Sean Spicer received heat from reporters on Wednesday regarding President Trump’s misinformed comments about military operations in Iraq.
The troops are there in order to facilitate, advise, and assist the country in nation building efforts—not to engage in typical military combat operations.
The odd part about the reporting is the fact that President Trump indicated that he recently had an advising meeting with Secretary of Defense and former Marine general, James Mattis yet still seemed to be misinformed about the military operations.
CNN stated that “It wasn't clear what fighting Trump was referring to in his remarks, which appeared unscripted.” Reasons as to why President Trump’s remarks lacked substantial awareness are still not known.
Changing military presence in Iraq
Allegedly, the president let the public know that "The results are very, very good," in regards to the “fighting” ground troops. The troops have a much different function now than they did in 2003.
Trump said we're "doing really well in Iraq.Our soldiers r fighting+fighting like never before." Shouldn't he know we're NOT fighting there?
— Cribbis (@Cribbis) March 29, 2017
Reporting indicates that, “During the Iraq War, which began in 2003, US troops engaged in extended fighting across the country, battling an insurgency and later sectarian violence to secure areas in key cities and regions.”
The military’s main function now is to provide nation building efforts such as advising and assistance in training Iraqi troops to defend their own nation.
Mosul air strikes
During co-training events with U.S. and coalition forces collaboration includes planning for counter-terrorism operations. Reportedly, “Iraqi counter-terrorism forces had asked the US-led coalition to engage an ISIS vehicle that had been loaded with explosives.” The strike apparently took the lives of hundreds of innocent civilians.
The U.S.’s troop involvement is only supposed to include assistance and training as well as support for Iraqi forces in Mosul, a city caught in the clutches of ISIS strongholds. The troops, however, are not fighting “on the ground” as the president indicated.
Trump unscripted and insulting veterans
The president’s announcements are often unscripted, making him appear as if he is unprepared.
It is not known whether the president intended to inadvertently degrade the service of thousands of veterans that were present during the “initial push” to Baghdad in 2003 or if he misspoke during the public remarks. His vocabulary is not often very extensive.
He relies heavily on words such as “very” and “great,” and he often degrades people by referring to them as “losers,” “total losers,” “haters,” “dumb,” “idiots,” “morons,” “stupid,” “dummy” and many more unprofessional remarks. One reporter informed the public that, “if you were to market Donald Trump’s vocabulary as a toy, it would resemble a small box of Lincoln Logs.”
Overall, sources indicated that the president did not remark on the Mosul civilian casualties during the public remarks; he only took the time to perpetuate a misinformation campaign to the public and to sweep aside the past efforts of our nation’s combat veterans.
