ISIS Strike will Boost Trump’s Credibility, At Least in Short Term

The Straits Times

28 October 2019

The killing of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi in northern Syria by US forces is a boost for President Donald Trump at a time when his foreign policy decisions and claims have been questioned amid an impeachment inquiry conducted by the opposition-controlled House. ISIS’ propaganda arm reported in August that Abdullah Qardash, a former Iraqi army officer who was once jailed together with Baghdadi by the US, had been named his successor. Whoever fills Baghdadi’s role will have a “committed militant following backing them still in the near- to mid-term”, noted Mr Remy Mahzam, an associate research fellow at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies at NTU in Singapore, in a paper last month.

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