On Sunday, new National Security Adviser Robert O’Brien debunked any conspiracy theories that were floating around about why the Trump administration informed Russia about the raid in Syria that resulted in U.S. forces killing ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, saying that the administration did not want Russian forces firing on U.S. forces.
“Look, I think today’s a great day for the United States of America, and a great day for the world. This was the number one wanted person in the world,” O’Brien said on NBC’s “Meet The Press.”
“He’s a brutal, vicious terrorist, killed many people. The president went into detail. We can talk some more about that,” O’Brien continued. “But it’s also important for the world to know that the United States has a long reach. And the men and women of our armed services executed this mission flawlessly. Took him down and his colleagues that are still alive should be worried.”
“The president said that there were a number of folks that helped,” host Chuck Todd said. “He thanked Russia first. He thanked the Kurds last. Should we read into that?”
“No, I don’t think you should read into that. I think what the president talked about is that it was a very dangerous mission for our troops. And the president made a courageous decision to send them far into enemy territory at night, a long range helicopter raid,” O’Brien responded. “It was a courageous decision of the president. But it was [the] incredible bravery and skill of our men and women in the armed forces and the intelligence community that executed the mission flawlessly. But they had to fly over areas where there was significant anti-aircraft capability, the Syrians, the Russians, the Turks, others. So I think we appreciated the fact that our helicopters and our planes weren’t molested.”
“On a policy front, Russia. Are they an ally of the United States in this fight in ISIS?” Todd asked. “And are they an adversary of the United States in this situation with Ukraine? How would you describe it?”
“Well, let me just make it very clear, Russia is not an ally of the United States,” O’Brien responded. “The president doesn’t believe that. I don’t believe that.”
Todd responded, “First country he thanked today.”
“Look, there are times when our interests overlap with the interests of Russia. Last night it overlapped,” O’Brien responded. “We didn’t want Russian air defense missiles being shot at our men and women who were executing this raid … and they don’t like ISIS, as the president pointed out.”
“Last night, our interests overlapped with Russia. When our interests overlap with Russia, there’s no reason we shouldn’t work with them,” O’Brien continued. “Russia is not an ally of the United States, and look, Russia presents a great danger to the United States, and something we keep an eye on every single day.”
New York Times reporter Charlie Savage debunked the notion that Trump was supposed to brief Democrats of the operation after many top Democrats tried to suggest that Trump was up to something nefarious by notifying Russia but not them about the raid.
“The not-briefing-Gang-of-8 thing is a red herring. Law requires briefing about covert intel activities, but this was a DOD raid in a war zone,” Savage tweeted. “(Bin Laden raid was CIA-controlled & covert bc it violated Pakistani sovereignty, so Obama admin wanted deniability if UBL wasn’t there.)”
The not-briefing-Gang-of-8 thing is a red herring. Law requires briefing about covert intel activities, but this was a DOD raid in a war zone. (Bin Laden raid was CIA-controlled & covert bc it violated Pakistani sovereignty, so Obama admin wanted deniability if UBL wasn’t there.)
— Charlie Savage (@charlie_savage) October 27, 2019
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