types found a way to politicize the operation’s success.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}This moment should remind us what is important to the people we serve, should remind us that when our troops go into harm’s way to protect us—they are Americans, not Republicans or Democrats. Democrat leaders should remember that fact and quit the partisan charade of impeachment and start working on getting things done for the American people and remember who the real enemy is—people like Baghdadi who want to do harm to all Americans.