WASHINGTON — One of your representatives in Washington is talking about the significance of the death of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the leader of the Islamic State in northern Syria.
Baghdadi was killed when he committed suicide by detonating an explosive-laden vest as U.S special forces soldiers were closing in on his location.
Indiana Congressman Jim Banks (R-IN-03) is likening Baghdadi’s death to that of Osama Bin Laden, who was the leader of Al-Qaida and the mastermind behind the 9/11 terror attacks. But, he is careful to clarify the differences between the two.
“The killing of Bin Laden was retribution. This was very strategic,” Banks told Fox News. “That’s why when President Trump came into office he brought his senior national security officials together and said, ‘We’re going to do whatever it takes to kill Baghdadi.’ This is a big moment for his administration.”
Banks added that the president was right to keep most of Congress in the dark as the operation was carried out, even though the president is required by law to inform Congress before certain military operations are carried out.
“The statute from 1947 is very vague on who the intelligence committee has to brief in Congress, but they did make an effort to do that,” Banks said. “In protecting the mission, of course, they left out some key members of Congress that they were afraid might politicize it and ruin it.”
One of those key members, according to President Trump, is House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff.
“They were talking about why I didn’t give the information to Adam Schiff,” Trump said. “The answer is I think Adam Schiff is the biggest leaker in Washington.”
Schiff said on ABC’s This Week that even though Congress was not duly informed of the plan before it was carried out, he is happy to see al-Baghdadi dead.
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(PHOTO: Bill Clark/Getty Images)
