Great Day for America, Say US Leaders After Baghdadi's Death

Washington, Oct 27 (PTI) Congratulating American troops for their daring air raid in northwest Syria that led to the death of ISIS leader and the world's most wanted terrorist Abu Bakr-al Baghdadi, top US leaders on Sunday described it as a great day for America and hailed President Donald Trump for the secret mission.

"It is truly a great day in America! Congratulations to President Trump, our intel community, and our US Special Forces for eliminating the most wanted terrorist in the world," said Nikki Haley, Indian-American leader and former US Ambassador to the UN.

"This is a great day for United States, the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS, and people all across the world who have suffered far too long from the cruelty of terrorism," said Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.

The ISIS leader was taken down by the US Special Forces during an air raid in his hideout in northwest Syria on Saturday night.

"While there is still work left to do to ensure ISIS's enduring defeat, Baghdadi's death follows the path of scores of other ISIS leaders that have been removed from the battlefield and can no longer commit heinous atrocities or spread their vile ideology of hatred to poison and recruit vulnerable minds. His evil acts of beheadings, enslavement of women, rape, torture, and pure brutality follows him to his grave," Pompeo said.

Former US Vice President and Democratic presidential frontrunner Joe Biden congratulated special forces, intelligence community, and all the brave military professionals on delivering justice to the terrorist al-Baghdadi.

"It is thanks to their courage and relentless determination to carry out their mission that ISIS has suffered a vital loss," he said.

As the key figure behind the creation of ISIS, Baghdadi's corrosive message inspired attacks that claimed thousands of innocent lives around the world, including in the United States, he said.

He proclaimed not the teachings of Islam, but a warped ideology of hate and brutality, built on mass slaughters, public executions, the enslavement of ethnic and religious minorities, and evils that have no place in any society. The world is better and safer without him in it, Biden said.

"We cannot afford to get distracted or take our eye off the target. ISIS remains a threat to the American people and our allies, and we must keep up the pressure to prevent ISIS from ever regrouping or again threatening the United States," Biden said.

"That task is particularly important as the chaos of the past few weeks in northern Syria has jeopardised years of hard work and sacrifice by American and Kurdish troops to evict ISIS from its strongholds in Syria," he added.

"Americans salute the heroism, dedication and skill of our military and our intelligence professionals and acknowledge the work of our partners in the region. We are relieved that no US personnel died in this daring raid," House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said.

Pelosi demanded that the House be briefed on the raid, which the Russians, but not top Congressional leadership, were notified of in advance, and on the administration's overall strategy in the region.

"The death of al-Baghdadi is significant, but the death of this ISIS leader does not mean the death of ISIS. Scores of ISIS fighters remain under uncertain conditions in Syrian prisons, and countless others in the region and around the world remain intent on spreading their influence and committing acts of terror," Pelosi said.

"This morning's announcement should confirm for the world what many already knew — that terrorists cannot outlast or outmatch the commitment of the US counter-terrorism apparatus. We will not stop or waver in destroying terrorist leaders wherever they hide," House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy said.

"I applaud yesterday's heroic actions by our US special operations forces and intelligence services to root out and eliminate the top leader of the oppressive Islamic State terrorist group," said Senator Johnny Isakson.

Senator Jim Inhofe, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said the brave special operations forces successfully executed a dangerous mission to get ISIS leader al-Baghdadi.

"I want to thank President Trump for making the call to bring down one of the most dangerous terrorists who is responsible for the death of hundreds, including Americans," he said.

"Killing Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi is an important achievement in the fight against ISIS. I am grateful to our men and women in uniform, our intelligence professionals, and our allies who contributed to this success. We have robbed ISIS of their founder and leader. That is significant, but the threat of ISIS did not die with him," said Congressman Mac Thornberry, Ranking Member of the House Armed Services Committee.

The ISIS leader's death marks a significant milestone in US' ongoing campaign to destroy ISIS and their threat to America, said Congressman Michael McCaul, lead Republican on the House Foreign Affairs Committee.

"I applaud the brave men and women of the United States military and intelligence community who collaborated on this successful operation and thank our foreign partners for their support," he said.

"Baghdadi led one of the most brutal terror organizations in the world, which celebrated public executions, rape, torture and murder. His death should serve as a lesson to any would-be terror leaders around the world that seek to target the United States and our citizens," said Congressman Mike Rogers, ranking member of the House Homeland Security Committee.

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)