Trump Was Right
The media has been in a frenzy, again, regarding Trump. As is often the case, however, Trump is right. The so called “gaff” was his accusation that Hillary and Obama were “cofounders of ISIS.” While I am sure that neither Hillary nor Obama sat down and had a face to face meeting with the Iraqi fighters that formed ISIS, the United States under Obama and Hillary (as Secretary of State) DID supply arms and support to fledgling ISIS, thinking they were “moderate Muslims” and would overthrow the Assad regime in Syria.
There is an amazing report from our own analysts in the DIA (Defense Intelligence Agency) that speaks to this issue. The report was marked “Classified” and was from August 12, 2012 (just BEFORE the emergence is ISIS). It was released on May 16, 2016 as a result of a Freedom of Information suit. It predicts, verbatim, the “the possibility of establishing a declared or undeclared Salafist principality in Eastern Syria.” The report then suggests that such a “principality” could become a US asset in the fight against Assad!
That there was material support and supply of munitions was proven by a United Kingdom report by the Conflict Armament Research group. They have traced recovered ISIS munitions back to the CIA via serial numbers!
In addition to providing munitions, the United States also provided the “power vacuum” that allowed ISIS to form, by pulling almost all of our troops in Iraq out, against the advice of virtually ALL military and political analysts at that time.
So, although I would have phrased it differently, Trump was absolutely CORRECT in assigning responsibility (and blame) for the emergence of ISIS to Obama and Hillary. Do NOT let the media obfuscate this issue!