LOS ANGELES (OC).–Slaughtering two American soldiers and one civilian at an outpost in Syria, it reminds the White House about the dangers of terrorism in Mideast warzones. President Donald Trump remembers well what happened when he left office Aug. 26, 2021, when the Biden White House conducted a hasty evacuation in Kabul, Afghanistan. ISIS-K Khorasan group in Afghanistan detonated a suicide bomber at the Abbeu Gate of the airport killing 13 U.S. soldier and 170 civilians, all because the Biden didn’t provide the kind to security needed to prevent the deadly mishap. Now ISIS has struck again. “This was a ISIS attack against the U.S and Syria, in a very dangerous par of Syria that is now fully controlled by them,” Trump said. Trump said he heard condolences from Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa, saying he was “extremely angry and disturbed by the attack.” Identity of the attacker isn’t not known.
Trump said that the two wound U.S soldiers “seem to be doing pretty well,” claiming the guman was killed. U.S. soldiers haven’t been killed in Syria since the fall of former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, something once thought unthinkable. “There will be very serious retaliation,” Trump said on his Truth Social network, not saying when and what the Pentagon would do. According to British Syrian Observatory of Human rights the terrorist was a member of the Syrian military. Whatever retaliation Trump plans, it won’t be to the Syrian military but what still remains of ISIS in the area. In Trump’s first term, the Pentagon all but destroyed ISIS, killing its founder Abu Bakar al-Baghdadi Oct. 27, 2019. Trump went after ISIS as a top priority in his first term. Now Trump must make a choice how much military assets should go into the same mission.
ISIS terrorists opened fire on U.S. and Syrian troops in historic Palmyra reported by the Syran state-run news agency SANA. Syria’s Interior Ministry Spokesman denied that the shooter was part of Syrian Security Service, denying the possibility that ISIS had infiltrated the Syrian Security Services. So, whatever Syrian Security Services or the Pentagon finds out about the shooter, Syrian Presidient al-Sharaa was once named Abu-Mohammad al-Jolani was an al-Qaeda commander in Iraq, then ran the al-Nusrah ‘s trying to drive former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. When it comes to infiltration and subversion, the Pentagon knows all about when al-Qaeda devotee U.S. Army Major Dr. Nidal Malik Hassan killed 13 soldiers, injuring 30 Nov. 5, 2009 in Fort Hood, Texas. So, when it comes to infiltration the U.S. knows all about military subversion.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth hae some harsh words for some of the first deaths on his watch. “Let it be known, it you target Americans—anywhere in the world—you will spend the rest of your brief, anxious life know the United States will hunt you, find you, and ruthlessly kill you,” Hegseth posted on X. While showing passion, it’s preferred for the Defense Secretary to say less, keep U.S. enemies guessing what the U.S. might do in the future. When it came to the terrorist in Syria, he’s already been liquidated, so whatever Hegseth would do now would be a wider war against the resurgent terrorist group. ISIS once controlled large swaths of Iraq and Syria, giving al-Baghdadi more prestige that he deserved. Calling himself the caliphate for all Muslims, Baghdadi would have lived longer had he kept his mouth shut and went about his terrorist business quietly.
Hegseth knows that the U.S. has hundreds of troops in the Palmyra area to assure that ISIS doesn’t reconstitute itself, looking to topple the new Syrian government. There’s no question that former Bashar al-Assad dead-enders would join terrorist group to topple al-Sharra’s new, Western-friendly government. Syria’s post-WW II government was formed by Haffez al-Assad, Bashra’s father in 1946, having no diplomatic ties to the United States. Syrian maintained close ties with the Soviet Union that propped him up in power. When Bashar was threatened by U.S.-backed rebel group in 2011 during the Arab Spring, Russian President Vladimir Putin provided the military support to stop any U.S.-backed insurgency in Damascus. Putin still has him Taurus military base in Syria under contract with al-Sharaa’s new Syrian government. Putin has said nothing yet about the terrorist attack.
Trump has many military plates spinning at the moment to go overboard on a response to a lone terrotirst attack. If Syria’s Interior Ministry is right, that the terrorist was not part of the Syrian Security Service, it would be a good thing. Al-Assad sympathizers are found at all levels of government and in new terrorist group looking to put the former Syriian leader back in power. Lucky for Syria that hey have a former terroirist in al-Sharaa running the country, know exactly how to purge the ranks of any al-Assad dead-enders, lurking in the background to get their chance to retaliate against the new government. Trump needs to focus on ending the Ukraine War and preventing Venezuela from spiraling out-of-control. What happened in Syria could happen anywhere including the U.S. Terrorist sympathizers exist in all countries including the United States.
About the Author
John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news. He’s editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author of Dodging The Bullet and Operation Charisma.
