Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), in separate statements to the media, said that President Donald Trump didnt give them notice ahead of the raid that led to the death of ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.
“I wasnt, but I was in the similar position when President Obama ordered the attack on Osama bin Laden. I was not called in advance then, nor do I expect to be called in advance now,” McConnell told reporters, according to The Hill.
McConnell said the White House told him before the operation went public.
“The administration attempted to let me know. I didnt connect with them before the presidents press conference, but they attempted to let me know before he went public. So the two situations were handled exactly the same from my point of view,” McConnell added.
McCarthy told a CNN reporter that he was notified after the fact.
The two hailed the death of al-Baghdadi and praised Trump for the decision.
“This mornings announcement should confirm for the world what many already knew—that terrorists cannot outlast or outmatch the commitment of the U.S. counter-terrorism apparatus. We will not stop or waver in destroying terrorist leaders wherever they hide,” McCarthy said in a statement.
“The world is a safer place today because al-Baghdadi has been brought to justice. I applaud our intelligence professionals, the brave servicemembers who risked everything to carry out this mission, and President Trump and his team,” McConnell wrote on Twitter.
Trump confirmed the death of al-Baghdadi in a press conference on Oct. 27, saying the ISIS leader died in a tunnel during a nighttime raid in northern Syria. The terrorist leader brought three children with him into the tunnel and detonaRead More – Source
