WMAL Interview - LT COL TONY SHAFFER - 10.18.17

8:15 - LT. COL. TONY SHAFFER on ISIS giving up in RAQQA

TOPIC: ISIS AND FALLEN SOLDIER CONTROVERSY

ISIS Capital Under ‘Full Control’ Of US-Backed Forces

U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) claim to have full control over the Islamic State’s capital of Raqqa, according to a Tuesday statement.

The U.S.-led, anti-ISIS coalition Operation Inherent Resolve hasn’t made the same claim, saying approximately 90 percent of the city was under SDF control.

“The military operations in Raqqa have finished, but there are clearing operations now under way to uncover any sleeper cells there might be and remove mines,” SDF spokesman Talal Sello told BBC News, adding to AFP, “Everything is finished in Raqqa, our forces have taken full control of Raqqa.”

ISIS captured the city in January 2014 in the midst of the bloody Syrian civil war and heavily fortified the city. The city was used to plot external attacks on the West, to govern the territory under control of the terrorist group, and was the site of dozens of grisly execution videos. Near the end, however, ISIS moved most of its strategic assets out of the city and defended it for its symbolic value

https://trib.al/SAZr7MF

Trump takes credit for ISIS 'giving up' By LOUIS NELSON 10/17/2017 12:45 PM EDT Updated 10/17/2017 02:59 PM EDT

President Donald Trump claimed credit Tuesday morning for successes in the ongoing campaign against Islamic State militants in Iraq, telling a radio host that he had “totally changed the attitudes of the military.”

"It had to do with the people I put in and it had to do with rules of engagement. We weren't fighting to win. We were fighting to be politically correct," Trump told radio host Chris Plante, a seeming dig at the Obama administration. The president’s remark came on the same day that U.S. allies in Syria claimed that they had pushed Islamic State militants from Raqqa, the capital of their self-described caliphate — although the Pentagon separately cautioned that it doesn’t yet consider the city to have been fully liberated. http://www.politico.com/story/2017/10/17/trump-isis-giving-up-243870

Donald J. Trump‏ @realDonaldTrump 1h1 hour ago Democrat Congresswoman totally fabricated what I said to the wife of a soldier who died in action (and I have proof). Sad!

White House says Pres. Trump has spoken to the families of all four soldiers killed in an ambush Oct. 4 in Niger. (TPM) -- President Donald Trump on Tuesday spoke to the families of four Green Berets killed in Niger earlier in October, according to the White House, almost two weeks after the soldiers died. Trump on Monday acknowledged that he had not yet contacted the families of the soldiers who died in the attack on Oct. 4, but said he had “written them personal letters.” “They’ve been sent, or they’re going out tonight,” Trump said. “I’m going to be calling them. I want a little time to pass.” He also accused former President Barack Obama and other former presidents of not making calls to Gold Star families.

Congresswoman says Trump told widow of fallen soldier 'he knew what he signed up for' By Steve Brusk and Leigh Munsil, CNN Updated 2:23 AM ET, Wed October 18, 2017

(CNN)President Donald Trump told the widow of a US serviceman killed in the ambush in Niger that "he knew what he signed up for, but I guess it still hurt," according to Rep. Frederica Wilson.

The body of Sgt. La David Johnson was returned home to the Miami area late Tuesday afternoon, with the plane receiving a water cannon salute as it arrived near the gate.

The call from the President to Johnson's widow came shortly before Johnson's casket arrival, Wilson, a Florida Democrat, said on "CNN Tonight with Don Lemon" Tuesday.

"Basically he said, 'Well, I guess he knew what he signed up for, but I guess it still hurt,' " Wilson said, adding that she listened to part of the call on speaker phone while in a vehicle with the family.