U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham gives a press briefing at the White House after a briefing on the operation to eliminate Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.

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Earlier today President Trump announced the death of ISIS loser Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. [Video below, transcript will follow]

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[White House Announcement] – Last night, the United States brought the world’s number one terrorist leader to justice. Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi is dead. He was the founder and leader of ISIS, the most ruthless and violent terror organization in the World. The United States has been searching for Baghdadi for many years. Capturing or killing Baghdadi has been the top national security priority of my Administration. U.S. Special Operations forces executed a dangerous and daring nighttime raid into Northwestern Syria to accomplish this mission.
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President Trump tweeted tonight: “something big just happened”…

Fox News is reporting: A “high value ISIS target” believed to be Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi has been killed by U.S.-led forces in Idlib, Syria, a well-placed military source told Fox News on Saturday night.  The U.S. military cannot yet confirm the identity of the deceased target. (link)
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Earlier today President Trump delivered remarks about the ongoing issues with Turkey and Northern Syria from the White House.  [Video and Transcript]

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[Transcript] – THE PRESIDENT: Well, thank you very much. My fellow Americans, I greet you this morning from the White House to announce a major breakthrough toward achieving a better future for Syria and for the Middle East. It’s been a long time.
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Funny how that happens. Recep Erdogan realized his Turkish forces were facing off against Kurdish military, the Syrian Army, and Russians. As a result of President Trump proclaiming the NATO ally was all alone; Erdogan was, as we anticipated, naked to an alliance of his enemies. Additionally, the Turkish economy was going to be destroyed by sanctions.
Vice-President Mike Pence and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo gave President Erdogan the only way out that would avoid him being crushed militarily and economically; and simultaneously positioned the deal such that Erdogan could save face domestically and declare a win.  The Kurdish forces will pull back allowing a 20 mile buffer region.
Brilliant all around geopolitical strategy by the Trump administration; and now all the pontificating war-mongers on Capitol Hill seem ridiculous. Here’s President Trump’s presser from the tarmac in Texas. [Video Below – Transcript ADDED]

https://twitter.com/Breaking911/status/1184922521281466369
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President Trump prefers to use targeted economic weapons instead of the U.S. military forces against foreign adversaries.  This is especially true if foreign actions are taking place amid the complex circle of geopolitical interests, against the interests of allies.
Today the White House has released a letter sent by President Trump to President Erdogan of Turkey dated October 9th.   The letter was sent two days after President Trump made the decision to pull 28 members of the U.S. military out of harms way; two days before President Trump outlined the sanctions against Turkey; and five days before President Trump initiated those sanctions through Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin.
The warning is clear.  President Trump is clear-eyed about the motives and intentions of the Turkish president, and Ergodan’s ideological alignment with political Islam, via The Muslim Brotherhood.
One of the reasons this strategy is better than any military action is simply because Turkey is a unique NATO ally, and the NATO alliance within Europe is insufferably incapable and unwilling to take action to defend their interests.
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President Trump has played this out perfectly.  By isolating Turkish President Recep Erdogan, and effectively leaving him naked to an alliance of his enemies, Erdogan is now urgently asking for the U.S. to mediate peace negotiations with Kurdish forces.
This request happens immediately after President Trump signed an executive order [See Here] triggering the sanction authority of Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin.  Erdogan called the White House requesting an urgent phone call with President Trump.
After President Trump talked to Kurdish General Mazloum Kobani Abdi, the commander of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, President Trump then discussed the options available to President Erdogan.  As a result of that conversation, Erdogan requested the U.S. mediate negotiations.  Vice-President Mike Pence announces he will be traveling to the region with National Security Advisor Robert O’Brien to lead that effort.  WATCH:

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Eight years ago Zurich Mike penned an analogy of the ‘Islamist Spring’ that still rings true today, when he said: President Obama helped kill the zookeepers and unleashed the big cats…. The Turkish movement into Syria is all part of this continuum.
When President Obama ignited the “Islamist Spring” with his speech in Cairo Egypt, what he really articulated was a shift in U.S. foreign policy to support The Muslim Brotherhood.

Political Islam, writ large, is represented by The Brotherhood.  Turkish President Recep Erdogan sees himself as the modern leader of political Islam using the Brotherhood to recreate the Ottoman Empire.
Ben Ali (Tunis), Hosni Mubarak (Egypt) and Khadaffi (Libya), were the first zookeepers removed.  Obama’s U.S. foreign policy supported Muslim Brotherhood replacements like Mohamed Morsi in Egypt.  However, Obama failed in the effort to remove Bashir Assad in Syria; as a result all extremist factions of the Brotherhood gathered to form ISIS.
Factions like al-Qaeda, al-Nusra and ISIS all fall under the umbrella of The Muslim Brotherhood.  The exiled Brotherhood leaders initially fled Egypt to Qatar until they were further driven-out by the Gulf Cooperation Council and ultimately given safe-harbor in Turkey, by Recep Erdogan.
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In a series of tweets today, President Trump explains the U.S. position toward the current quagmire in Northern Syria:

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Things are about to get very interesting and very uncomfortable for NATO.  President Trump has announced that Turkey is about to launch a unilateral invasion into Northern Syria… There is going to be a scramble amid many geopolitical interests.

First, the announcement:

[White House]  –  Today, President Donald J. Trump spoke with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey by telephone. Turkey will soon be moving forward with its long-planned operation into Northern Syria.
The United States Armed Forces will not support or be involved in the operation, and United States forces, having defeated the ISIS territorial “Caliphate,” will no longer be in the immediate area.

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