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Former Obama aide hits out at Trump after he says he's better at fighting Isis: ‘Tell us when you kill Bin Laden’

The President says he has already done more than his predecessor did in eight years to fight terrorism

New York

Friday 15 September 2017 21:06 BST

Mr Obama authorized the operation that killed Osama Bin Laden (Getty)

Donald Trump says that he’s already done more to fight Isis in his first several months in office than his predecessor did during his entire presidency, but former aides to Barack Obama are pushing back pretty hard on that idea.

“We have made more progress in the last nine months against ISIS than the Obama Administration has made in 8 years,” Mr Trump tweeted Friday morning.

In response, former White House deputy chief of staff Alyssa Mastromonaco pointed out that Mr Obama oversaw one of the most celebrated American operations since the September 11, 2001 attacks in the US.

“Let us know when you kill Bin Laden,” Ms Mastromonaco tweeted, referencing the raid Mr Obama authorised in 2011 to kill the mastermind behind those terrorist attacks.

Ms Mastromonaco isn’t the only person to criticise Mr Trump’s bragging. Former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright said recently that she hasn’t seen a marked difference in America’s approach to fighting terrorism in the Middle East since Mr Trump took office.

“The Obama administration worked very hard on dealing with the terrorist issues,” Ms Albright, who was in President Bill Clinton’s administration, said. “It would be really nice if President Trump actually thought about what he was doing rather than always blaming president Obama.”

In Pictures: The crisis unfolding in Syria

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1/30In Pictures: The crisis unfolding in Syria

In Pictures: The crisis unfolding in Syria

A Syrian family arrives at a checkpoint, manned by pro-government forces, at the al-Hawoz street roundabout, after leaving Aleppo's eastern neighbourhoods

Getty

In Pictures: The crisis unfolding in Syria

A Syrian woman, fleeing violence in the restive Bustan al-Qasr neighbourhood, reacts as she stands with her children in Aleppo's Fardos neighbourhood, after regime troops retook the area from rebel fighters

Getty

In Pictures: The crisis unfolding in Syria

Syrian pro-regime fighters, gesture as they drive past resident fleeing violence in the restive Bustan al-Qasr neighbourhood, in Aleppo's Fardos neighbourhood

Getty

In Pictures: The crisis unfolding in Syria

Syrian rebels withdrew from six more neighbourhoods in their one-time bastion of east Aleppo in the face of advancing government troops, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said

Getty

In Pictures: The crisis unfolding in Syria

Syrian rebels withdrew from six more neighbourhoods in their one-time bastion of east Aleppo in the face of advancing government troops, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said

Getty

In Pictures: The crisis unfolding in Syria

Syrian residents, fleeing violence in the restive Bustan al-Qasr neighbourhood, arrive in Aleppo's Fardos neighbourhood , after regime troops retook the area from rebel fighters

Getty

In Pictures: The crisis unfolding in Syria

Syrian pro-regime fighters, gesture as they drive past residents fleeing violence in the restive Bustan al-Qasr neighbourhood, in Aleppo's Fardos neighbourhood

Getty

In Pictures: The crisis unfolding in Syria

Syrian residents, fleeing violence in the restive Bustan al-Qasr neighbourhood, arrive in Aleppo's Fardos neighbourhood, after regime troops retook the area from rebel fighters

Getty

In Pictures: The crisis unfolding in Syria

Syrian residents, fleeing violence in the restive Bustan al-Qasr neighbourhood, arrive in Aleppo's Fardos neighbourhood

Getty

In Pictures: The crisis unfolding in Syria

A Syrian pro-regime fighter speaks with a child, as residents flee violence in the restive Bustan al-Qasr neighbourhood. Syrian rebels withdrew from six more neighbourhoods in their one-time bastion of east Aleppo in the face of advancing government troops

AFP/Getty Images

In Pictures: The crisis unfolding in Syria

Smoke rises as seen from a governement-held area of Aleppo, Syria

Reuters

In Pictures: The crisis unfolding in Syria

Syrian soldiers targeting rebels-held areas in the eastern neighborhoods in Aleppo, Syria. According to media reports, the army is now holding on 99 percent of Aleppoís eastern neighborhoods

