October 27, 2019

"He died after running into a dead-end tunnel, whimpering and crying and screaming all the way... and he had dragged three of his young children with him."

"They were led to certain death. He reached the end of the tunnel, as our dogs chased him down. He ignited his vest, killing himself and the three children. His body was mutilated by the blast, the tunnel had caved in on it in addition, but test results gave certain, immediate and totally positive identification it was him. The thug who tried so hard to intimidate others spent his last moments in utter fear, in total panic and dread — terrified of the American forces bearing down on him.... Baghdadi and the losers who worked with him — and losers they are — they had no idea what they were getting into. In some cases they were very frightened puppies, in other cases they were hard-core killers. But they killed many, many people. Their murder of innocent Americans James Foley, Steven Sotloff, Peter Kassig and Kayla Mueller were especially heinous. The shocking publicized murder of Jordanian pilot — a wonderful young man, spoke to the king of Jordan, they all knew him, they all loved him — who was burned alive in a cage for all to see, and the execution of Christians in Libya and Egypt, as well as the genocidal mass murder of Yazidis, rank ISIS among the most depraved organizations in the history of our world. The forced religious conversions, the orange suits prior to so many beheadings, all of which were openly displayed for the world to see — this was all that Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi — this is what he wanted, this is what he was proud of. He was a sick and depraved man. And now he’s gone. Baghdadi was vicious and violent, and he died in a vicious and violent way, as a coward, running and crying.... He died like a dog. He died like a coward. The world is now a much safer place."

From the transcript (at the NYT) of Trump's statement this morning.

I was struck by the clarity of the speech and the forthright contempt.

Interesting that Baghdadi was compared to a dog — "He died like a dog" (and "they were very frightened puppies") — but there were also hero dogs on our side — "our dogs chased him down." The comparison to a dog was intended to make the death feel more painful to his supporters  — on the theory that Muslims hate dogs — and the dogs on the our side boosted our admiration for the American military — as Americans clearly love dogs. During the question-and-answer part — which is not in the transcript — whenever Trump said that none of our men were killed or even injured, he would add that a dog was injured. Though it's often been noted that Trump — an oddity among Presidents — has no dog, he certainly knows that Americans adore dogs, and that was manifested by the care he took never to say that on our side, "no one was injured." I think he knew very well that there are Americans who would take offense and yell "A dog was injured!" at their TV screen.

98 comments:

Wince said...

It seems as though to know what Trump says we know there would have to be a “Dog Cam” on the dog that chased Baghdadi down that tunnel.

Gospace said...

But--- but--- Orangeman is both bad AND stupid! I've read that many times!

gilbar said...

Americans clearly love dogs

And FAR More important; Dogs clearly love americans.
Want proof of our moral superiority? There you go!

chickelit said...

Cue the plaintive wails and ululations from the Omar squad.

gilbar said...

I like the symbolism of "after running into a dead-end tunnel" Sums up Islamism, don't it?

FullMoon said...

When Trump is out of office, he will continue to use twitter and the press will continue to seek him out for comments , in which he will tell it like it is and remain influential. Not going to be silent like Bush, or stutter without a 'prompter like Obama.

FullMoon said...

A bad-ass would have taken out some of the opposition with his suicide vest. What a punk.

BUMBLE BEE said...

The Donald also knows how the handlers feel about their dogs. Those Belgian wonderdogs!

tim in vermont said...

This is how lefties think:

I was handy with a rifle

My father's .303

I fought for something final

Not the right to disagree
- Leonard Cohen, Happens to the Heart.

Big Mike said...

I was struck by the clarity of the speech and the forthright contempt.

He's always be clear. And he draws a hard line between good guys and bad.

Rob said...

Don't we all spend our lives running into a dead-end tunnel, led to certain death, only to spend our last moments in utter fear, panic and dread?

skybill said...

