Peskov Praises Trump for Baghdadi Raid; Turks, Kurds Take Credit for Providing Intelligence

Oct. 29, 2019 (EIRNS)—When he first announced the death of ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi in a U.S. military raid on Oct. 27, President Donald Trump thanked the nations of Russia, Turkey, Syria and Iraq as well as the Syrian Kurds for the support that they gave that made the raid possible. While the Russians were standoffish and even dismissive at first, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said yesterday that, if confirmed, al-Baghdadi’s death could only be good news. “If this information about al-Baghdadi’s death is indeed confirmed, in general we could speak about the U.S. president’s serious contribution to the fight against international terrorism,” Peskov said, noting that the news about the IS chieftain’s death could not trigger negative response from Russia’s authorities.

Chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley, while not confirming reports that the raid was launched from Iraq, did confirm that the U.S. military “coordinated with appropriate militaries and other organizations in the region through established deconfliction mechanisms.” Given the airspace that the raiders had to fly through to get to their target, the U.S. military clearly had to notify the Russian military in Syria, but also the Turkish military, through those deconfliction lines.

Milley also reported that “Intelligence from numerous organizations throughout the Department of Defense, and across the entire interagency, identified the target location approximately four miles from the Turkish border in Idlib Province of Syria.” Over the last 24 hours, officials in Turkey, and among the Kurds in both Syria and Iraq have also rushed to claim credit for the part that intelligence that they provided played in the successful raid.