国际英语资讯:News Analysis: Al-Baghdadis death not end to IS threat, experts say_时事

国际英语资讯:News Analysis: Al-Baghdadis death not end to IS threat, experts say

The death of al-Baghdadi could be a valuable political asset for Trump, who has drawn harsh criticism at home over his decision to withdraw U.S. troops from Syria, in part because it was seen as raising the possibility of the resurgence of the IS.

This operation would allow Trump an opportunity to deny such criticism and take credit for the defeat of the IS, analysts said.

Richard Haass, president of the Council on Foreign Relations, said in a tweet, "The irony of the successful operation against al-Baghdadi is that it could not have happened w/o (without) US forces on the ground that have been pulled out, help from Syrian Kurds who have been betrayed, and support of US intelligence community that has so often been disparaged."

U.S. officials, to a certain extent, attested Haass' tweet. Citing one U.S. official, The New York Times wrote in a Sunday piece that the Syrian and Iraqi Kurds provided more intelligence for the raid than any single country.

During an interview with cnn, U.S. Secretary of Defense Mark Esper said that he did not know if the United States would have been able to carry out the helicopter raid against al-Baghdadi had American troops been completely withdrawn from Syria.

As the Trump administration called the military operation a great success, some experts and former U.S. officials have downplayed the significance of al-Baghdadi's death, arguing that his death would not eliminate the threat of the group.