Editor’s Note: Peter Bergen is CNN’s national security analyst, a vice president at New America and a professor of practice at Arizona State University. His new book, “Trump and His Generals: The Cost of Chaos,” will be published in December. The opinions expressed in this commentary are his own. View more opinion articles at CNN.
(CNN) —
President Donald Trump can certainly take a victory lap for the operation that killed the leader of ISIS, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. Prior to his death, Baghdadi had declared ISIS a “caliphate,” as his terrorist army stormed across Syria and Iraq, seizing territory the size of Portugal and ruling over some 8 million subjects.
At Trump’s Sunday news conference, he said the ISIS leader was also personally responsible for the death of American aid worker Kayla Mueller. This appears to be the first official US acknowledgment of Baghdadi’s role in her death, as ISIS had claimed that she had died in a Jordanian airstrike in 2015. White House national security adviser Robert O’Brien told NBC the operation that killed Baghdadi was named after Mueller.
01:57 - Source: CNN
ICC to investigate alleged war crimes by Israel and Hamas
PHOTO:
Peter Dejong/AP
FILE- In this Nov. 7, 2019 file photo, the International Criminal Court, or ICC, is seen in The Hague, Netherlands. The Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court said Wednesday, March 3, 2021 that she has launched an investigation into alleged crimes in the Palestinian territories. Fatou Bensouda said in a statement the probe will be conducted "independently, impartially and objectively, without fear or favor."(AP Photo/Peter Dejong, File)
Now playing
01:57
ICC to investigate alleged war crimes by Israel and Hamas
PHOTO:
Paul Kane/Getty Images
Attorney-General Christian Porter speaks during a media conference on March 03, 2021 in Perth, Australia. Attorney-General Christian Porter has publicly confirmed he is the cabinet minister named in a historical rape allegation from 1988 which came to light in the last week and has emphatically denied the allegations.
Now playing
02:25
Australian Attorney General denies historical rape allegation
Now playing
03:08
Cuba aims to produce its own Covid-19 vaccine
PHOTO:
CNN
Police shoot stun grenades at Arab Israelis protesting an increase in gang violence in their towns.
Now playing
04:18
Police shoot stun grenades at peaceful Arab-Israeli protesters
PHOTO:
olcanological Survey of Indonesia via Reuters
Mount Sinabung in Indonesia erupted on March 2, launching a cloud of ash and dust several kilometers into the sky. No one was injured in the eruption but authorities have warned people to stay away from the crater.
Now playing
00:40
See this volcano in Indonesia erupt
PHOTO:
Courtesy Maxar
New satellite images taken by Maxar show that North Korea sometime in the past year built a structure that may be intended to obscure entrances to an underground facility where nuclear weapons or nuclear weapons components are stored.
Now playing
01:47
See images US intelligence claims is a secret weapons site
nigeria kidnapped schoolgirls released Busari pkg intl ldn vpx_00000423.png
Now playing
02:09
Tears of joy and relief as 279 Nigerian schoolgirls return home
PHOTO:
STR/AFP/AFP via Getty Images
Protesters take cover behind homemade shields as tear gas is fired during a demonstration against the military coup in Yangon on March 1, 2021. (Photo by STR / AFP) (Photo by STR/AFP via Getty Images)
Now playing
02:16
Footage shows tear gas, flash bangs used on protesters in Myanmar
PHOTO:
CNN
01 rivers migrants pkg 02282021
Now playing
04:41
CNN correspondent speaks to migrants making dangerous journey to US
PHOTO:
Kiran Ridley/Getty Images
PARIS, FRANCE - MARCH 01: Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy leaves court after being found guilty of corruption and influence-peddling on March 01, 2021 in Paris, France. Mr. Sarkozy is only the second French president in modern times to have been convicted, after the conviction of former President Jacques Chirac in 2011. (Photo by Kiran Ridley/Getty Images)
Now playing
03:23
'An earthquake in French politics': CNN reporter on Sarkozy sentence
PHOTO:
Isaac Abrack
Now playing
03:00
Hear from schoolgirl who escaped abduction in Nigeria
PHOTO:
Metropolitan Police
UK police appealed for help Friday, Feb. 20, 2015, to find three teenage girls who are missing from their homes in London and are believed to be making their way to Syria.
