“President Trump could soon intervene in at least one of several cases in which U.S. service members have been accused of war crimes, according to people involved in the process, despite concern among some Pentagon leaders that such action could damage military discipline and morale,” the Washington Post reports.

“Families and attorneys for the accused saw the Veterans Day weekend as a possible window for Trump to issue pardons or help in other ways. The president has not spoken publicly about the cases in recent days but has questioned whether the service members were treated fairly and believes he has support among his political base to act.”

New York Times: “It was a vivid scene worthy of the ending of a Hollywood thriller, the image of a ruthless terrorist mastermind finally brought to justice “whimpering and crying and screaming all the way” to his death. But it may be no more true than a movie script.”

“In the days since President Trump gave the world a graphic account of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi’s last minutes, no evidence has emerged to confirm it. The secretary of defense, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the regional commander who oversaw the operation that killed the leader of the Islamic State, all say they have no idea what the president was talking about.”

“U.S. commandos zeroed in on Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi’s final hideout with the help of an extraordinarily well-placed informant, an Islamic State operative who facilitated the terrorist leader’s movements around Syria and even helped oversee construction work on his Syrian safe house, according to U.S. and Middle East-based officials knowledgeable about the operation,” the Washington Post reports.

“The mole’s detailed knowledge of Baghdadi’s whereabouts as well as the room-by-room layout of his sanctuary proved to be critical in the Oct. 26 raid that ended with the death of the world’s most-wanted terrorist.”

NBC News: “A ‘beautiful’ and ‘talented’ dog got injured. A robot had been on standby to aid in the hunt for al-Baghdadi if needed. U.S. Special Operations Forces arrived in eight helicopters and were on the ground for about two hours. They entered al-Baghdadi’s compound within seconds by blowing holes in the side of the wall. They chased al-Baghdadi into a web of underground tunnels — many of them dead ends — that they already knew existed. Before the U.S. forces left for the 70-minute, ‘very low and very, very fast’ helicopter ride back along the same route from which they arrived, they captured some of al-Baghdadi’s henchmen and seized ‘highly sensitive material and information’ outlining the origin of ISIS and plans for future plots.”

“A few of those colorful details were wrong. Many of the rest were either highly classified or tactically sensitive, and their disclosure by the president made intelligence and military officials cringe, according to current and former U.S. officials.”

“The country’s top military officer said on Monday that he does not know where President Trump got his information that Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the Islamic State leader, died ‘screaming, crying and whimpering,'” the New York Times reports.

“Gen. Mark Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told reporters at a Pentagon news conference that he does not have similar information, but said Mr. Trump may have gotten his details from a conversation with military personnel on the ground who were involved in the raid.”

Said Milley: “I know the president had planned to talk down to the unit and unit members. But I don’t know what the source of that was. I assume it was talking directly to unit and unit members.”

“He was a sick and depraved man, and now he’s dead. He’s dead. Dead as a door nail.”

— President Trump, quoted by CBS News, addressing the death of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, while adding “another president should’ve gotten him.”

The Sun of London: “Baghdadi’s death could trigger wave of revenge attacks in US and Europe and spark ISIS 2.0, experts warn.”

President Trump said that he is considering releasing portions of the video of the U.S. military raid that led to the death of ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi over the weekend, The Hill reports.

Said Trump: “We’re thinking about it. We may. We may take certain parts of it and release it, yes.”

U.S. officials who also watched the feed of the raid on Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi’s Syrian compound “have declined to echo details” of President Trump’s macabre account of the Isis’s leader death on Saturday, including that Baghdadi was “whimpering, crying and screaming all the way,” the Guardian reports.

Associated Press: “Photos taken in the White House Situation Room during the killings of Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi on Saturday and of al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden eight years earlier capture the vastly different styles of two American presidents.”

Obama photographer Pete Souza notes the Trump photo was taken at 5:05 p.m., according to the camera data. However, raid reportedly took place at 3:30 p.m. indicated the Trump photo was staged.

President Trump announced that the leader of the Islamic State, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, was killed “whimpering and crying” while running away from U.S. special forces.

CNN: “The President said a US special operations forces mission went after the ISIS leader and there were no US deaths during the mission. Several ISIS fighters and companions with al-Baghdadi during the mission were killed. Eleven children were moved out of the house and are uninjured, the President said.”

“Trump said al-Baghdadi was chased to the end of a dead end tunnel by dogs, ‘dragging’ three children with him. At the end of the tunnel, he detonated a suicide vest, killing himself and the children with him.”

Despite reports that hundreds of U.S. troops will stay behind in Syria, President Trump took to Twitter to declare that troops were “coming home.”

Defense Secretary Mark Esper confirmed troops are staying behind in Syria — just 30 minutes after Trump’s tweet.

A new book claims former Defense Secretary James Mattis said that he’d “rather swallow acid” than see the multimillion-dollar military parade that President Trump wanted last summer, the Washington Post reports.

New York Times: “When President Trump announced this month that he would pull American troops out of northern Syria and make way for a Turkish attack on the Kurds, Washington’s onetime allies, many warned that he was removing the spearhead of the campaign to defeat the Islamic State, also known as ISIS.”

“Now, analysts say that Mr. Trump’s pullout has handed the Islamic State its biggest win in more than four years and greatly improved its prospects. With American forces rushing for the exits, in fact, American officials said last week that they were already losing their ability to collect critical intelligence about the group’s operations on the ground.”

“The United States’ abrupt withdrawal from northeastern Syria is forcing the Pentagon to accept a dangerous reality — the rebirth of an Islamic State sanctuary that could allow terrorists to launch attacks on the West,” Politico reports.

“The U.S. military won’t be able do much more than monitor and try to contain ISIS activity in parts of Syria without special operations forces on the ground, according to current and former military officials. And although the Defense Department is considering backup options including a drone campaign and occasional commando raids, the pullout of the troops who had been living in the country alongside Syrian Kurdish forces will make it difficult to track the group or find targets to attack.”