Pence brags ISIS is 'defeated' after they said they killed 4 US troops

Mike Pence claimed ISIS “has been defeated” on the same day the terrorist organization claimed responsibility for the murder of four American troops.

In a speech to the Global Chiefs of Mission conference at the State Department, Pence said, “The caliphate has crumbled and ISIS has been defeated.”

At the time Pence made his speech, he had already been briefed on the attack and did not offer condolences to the families during his remarks.

The troops were killed in northern Syria by an explosion that went off as they were conducting a patrol.

“A local news site reported that a huge explosion erupted in the city center near a girls’ school and a restaurant,” NPR reported. “The site reported that both civilians and troops were killed and wounded.”

ISIS claimed responsibility for the attack and identified the name of the suicide bomber in a public release.

Pence’s statement echoed Trump’s hollow proclamations about defeating ISIS.

Trump claimed just a few weeks ago that “we have defeated ISIS in Syria.” He reiterated this point in an online video, alleging, “We have won against ISIS.”

The deadly attack and Pence’s tone-deaf statements come on the heels of Trump’s chaotic announcement that he plans to withdraw U.S. military forces from Syria. He failed to inform the military or congressional leaders before making the radical policy shift, which has thrilled Russian dictator Vladimir Putin.

This inept handling of major U.S. foreign policy led then-Defense Secretary James Mattis to resign. Mattis sharply criticized Trump in his resignation letter, writing, “While the U.S. remains the indispensable nation in the free world, we cannot protect our interests or serve that role effectively without maintaining strong alliances and showing respect to those allies,” which he indicated Trump had not done.

The Trump-Pence team has repeatedly botched foreign policy and military issues. Now they are united in declaring an enemy defeated on the same day that the families of four American service members will learn their loved ones were murdered by that same enemy.

Published with permission of The American Independent Foundation.