Hi Ann,
Thx for the post... it starts off with one's not knowing where then it becomes clear... So far we may sigh with relief that this person is not "Here among us" doing his thing... or is he?? ... only he hasn't "surfaced" yet.....
(sigh).. time to lock and load.... out on my back deck... 164 feet from the rail to the wood line.. got a small stand set up with a bunch of tin cans and plastic bottles... the radio on the table is playing..."War..Children!!....'it's just a shot away!!!!...Yeayeayea...!!!" "POW!!-ping!!" a can flips up into the air.... Practice, Practice!!!
'A Redneck Saturday afternoon...
Audentes, Fortuna Ivat,
III%,
skybill-out

Ken B said...

That is a splendid statement.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

WaPo leftists weep for the dead killer.

tim in vermont said...

I think this is what Dems will settle on: Obama's boasting of killing bin Laden was done with elegance, class and dignity, while Trump's was tacky, crass and unpresidential. What else do they have? It's kind of a metaphor for the general contempt for Trump - Glenn Greenwald

If you really want to read people who know how to stick the knife into Democrats, go left young man.

Ingachuck'stoothlessARM said...

'Cur' would have been good too,

...but may have sounded like 'Kurd'

wildswan said...

Maybe this speculation is pointless but I wonder if Trump called the NeverTrumpers "human scum" on Monday because on that day the planning for this raid kicked into high gear and on that day he decided not to notify anyone in Washington, not even NeverTrumpers who one might suppose to be safe with that kind of information. Pelosi, the media and parts of the intelligence agencies were also left out until after the raid, naturally. But on last Monday when planning for the rid was going on, Trump thought and said that NeverTrumpers "are in certain ways worse and more dangerous for our Country than the Do Nothing Democrats. Watch out for them, they are human scum!" Perhaps this Tweet reflects Trump's decision not tell the NeverTrumpers anything because they might leak about the raid, being as they are "just as bad, if not worse in some ways" as the DNC/Media. Perhaps on that day Trump really got down to it and asked himself if NeverTrumpers would be willing to get our soldiers killed in a failed raid if it meant scoring points against him. Perhaps he realized that he didn't know, he couldn't take the chance. NeverTrumpers might help ISIS: that would explain the very emphatic Tweet on Monday which seemed to come out of the blue since nothing new was happening and which was a little startling because the words were unusual in our political discourse, as Althouse pointed out, saying it was unusual and must mean something. Well, the term "ISIS scum" is fairly common on the internet among people with Arabic names.

tim in vermont said...

wildswan may have a point.

bagoh20 said...

Sounds like a man with the right amount of moral outrage aimed at the right people. You get that much in our leaders today. Many on the left would have a hard time deciding who they hate more: a murdering ISIS butcher like this or an American President.

The statement is absolute moral clarity. Something continuously out of reach for his opponents.

Sebastian said...

"the forthright contempt"

But, but he was talking a Muslim! An adherent of the religion of peace! An austere scholar! Shame on Trump.

tim in vermont said...

I have little doubt that Schiff could have tipped off ISIS. Pelosi? Probably not, but Schiff?

Michael K said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
madAsHell said...

Islam considers dogs to be un-clean.

buwaya said...

Village of Barisha, Idlib province, just a few klicks from the Turkish border, in territory within the Turkish sphere of influence as these things go in Syria these days. Moreover the US helicopters seem to have come out of Turkish airspace.

A deal with the Turks, certainly.

Very likely part of the deal wrt to that Kurdish border territory.
Possibly a lagniappe with some other considerations. That fellow was not important anymore, other than symbolically.

It makes one wonder what Obama traded to the Pakis for OBL.

Jim at said...

That is a splendid statement. - Ken B.

You might use this opportunity to be quiet. You can't incessantly criticize Trumps decisions in Syria and then give him kudos when he succeeds.

buwaya said...

The other danger probably was US intelligence and military circles, which may have done something to queer the (obvious) deal with the Turks.

bagoh20 said...