The girls, two of them 15 and one 16, have not been seen since Tuesday, Feb. 17, 2015, when, police say, they took a flight to Istanbul. One has been named as Shamima Begum, 15, who may be traveling under the name of 17-year-old Aklima Begum, and a second as Kadiza Sultana, 16. The third girl is identified as Amira Abase, 15.
Now playing
00:39
Shamima Begum loses legal bid to return home to appeal citizenship revocation
PHOTO:
Obtained by CNN
Now playing
08:29
How a religious festival turned into a massacre
PHOTO:
FAYEZ NURELDINE/AFP/Getty Images
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman attends a conference in the Saudi capital Riyadh on October 2018.
Now playing
02:10
US intel report: Saudi Crown Prince responsible for approving Khashoggi operation
PHOTO:
Costa Argyrous
A Fijian rugby team serenaded workers in the Sydney hotel where they are quarantining.
Now playing
00:45
See Fijian rugby team serenade quarantine staff in Australia
Not surprisingly, many are praising Trump’s success. Gen. Joseph Votel, who led the war against ISIS for three years under Presidents Barack Obama and Trump, and retired in March, emailed me to say, “By any measure this was an important milestone – not just for the campaign but for everyone who was victimized by ISIS under Baghdadi’s leadership. It is a psychological blow to ISIS, and it demonstrates the effort we will go to bring these terrorists to justice.”
(FILES) This image grab taken from a propaganda video released on July 5, 2014 by al-Furqan Media allegedly shows the leader of the Islamic State (IS) jihadist group, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, aka Caliph Ibrahim, adressing Muslim worshippers at a mosque in the militant-held northern Iraqi city of Mosul.
The Russian army on June 16, 2017 said it hit Islamic State leaders in an airstrike in Syria last month and was seeking to verify whether IS chief Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi had been killed. In a statement, the army said Sukhoi warplanes carried out a 10-minute night-time strike on May 28 at a location near Raqa, where IS leaders had gathered to plan a pullout by militants from the group's stronghold.
/ AFP PHOTO / AL-FURQAN MEDIA / --/AFP/Getty Images
Now playing
04:09
What we know about ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi
PHOTO:
Peter Dejong/AP
FILE- In this Nov. 7, 2019 file photo, the International Criminal Court, or ICC, is seen in The Hague, Netherlands. The Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court said Wednesday, March 3, 2021 that she has launched an investigation into alleged crimes in the Palestinian territories. Fatou Bensouda said in a statement the probe will be conducted "independently, impartially and objectively, without fear or favor."(AP Photo/Peter Dejong, File)
Now playing
01:57
ICC to investigate alleged war crimes by Israel and Hamas
PHOTO:
Paul Kane/Getty Images
Attorney-General Christian Porter speaks during a media conference on March 03, 2021 in Perth, Australia. Attorney-General Christian Porter has publicly confirmed he is the cabinet minister named in a historical rape allegation from 1988 which came to light in the last week and has emphatically denied the allegations.
Now playing
02:25
Australian Attorney General denies historical rape allegation
Now playing
03:08
Cuba aims to produce its own Covid-19 vaccine
PHOTO:
CNN
Police shoot stun grenades at Arab Israelis protesting an increase in gang violence in their towns.
Now playing
04:18
Police shoot stun grenades at peaceful Arab-Israeli protesters
PHOTO:
olcanological Survey of Indonesia via Reuters
Mount Sinabung in Indonesia erupted on March 2, launching a cloud of ash and dust several kilometers into the sky. No one was injured in the eruption but authorities have warned people to stay away from the crater.
Now playing
00:40
See this volcano in Indonesia erupt