By Ronn Blitzer | Fox News
President Trump congratulates U.S. military forces on a
job well done and reveals sensitive material was taken from the ISIS raid that
killed Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.
President Trump, announcing the death of ISIS leader Abu
Bakr al-Baghdadi, described him as dying "in a vicious and violent way, as
a coward, running and crying.”
“He died like a dog, he died like a coward,” Trump said
in a speech to the nation Sunday morning.
The ISIS leader's death came in a successful U.S.
military operation in northwest Syria Saturday night that took roughly two
hours.
The Islamic State leader detonated an explosive vest as
U.S. Special Operations Forces stormed his compound in the Idrib Province.
Trump said he died whimpering at the back of a dead-end tunnel.
He also said the U.S. had al-Baghdadi under surveillance
for weeks.
Trump said the U.S. had been searching for al-Baghdadi
for years, calling his capture or death “the top national security priority of
my administration.” Trump thanked Russia, Turkey, Syria, Iraq, and Kurds in the
region.
“No personnel were lost in the operation, while a large
number of Baghdadi’s fighters and companions were killed with him,” Trump said,
adding that the U.S. recovered “highly sensitive” materials related to ISIS.
“You are the very best anywhere in the world,” Trump later said of the U.S.
forces.
Trump said al-Baghdadi died while being chased down by
U.S. forces in a tunnel, and that the ISIS leader was “whimpering and crying
and screaming all the way.” He then detonated a suicide vest, killing himself.
Trump said three children who were with al-Baghdadi were also killed in the
blast. Eleven other young children were taken out of the location uninjured,
Trump said.
“Our reach is very long,” Trump said. He pointed to the
recent death of Hamza bin Laden, son of al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden. “These
savage monsters will not escape their fate, and they will not escape the
final judgment of God.”
Trump said “Baghdadi and the losers who work for him” had
“no idea what they were getting into.”
Al-Baghdadi reportedly had a $25 million bounty on his
head. Some experts had predicted that as time passed and ISIS losses in the
Middle East mounted, it was inevitable that al-Baghdadi would be captured
or killed.
“The world is now a much safer place,” Trump said. “God
bless America.”
Trump was heavily criticized by Democrats and Republicans
for withdrawing U.S. troops from northern Syria earlier this month, with one concern
being that it would allow ISIS to regain strength in the region.
“We don’t want to
keep soldiers between Syria and Turkey for the next 200 years,” Trump said, but
said he intends to secure the oil in the region, which could strengthen ISIS.
Trump defended his decision to pull out of northern
Syria, saying that it benefits Russia and China, who can build their military
while the U.S. expends resources.