"Terrorist leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, who the president said was killed during a special forces raid in Syria, had reportedly been the captor and rapist of Arizona's Kayla Mueller, who was taken hostage in 2013.

“What this man did to Kayla — he kidnapped her,” her father Carl Mueller, his voice choking, told The Arizona Republic on Sunday morning, shortly after President Donald Trump announced al-Baghdadi had died.

“She was held in many prisons," Carl Mueller said. "She was held in solitary confinement. She was tortured. She was intimidated. She was ultimately raped by al-Baghdadi himself."
~ Karina Bland, Arizona Republic

The Washington Post is human scum.

tim in vermont said...

https://connectingvets.radio.com/articles/news/raid-killed-baghdadi-named-after-kayla-mueller

She likely wouldn’t have approved, but her dad, I am sure, did.

BamaBadgOR said...

Ann - "I was struck by the clarity of the speech and the forthright contempt."

He talks like an ordinary person. Which is why he relates so well to average Americans but not cosmopolitans.

TosaGuy said...

The dog and coward talking points are directed at ISIS and those that would support them or recruit to them. This guy published kill videos and recruited from them as a demonstration of strength. Trump wanted to show that part of the world that he died a coward, rather then as fighting martyr. It is a blunt and effective message that is as important as the kill.

tim in vermont said...

"slam considers dogs to be un-clean”

Hell of a thing for a devout cleric to be the last image on his retina.

Looks like a denial of service attack again. Usually a good sign that news isn’t going well for the Democrats.

tim in vermont said...

#WaPoDeathNotices is trending. LOL

Dad29 said...

WaPo leftists weep for the dead killer.

So does Bloomberg News. Yah, I know. We're all *shocked*!!

narciso said...


https://twitter.com/davereaboi/status/1188469599345491968

tim in vermont said...

According to Twitter, this was Putin throwing his boy a bone.

Browndog said...

Blogger buwaya said...

Village of Barisha, Idlib province, just a few klicks from the Turkish border, in territory within the Turkish sphere of influence as these things go in Syria these days. Moreover the US helicopters seem to have come out of Turkish airspace.

A deal with the Turks, certainly.


I think this is correct.

Hari said...

A bit of background on the Austere religious scholar:

https://abcnews.go.com/International/isis-leader-abu-bakr-al-baghdadi-sexually-abused/story?id=33085923

traditionalguy said...

Witness the stable genius at war. He is a genius at enemy identification. And next he carefully attacks until he wins. The entire American Military stands in awe of that good of a Commander-in Chief.

And then he uses a highly trained weapon of war named Kellyanne Conway on the enemy press.

Bay Area Guy said...

As a general rule, exacting justice on crazy, murderous Muslim terrorists is a good thing.

If you love goodness, ya gotta hate evil.

Bruce Hayden said...

Towards the end of Trump’s speech:

I want to thank the nations of Russia, Turkey, Syria and Iraq, and I also want to thank the Syrian Kurds for certain support they were able to give us. Thank you as well to the great intelligence professionals who helped make this very successful journey possible.

I want to thank the soldiers, sailors, airmen, and marines involved in last night’s operation. You are the very best there is anywhere in the world. I want to thank General Mark Milley and our Joint Chiefs of Staff, and I also want to thank our professionals who work in other agencies of the United States government and were critical to the mission’s success.


Notice that Trump trusted the leaders of Russia, Turkey, Syria, and Iraq more than he trusted our Congressional leadership not to leak our plans.

buwaya said...

The US at the same time also got the ISIS spokesman or PR guy at Jarablus, Aleppo province, which is right on the Turkish border. Its beginning to look like the Turks sold out the lot of them in a deal.

Also, obviously, the Turks had been protecting them all this time.

Michael K said...

More blogger crap. With moderation I cannot tell if the comments were deleted.

Bruce Hayden said...

Definitely looking Ike a denial of service attack going on today on either Blogger or Ann’s site.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

Bagoh - Indeed.

Parents of Kayla Mueller grateful for death of ISIS leader who held their daughter hostage

h said...

