Trump Claims the U.S. Killed a Top ISIS Commander || Bonus Video
Peter Zeihan
7 min
Knocking off regional leaders has never impacted ground operations despite being done repeatedly. The current administration's approach will likely lead to problems for future administrations.
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Donald Trump
Chapters
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0:00
Trump's Claim About Al-Maluki
Donald Trump claimed on Truth Social that he killed Al-Maluki, the second most important person in ISIS globally. Militant Islam shattered into regional commands that loosely coordinate rather than forming a single apex group.
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1:44
The Franchise Model of Terror
Top leaders issue threats without providing resources, relying on local individuals to act independently. Al-Maluki leads a self-contained West African branch that recruits locally and operates independently of other cells. The group recruits locally from people born near Lake Chad, creating a state within a state with its own tax base.
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4:21
Ineffectiveness of Airstrikes
Knocking off regional leaders like Al-Maluki has never impacted ground operations despite being done repeatedly.
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5:04
Need for Ground Security Changes
Meaningful impact requires changing the security environment on the ground through patrols rather than just airstrikes. Previous strategies relying on large troop numbers failed, and current airstrikes repeat past mistakes.
Key points
- 0:00
Militant Islam shattered into regional commands rather than forming a single apex group.
- 1:44
Top leaders issue threats without providing resources or people to carry them out.
- 1:44
Al-Maluki leads a self-contained West African branch with no influence outside his region.
- 1:44
The group recruits locally from people born near Lake Chad and operates independently.
- 4:21
Knocking off regional leaders has never impacted ground operations despite being done repeatedly.
- 5:04
Meaningful impact requires changing the security environment on the ground through patrols.
- 5:04
Dropping bombs without changing the environment repeats past mistakes that failed for decades.
- 6:41
The current administration's approach will likely lead to problems for future administrations.
Who and where
People · 1
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Donald Trump 3
President of the United States (2017–2021; since 2025)
Photo 1
1. Photo: Daniel Torok, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons · Wikidata · redrawn in our house style (Donald Trump)
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