Concerning the Killing of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi and U.S. Counterterrorism Policy

Christopher A. PrebleUpon hearing the news that ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi had been killed, I issued the following statement:Even President Donald Trump ’s harshest critics should welcome the news thatISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi was killed in a raid in northwestern Syria Saturday evening. The operation, President Trump noted in his statement, reflects the bravery and professionalism of the men and women in the U.S. military, as well as U.S. intelligence agencies. President Trump also credited Russia, Turkey, Syria, Iraq, and the Syrian Kurds for varying levels of support.With the passage of time, Baghdadi ’s demise may be seen as a belated footnote to ISIS’s spectacular rise and fall. He had been reported wounded before, and appears to have spent most of the last few years of his life in hiding or on the run. That no doubt complicated his ability to plan and execute other terrorist attacks, or re cruit new members. Although further details are sure to emerge, the operation that ended Baghdadi’s life (he reportedly committed suicide as the U.S. forces closed in on him) resembles the raid that killed Osama bin Laden, and that captured the 9/11 plotters Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and Ramzi Binals hibh. Importantly, none of these operations depended upon tens of thousands of troops stationed indefinitely in distant lands. There’s a lesson here for those who claim that such open-ended nation-building missions are necessary to prevent or disrupt so-called terrorist...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - Category: American Health Authors: Source Type: blogs