The Islamic State (ISIS) remains a threat in the Middle East and other places – like Somalia, a nation with little or no effective government, mostly ruled by regional warlords. Some of those regional strongmen have made ISIS leaders feel welcome. The United States, under President Trump, is sending a new message: We know where you are, and we’re coming for you.
On Saturday, President Trump and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth announced an air strike on an ISIS leader in Somalia. My colleague Becca Lower brought us that news at the time:
See Related: Trump, Sec. Hegseth Announce US Made ‘Precision Air Strikes’ Against ISIS Leadership in Somalia
Becca writes:
The United States has conducted “precision air strikes” against at least one member of ISIS leadership in Somalia, according to statements released on Saturday from both President Donald Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. Like the president’s lightning-speed condolence message on Friday night about the Philadelphia plane crash, his announcement came via his X account.
On Saturday evening, the White House Deputy Chief of Staff, Dan Scavino, posted a declassified video of the strike on his official X account.
For four years, we were treated to the spectacle of the Biden administration wagging their fingers at terror group leaders and telling them, “Behave, or else,” and then doing nothing. Now President Trump and Secretary Hegseth are showing them what “or else” means by turning an ISIS leader into a fine pink mist.
The video appears to show a single weapon striking either a cave entrance or the mountainside just above; it’s difficult to see from the video, which seems to be taken from a targeting system. Towards the end, you can see what appear to be secondary explosions, indicating that this wasn’t just a hideout for one goblin but also a storage depot for munitions or explosives.
This is how you do it. We shouldn’t underestimate these groups, of course, not ISIS, Hamas or Hezbollah. Their leadership isn’t stupid, although many of their rank-and-file are definitely in the room-temperature range, IQ-wise. They know how to make use of what they have. But what they don’t have is F-15E Strike Eagles or a way to counter them.
Technology is a great force multiplier. We have it, Israel has it, and the goblins, for the most part, do not.
See Related: Israel Orders Buses Bearing Exchanged Terrorists Back to Prison After Sick Hamas Display
I’ve long been on the record as saying that we shouldn’t send American troops into harm’s way unless a vital U.S. interest is involved. While one could make an argument that rolling up dangerous groups like ISIS is in not only America’s interest but the civilized world’s interest, it’s important to note that in this case, there wasn’t any American service member in harm’s way. They flew over, released a smart weapon, and flew away; an ISIS leader was turned into a splatter without a single American military member being in any real danger. And the strike craft crew even caught video, so we could count coup.
Consider the message sent to ISIS and groups like them: “There is no cave you can hide in; there is no hole you can crawl into that we won’t find you, and when we can find you, we can erase you, and you won’t even see us coming.” That is the message that was sent to ISIS on Saturday. That’s a message worth sending. The rules have changed.
