Trump Was Right: ISIS Responsible For Berlin Terror Attack, Terrorist Still At Large

Trump was right in his statements that the truck-ramming accident at a Christmas market in Berlin on December 19 was terror. ISIS has claimed responsibility for the terror attack that has left at least a dozen killed and 50 injured. Some members of the media went haywire yesterday when President-elect Trump condemned the truck crash attack in Berlin as an intentional act of Islamist terror and blamed ISIS before German authorities were prepared to officially declare the incident an act of terror. In an interview with German ARD television following the attack, Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere was hesitant, as reported by the Independent.

“I don’t want to use the word ‘attack’ yet at the moment, although a lot speaks for it.”

Despite his hesitancy, and the mistaken arrest of a Pakistani suspect, German police have now named a 23-year-old Tunisian suspect named Anis A. and a manhunt is underway. Although Trump was said to have jumped the gun, he was right that Islamist terror was to blame for the Berlin attack. The Mirror reports that the recent immigrant’s identification papers were left in the hijacked truck that barrelled into the crowded Berlin market, and his photograph has been released to the public as the manhunt continues. ISIS has now claimed that the suspect was acting on their orders to perpetrate truck ramming attacks such as the one in Nice, France this past July. That ISIS terror attack killed 86 people who were attending a Bastille Day celebration and was perpetrated by a Tunisian immigrant, making the Berlin attack eerily similar.

Responding to the incident Donald Trump tweeted, calling the Berlin incident a “terror attack” before ISIS claimed responsibility and German authorities announced that it would be treated as terror.

Today there were terror attacks in Turkey, Switzerland and Germany – and it is only getting worse. The civilized world must change thinking!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 19, 2016

In fact, Germany’s Chancellor Angela Merkel waited 15 hours before publicly stating that the incident could rightly be called a terrorist attack. Yet just three hours after the attack, Trump held a press conference where he explicitly connected the Berlin attack with ISIS, “Our hearts and prayers are with the loved ones of the victims of today’s horrifying terror attack in Berlin. Innocent civilians were murdered in the streets as they prepared to celebrate the Christmas holiday.”

“ISIS and other Islamic terrorists continuously slaughter Christians in their communities and places of worship as part of their global jihad. These terrorists and their regional and worldwide networks must be eradicated from the face of the earth, a mission we will carry out with all freedom-loving partners.”

Responding to Trump’s statements, numerous journalists and pundits condemned him for jumping to conclusions and calling the Berlin attack terrorism without incontrovertible proof. Independent writer Kristy Major snidely wrote that President-elect Trump is “not one to let a lack of facts prevent him from forming an opinion,” and that his “divisive rhetoric serves to bolster his protectionist and isolationist domestic and foreign policies respectively.” Major concluded that Trump is doing ISIS’ work for them by inciting all-out war.

Guardian writer Julian Borger also joined in the condemnation of “Trump’s readiness to cast blame from afar and to emphasize sectarian division,” insisting that Trump’s statements about the Berlin attack have “added urgency to concerns that his gut reactions to world events will act as an amplifier and accelerator of global conflict.” Yet today it seems that Tump was right and that ISIS is indeed responsible for the Berlin truck massacre. With the Tunisian terrorist still at large, and major cities across the globe tightening security ahead of holiday festivities, Trump’s assumptions have been vindicated.

With journalists and anti-Trump protesters regularly accusing the President-elect of Islamophobia and fear-mongering, it is no great surprise that Trump’s statements about the Berlin attack were dismissed as just another example of his demagoguery. Yet others do agree with Trump, and fear that Islamic fundamentalist terror will only cost more lives unless Western governments take a strong stance. As reported by Politico, U.S. diplomat and lawyer, John Bolton, told Fox News that Chancellor Angela Merkel’s “unilateral action by allowing this wave of refugees to come into Europe, […] exposed Germany, and others, to the risk of terrorism.” Other political figures, including Dutch Geert Wilders also condemned Merkel for her open-door immigration policy that some believe has contributed to the growing number of devastating terror attacks in Europe. Trump was outspoken about fighting ISIS and limiting immigration throughout his campaign.

While Germany and Europe try to understand how to prevent additional terror attacks, yet hesitate to call these violent attacks terror, one thing is true today: Trump was right, ISIS is responsible for the Berlin attack. With the Tunisian terrorist still at large, Berliners hold their breath hoping that the holiday season will be a safe and quiet one.

[Featured Image by Drew Angerer/Getty Images]