'Who touches a hair of yon gray head
Dies like a dog! March on! he said."

Barbara Fritchie by John Greenleaf Whittier

Danno said...

Blogger BamaBadgOR said...Ann - "I was struck by the clarity of the speech and the forthright contempt."

"He talks like an ordinary person. Which is why he relates so well to average Americans but not cosmopolitans."

I'm sure Trump hasn't been a frequent visitor at the faculty lounge. Although living in NYC for most or all of his life, he has to know a libtard when he sees one.

steve uhr said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Ingachuck'stoothlessARM said...

life is rrruff! for ISIS dogs

Abu al-Hassan al-Muhajir, ISIS Spokesman & right-hand man
of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi
has been targeted and killed in the village of Ain al-Baydah, near Jarablus, in a joint operation between the US military and SDF

Jim at said...

Leftists love terrorists. Got it.

You might be more convincing if your fellow leftists weren't always taking the side of said terrorists. Like, today even.

Jim at said...

No, Ken. B.

You try to have it both ways, and calling me a fool for pointing it out doesn't help your cause.

Ingachuck'stoothlessARM said...

keeping up with the Qardash-ians?

ISIS has already designated a successor to Baghdadi, called Abdullah Qardash.

AllenS said...

Ken B said...
Trump does good things and he does bad things. I calls 'em as I sees 'em. Getting Baghdadi is great and I say so, letting Erdogan kill Kurds is not, and I say so.

I have news for you, Ken, the Turks have been killing Kurds, and Kurds have been killing Turks since the beginning of time. Way, way before Trump was even born.

gilbar said...

here's one for you, stevew;

Thank GOD that President Trump didn't foolishly tell Nancy Pelosi about the raid;
'cause it is CERTAIN, that IF the Democrats knew, they would have alerted their allies in ISIS

Democrats CREATED ISIS. Trump is sending them to HELL!

Retail Lawyer said...

Another problem with calling him a religious scholar is that Obama, another religious scholar, opined that Baghdadi's sect of Islam was not true Islam. So Baghdadi valorization comes at Obama's expense. I recall Althouse citing dicta of a SCOTUS case wherein it stated that the US Government should never opine on the correctness of a particular sect of a religion. Except Obama because he's a Christian, not a Muslim, apparently.

n.n said...

It makes one wonder what Obama traded to the Pakis for OBL.

We lost an experimental helicopter in Pakistan, followed by a couple dozen SEALs in Afghanistan. Maybe a coincidence.

tim in vermont said...

Islamic State spokesperson could not be reached for comment.

https://www.newsweek.com/us-strikes-kill-isis-spokesperson-day-after-baghdadi-death-syria-raid-1468018

Ken B said...

AllenS
There is a difference between something happening and the same thing happening because America reneges on its promises.

Maillard Reactionary said...

"I was struck by the clarity of the speech and the forthright contempt."

Well, he is an American, you know. But after eight years of International Man of Mystery Barry Soetoro sucking up to every dictator on the planet, I can imagine the shock.

Trump has set a high bar for future Presidents, and contemporary politicians of all parties.

tim in vermont said...

One of the weapons that Obama poured into Syria through the CIA, you know, creating the wave of millions of refugees, ended up being used to shoot down an American helicopter in Afghanistan.

https://nypost.com/2014/06/08/how-the-taliban-got-their-hands-on-modern-us-missiles/

gbarto said...

I'm not worried about Pelosi leaking, but I am worried about her driver overhearing.

Birkel said...

Ken B suffered a complete breakdown in his analysis. Now he lashes out at people who called him wrong at the time and are proven correct by events. Lash away, Ken B. Tell more lies about positions I didn't take.

sakredkow said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
I Have Misplaced My Pants said...

Normal people would throw their children clear of oncoming danger, not drag them down too.

