ISIS/MIKE PENCE/SYRIA/TERRORISM/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “A suicide bombing in Syria killed four Americans and wounded three more on Wednesday [1-16-19], raising questions about the terror group’s resilience and reviving the pitched debate around Donald Trump’s plan to withdraw American forces from the country. The Islamic State, also known as ISIS, claimed credit for the attack in the northern city of Manbij, which went unmentioned in a speech hours later by Vice President Mike Pence, who declared that ‘[t]he caliphate has crumbled and ISIS has been defeated.’ In a statement, the Pentagon said that two U.S. service members, one Department of Defense civilian employee and one American contractor were killed in the attack. Three troops were also injured in the blast during what the Pentagon called a routine patrol. By late Wednesday afternoon President Donald Trump himself had not commented on the attack, although Pence condemned it in a statement issued shortly after his speech. That statement said the U.S. has ‘crushed the ISIS caliphate and devastated its capabilities,’ but it did not repeat the word ‘defeated.’ Pence also suggested that the troop withdrawal Trump announced in mid-December will continue even as the U.S. remains vigilant against the terrorist group.”
–Wesley Morgan, “U.S. troop deaths revive anger over Trump’s Syria withdrawal plan,” Politico, January 16, 2019 4:16 pm