Dec 9, 2017

Iraq proclaims victory over ISIS

Iraq Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi. Photo: Karim Kadim / AP

Iraq's Prime Minister, Haider al-Abadi, announced the end of Iraq's war on the Islamic State on Saturday, the Telegraph reports.

""Our forces are in complete control of the Iraqi-Syrian border and I therefore announce the end of the war against Daesh [Isil]...Our enemy wanted to kill our civilization, but we have won through our unity and our determination. We have triumphed in little time."

Why it matters: Iraq's military, along with U.S. forces, has been fighting ISIS since its invasion from Syria in 2014. The U.S.-led military coalition tweeted a congratulations "to the people of Iraq on their significant victory against #Daesh. We stand by them as they set the conditions for a secure and prosperous #futureiraq."

Go Deeper: Timeline — the rise and fall of ISIS in Iraq and Syria

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Mike Allen, author of AM
Updated 1 min ago - Politics & Policy

The first Trump v. Biden presidential debate was a hot mess

Photos: Jim Watson and Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images

This debate was like the country: Everybody’s talking. Nobody’s listening. Nothing is learned. It’s a mess.

  • We were told President Trump would be savage. Turned out, that was a gross understatement. Even the moderator, Fox News' Chris Wallace, got bulldozed.

Why it matters: Honestly, who the hell knows?

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Fadel Allassan
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Pundits react to a chaotic debate: “What a dark event we just witnessed”

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Why it matters: If Trump aimed to make the debate as chaotic as possible with a torrent of disruptions, he succeeded. Pundits struggled to make sense of what they saw, and it's tough to imagine that the American people were able to either.

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Axios
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Trump to far-right Proud Boys: "Stand back and stand by"

Asked to condemn white supremacist violence at the first presidential debate on Tuesday, President Trump said the far-right Proud Boys group should "stand back and stand by," before immediately arguing that violence in the U.S. "is not a right-wing problem. This is a left-wing problem."

Why it matters: Trump has repeatedly been accused of failing to condemn white nationalism and right-wing violence, despite the FBI's assessment that it's the most significant domestic terrorism threat that the country faces. The president has frequently associated antifa and the left-wing violence that has afflicted some U.S. cities with Biden, despite his condemnation of violent protests.

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