What a shitstain.

narciso said...

yes he's former Iraqi army, quelle surprise, not sure if he was republican guard, odds are good, much like the terrorist leader in dan silva's black widow, now it may be a kunya, because quarqash is a name known as far as oman,'

But its striking how close to the the vest this all was, only the meeting with general abdi might have been a tell,

tim in vermont said...

Victory has a thousand fathers

MOSCOW — Russia’s military said on Friday that it was looking into whether one of its airstrikes in the Syrian desert had killed Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the self-declared caliph of the Islamic State.

In a statement, the Defense Ministry said that the Russian Air Force struck a meeting of Islamic State leaders on May 28 outside Raqqa, Syria, the group’s de facto capital, possibly killing Mr. Baghdadi.


https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/16/world/middleeast/baghdadi-russia-isis.html

narciso said...

and the ap's pete souza is a lying hack, but you knew that already,

tim in vermont said...

"Normal people would throw their children clear of oncoming danger, not drag them down too.”

He needed them possibly as hostages or shields.

narciso said...

in other news, the perky miss hill is resigning from congress,

Birkel said...

Ken B: Objection. Assumes facts not in evidence. No promises are documented from the United States to a non-nation communist tribe called Syrian Kurds.

You'll have to provide documentation if you want to be believed.

narciso said...


https://twitter.com/EmeraldRobinson/status/1188565549074264064

Char Char Binks, Esq. said...

"'It makes one wonder what Obama traded to the Pakis for OBL.'

We lost an experimental helicopter in Pakistan, followed by a couple dozen SEALs in Afghanistan. Maybe a coincidence."

Quid pro quo

whitney said...

Check it out. Somebody has TDS

https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2019/10/trump-obama-bin-laden-tweets/

Narayanan said...

Here we go.
Sunday morning QBs and lawyers
https://hotair.com/archives/taylormillard/2019/10/27/trump-probably-informed-congress-baghdadis-raid/

Unknown said...

We came, we saw, he died

daskol said...

Also, obviously, the Turks had been protecting them all this time.

So which twitter loving autocrat actually got his bluff called after all? The game is not what people say it is, but we're all of us just seeing shadows on the wall in any event. The renegotiation is taking a pretty clear shape.

bbkingfish said...

It's obvious that the it was a staged photograph...a photograph staged incompetently and without much thought. Those six guys look like mannequins, especially the generals, who look really uncomfortable.

They would have don e better to surround Trump with actors. The WH communications staff should be fired.

Birkel said...

Poor, poor bbkingfish.
The person who initially claimed a staged photo has retracted.
Your talking points are old.
Go get new ones.

Michael K said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Howard said...

It's really easy to sound clear when you make it all up, counsellor

tim in vermont said...

"he person who initially claimed a staged photo has retracted.”

Looks like they have their new plastic turkey. They will never give it up, it doesn’t matter to them whether it is true or not.

Ingachuck'stoothlessARM said...

"He died doing what he loved"

Nichevo said...

Howard said...
It's really easy to sound clear when you make it all up, counsellor

Hey soldier... if you have nothing to say, don't say it.

The Cracker Emcee Refulgent said...

The "died like a dog" statement is the real eye-popper here. More significant, really, than al-Shitbaggi's death. That's a pretty clear message that the whole Religion of Peace Jive is longer part of American foreign policy.

wildswan said...

"Michael K said...
More blogger crap. With moderation I cannot tell if the comments were deleted."

Sometimes I seem to collide with someone else posting and I get an oops window and a sorry from Blogger. But if I back-arrow right away, my post is still there and I publish again. If the box empties I know the comment is in moderation. This does not result in double posting. Hope this helps.

Ken B said...

One of the best of the death notices was Timothy McVeigh, a demolition worker who died in his sleep.

Ralph L said...

Has anyone put Beatrice fascinators on them yet?

walter said...

Some people did something.

stephen cooper said...

Slightly off topic ....

a day or two ago, American militarily forces, well-trained and well equipped and most importantly, extremely brave, killed an enemy of mankind, in the kind of operation that not many militaries can succeed at, and the civilized world cheered Donald Trump's announcement of the evildoer's death.

