Yesterday President Trump made several characterizations about the moments before the death of Abu Bakr al-Baghdad.
“He died after running into a dead-end tunnel, whimpering and crying and screaming”.
“He was screaming, crying, and whimpering,” “died like a dog. He died like a coward.”
“The thug who tried so hard to intimidate others spent his last moments in utter fear, in total panic and dread, terrified of the American forces bearing down on him.”
The footage piped into the situation room would have consisted of overhead surveillance shots of the dark compound with heat signatures differentiating between US fighters and others, intelligence and military officials told the New York Times.
A Guardian article states the obvious that those cameras couldn’t see into the tunnel or provide audio.
The soldiers involved would have been wearing body cameras, but that footage was yet to be given to the White House at the time of Trump’s press conference, the Times report said.
The US defense secretary, Mark Esper, said Trump may have talked to commanders on the ground.