EPA

In Pictures: The crisis unfolding in Syria

Syrian pro-government forces patrol Aleppo's eastern al-Salihin neighbourhood after troops retook the area from rebel fighters

Getty

In Pictures: The crisis unfolding in Syria

Syrian soldiers rest following the battle at al-Sheik Saeed neighborhood in Aleppo, Syria

EPA

In Pictures: The crisis unfolding in Syria

A Syrian pro-government fighter walking past closed shops in the Bab al-Nasr district of Aleppo's Old City. Once renowned for its bustling souks, grand citadel and historic gates, Aleppo's Old City has been rendered virtually unrecognisable by some of the worst violence of Syria's war

Getty

In Pictures: The crisis unfolding in Syria

The crucial battle for Aleppo entered its 'final phase' after Syrian rebels retreated into a small pocket of their former bastion in the face of new army advances. The retreat leaves opposition fighters confined to just a handful of neighbourhoods in southeast Aleppo, the largest of them Sukkari and Mashhad

Getty

In Pictures: The crisis unfolding in Syria

Syrian civilans arrive at a checkpoint, manned by pro-government forces, at the al-Hawoz street roundabout, after leaving Aleppo's eastern neighbourhoods. Syria's government has retaken at least 85 percent of east Aleppo, which fell to rebels in 2012, since beginning its operation

Getty

In Pictures: The crisis unfolding in Syria

Syrian civilians flee the Sukkari neighbourhood towards safer rebel-held areas in southeastern Aleppo

Getty

In Pictures: The crisis unfolding in Syria

Syrians celebrate in the government-held Mogambo neighbourhood of the northern Syrian city of Aleppo, after rebel fighters retreated into a small pocket of their former bastion in the face of new army advances

Getty

In Pictures: The crisis unfolding in Syria

Syrians celebrate in the government-held Mogambo neighbourhood of the northern Syrian city of Aleppo, after rebel fighters retreated into a small pocket of their former bastion in the face of new army advances. The fall of Aleppo would be the worst rebel defeat since Syria's conflict began in 2011, and leave the government in control of the country's five major cities

Getty

In Pictures: The crisis unfolding in Syria

A Syrian refugee camp in the Bekaa Valley, Lebanon, close to the Syrian border

PA wire

In Pictures: The crisis unfolding in Syria

Syrian refugee Aliya inside the tent where she lives with her husband and ten children in a camp in the Bekaa Valley, Lebanon, close to the Syrian border

PA wire

In Pictures: The crisis unfolding in Syria

Syrian refugee women and children outside the entrance to their tents in the refugee camp in the Bekaa Valley, Lebanon, close to the Syrian border

PA Wire

In Pictures: The crisis unfolding in Syria

A Syrian refugee camp in the Bekaa Valley, Lebanon, close to the Syrian border

PA wire

In Pictures: The crisis unfolding in Syria

A Syrian refugee camp in the Bekaa Valley, Lebanon, close to the Syrian border

PA Wire

In Pictures: The crisis unfolding in Syria

A Syrian refugee woman outside the entrance to the tent where her family live, in the refugee camp in the Bekaa Valley, Lebanon, close to the Syrian border

PA wire

In Pictures: The crisis unfolding in Syria

A vehicle drives past a mosque at night in Idlib, Syria. Picture taken with a long exposure

Reuters

In Pictures: The crisis unfolding in Syria

Damaged buildings stand in the rebel-controlled town of Binnish in Idlib province, Syria

Reuters

In Pictures: The crisis unfolding in Syria

The night sky is seen through damaged windows in the rebel-controlled town of Binnish in Idlib province, Syria

Reuters

In Pictures: The crisis unfolding in Syria

Damaged buildings stand in the rebel-controlled area of Maaret al-Numan in Idlib province, Syria

Reuters

Isis has been losing territory lately as US-backed Iraqi forces have pushed against the group in northern Iraq. Over the summer, the terrorist group lost its biggest city, Mosul, three years after it took the city and claimed itself a caliphate. Most recently, Isis lost the northern Iraqi city of Tal Afar, where the Iraqi army said fighting was worse than in the battle to retake Mosul from the terror group.

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