Tonight in between innings a few hundred or a few thousand attendees at the World Series home game "boo" the Commander in Chief, and many of them participated in a seditious or treasonous chant against the Commander in Chief - while the men under his command are still conducting mopping up operations.

That would not have happened in Houston.

I was rooting for the Nationals until that moment.
They are going to lose tonight.
Blowhard McRaven will not be busted down in rank, but the Nationals will lose, there is some justice in the world.

Worst crowd in world series history.

gadfly said...

According to Wiki, the Kurds have known al-Baghdadi was virtually in their backyard in Raqqa since 2017 - so why did they just now give him up to the hated Trump after he abandoned them.

Also, I question why these assassination stories always end with the body mutilated beyond recognition or disposed of in the sea as was the case with bin Laden. Let us see the DNA testing results please.

stephen cooper said...

and at the end of the seventh the umpire calls an obvious ball a strike ending the Nats' chance for a rally that inning.

Ump is pissed at the crowd too.

McRaven unavailable for comment.

Announcers, next inning, are trying to say "you need to swing if it is close on a 3-2 count"

not wanting to say - politics has invaded baseball calling of balls and strikes.

I've watched baseball for many years and never seen anything like this.

Happens all the time in soccer but soccer is soccer, this is baseball !

Drago said...

bbkingfish: "It's obvious that the it was a staged photograph...a photograph staged incompetently and without much thought."

LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL

You utter buffoon!

Not only did your offering "not age well", is was rendered inop the moment you posted it!!

And thats on top of lefties sucking up to a dead mass murdering slaving terrorist butcher!!

Well played!

So. Much. Trump. Winning.

Which is equivalent to America winning.

Which is why you and your lefty/LLR-lefty pals hate him so much, which is no longer arguable.

At all.

chickelit said...

Pantless wrote Normal people would throw their children clear of oncoming danger, not drag them down too.

Skylark replied: He needed them possibly as hostages or shields.

Herr Doktor Goebbels took his wife and six children down with him.

Anonymous said...

"Died like a dog" is a common American expression. Trump did not invent it to insult Muslims. I am amused by the way every time Trump talks people parse his every thought like it was a presidential proclamation. Choosing "died like a dog" was a nice touch, though.

Also, people pose for pictures. So?

Drago said...

The Poor Man's LLR C**** gadfly: "According to Wiki, the Kurds have known al-Baghdadi was virtually in their backyard in Raqqa since 2017 - so why did they just now give him up to the hated Trump after he abandoned them."

LOLOL

Seriously, is it really not obvious to you that you are not very good at this posting thing?

Ralph L said...

dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7619773/How-gunships-cornered-ISIS-leader-Abu-Bakr-al-Baghdadi
Has before and after pics of the house.

My name goes here. said...

I realize that I am late to this party. But I was told that George Bush (the elder) purposefully misprounced Saddam Hussein's name because his mispronounciation was a phonetic insult to the man. The idea being that in the Middle Eastern culture insulting a leader is a way of showing disrespect and it has cultural weight to do so. I mean if Saddam Hussein got on TV and called Bush "an unclean kur dog determined to lead America into the burning pit of hellfire and damnation" political prognosticators and wizards of smart would be asking which congressional seat is he running for?

Anyway, I agree that he "died like a dog" is a very trump thing to say, and an American saying but that also it was considered by at least some people with input into the speech to be a statement of cultural weight -- to let the supporters of the Caliphate know that death awaits but it will be the most unclean death we can imagine.

Well, I guess we could ramp it up, we could use war pigs.

Michael K said...

But if I back-arrow right away, my post is still there and I publish again.

I do that routinely but the comment does not appear on the back arrow. It's happening up to five times. Moderation prevents me from seeing if it posted, which would explain why the back page arrow did not show it. Frustrating.

Nichevo said...

Mike, try just hitting refresh page.