ISIS in Iraq and Syria has been “dismantled,” with tens of thousands of its jihadist fighters dead, but a promising lead on its leader “went dead” after a media leak, according to a key U.S. military official. 
 
 “We have absolutely dismantled his network,” Gen. Tony Thomas, speaking of Abu Bakr al Baghdadi, said at the Aspen Security Forum. “I mean everyone who worked for him initially is dead or gone. Everybody who stepped to the plate the next time [is] dead or gone. Down through a network where we have killed, in a conservative estimate, 60,000 to 70,000 of his followers, his army.” 
 
 In a wide-ranging interview moderated by Fox News' Catherine Herridge, Thomas, who leads the Special Operations Command, said his team was “particularly close” to Baghdadi after the 2015 raid that killed ISIS oil minister Abu Sayyaf. That raid also netted his wife, who provided a wealth of actionable information. 
 
 " ... we have killed, in a conservative estimate, 60,000 to 70,000 of his followers, his army.” - Gen. Tony Thomas, Special Operations commander 
 
 “That was a very good lead. Unfortunately, it was leaked in a prominent national newspaper about a week later and that lead went dead,” Thomas said. “The challenge we have [is] in terms of where and how our tactics and procedures are discussed openly. There's a great need to inform the American public about what we're up to. There's also great need to recognize things that will absolutely undercut our ability to do our job.” 
 
 Thomas appeared to be referring to a New York Times report in June 2015 that detailed how American intelligence agencies had “extracted valuable information.” 
 
 ”New insights yielded by the seized trove – four to seven terabytes of data, according to one official – include how the organization’s shadowy leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, operates and tries to avoid being tracked by coalition forces," the Times reported. 
 
 Thomas also provided new details about the military campaign in Libya. Fox News reported in 2015 that a half-dozen senior ISIS operatives travelled to North Africa to establish an ISIS satellite. 
 
 “They seized on Libya as a failed state…. They declared it a province. Our estimates were that, at the high-water mark, they had anywhere from 1,500 to 2,000 folks primarily located in a seaside town named Sirte. They don’t exist anymore.” 
 
 Commenting on media reports that the CIA ended a covert program to arm anti-Assad rebels in Syria, Thomas said the story, first carried in the Washington Post, was wrong to suggest the purported move was to appease Moscow. 
 
 Thomas said the direction from his boss, Defense Secretary James Mattis, was very clear. 
 
 “It was 'defeat ISIS,'" he said. "It’s now 'annihilate ISIS.' I think he put a non-doctrinal term out there to amp up the volume a little bit. We all got the message.” 
 
 Despite recent victories, Thomas said the strategic picture remained complex, given activity of Syria, Iraq, Russia and Turkey in limited space. For U.S. pilots providing cover for ground operations, it can be "Top-Gun-nish," Thomas said. 
 
 “Right now, our pilots out there are getting painted radar-wise by Syrian aircraft [and] Russian aircrafts’ ground control intercept [have] that capability, so you can imagine how dicey it is for a pilot who's on top of us to give us the necessary protection," Thomas said. “[It’s a] pretty dicey situation in a very tight space there.” 
 
 As long as American military members are in harm's way, there remains the reality of casualties. And while strategy is always on the mind of Thomas, so to are the men and women who carry out the battle plans. 
 
 A frequent visitor to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, who makes a point to meet his wounded warriors, Thomas said his personal visits, outside the media glare, did more for him than the soldiers. 
 
 “I'd like to think that I'm going to buoy their spirits,” Thomas said. “But go in there and you'll walk out with one of the best buzzes you've ever had. In terms of resiliency of human beings, of service members who are not the least bit self-pitying. They want to think that they've helped accomplish something.” 
 
 UPDATE: 
 
 The New York Times provided Fox News with the below statement Sunday. 
 
 "The raid against Abu Sayyaf occurred on May 16, 2015 and was announced that day in an official statement by Defense Secretary Ash Carter. Below is an excerpt from the May 16 Pentagon press release: 
 
 'Last night, at the direction of the Commander in Chief, I ordered U.S. Special Operations Forces to conduct an operation in al-Amr in eastern Syria to capture an ISIL senior leader known as Abu Sayyaf and his wife Umm Sayyaf. Abu Sayyaf was involved in ISIL's military operations and helped direct the terrorist organization's illicit oil, gas, and financial operations as well. Abu Sayyaf was killed during the course of the operation when he engaged U.S. forces. 
 
 U.S. forces captured Umm Sayyaf, who we suspect is a member of ISIL, played an important role in ISIL's terrorist activities, and may have been complicit in what appears to have been the enslavement of a young Yezidi woman rescued last night.' 
 
 Baghdadi would have known that Umm Sayyaf, Abu Sayyaf's wife, was being held, if not from his own communications network then from the Pentagon’s announcement and news reports about that announcement. If the U.S. government wanted to keep the detention and likely interrogation of the wife secret, the Pentagon would not have publicly announced it. 
 
 The New York Times story you cite in your report was published on June 8, more than three weeks after the raid. The Times described the piece to the Pentagon before publication and they had no objections. No senior American official complained publicly about the story until now, more than two years later." 
 
 Catherine Herridge is an award-winning Chief Intelligence correspondent for FOX News Channel (FNC) based in Washington, D.C. She covers intelligence, the Justice Department and the Department of Homeland Security. Herridge joined FNC in 1996 as a London-based correspondent. ||||| On Media Blog Archives Select Date… December, 2015 November, 2015 October, 2015 September, 2015 August, 2015 July, 2015 June, 2015 May, 2015 April, 2015 March, 2015 February, 2015 January, 2015 
 
 Danielle Rhoades Ha, vice president of communications for The New York Times, said "Fox & Friends" did not attempt to "confirm relevant facts, nor did they reach out to The New York Times for comment." New York Times requests apology from Fox on ISIS story 
 
 The New York Times on Sunday took the unusual step of requesting an apology from a competitor, asking "Fox & Friends" to retract a report that the Times was to blame for the 2015 escape of an ISIS leader. Fox subsequently updated the story on its website with the NYT letter. 
 
 "I am writing on behalf of The New York Times to request an on-air apology and tweet from Fox & Friends in regards to a malicious and inaccurate segment 'NY Times leak allowed ISIS leader to slip away,'” wrote Danielle Rhoades Ha, vice president of communications for the Times. 
 
 The "Fox & Friends" report, which aired Saturday, apparently spurred a tweet by President Donald Trump: “The Failing New York Times foiled U.S. attempt to kill the single most wanted terrorist, al-Baghdadi,” the president wrote later Saturday. “Their sick agenda over National Security.” The "Fox & Friends" hosts had said the Times was "failing in its credibility. It’s failing our country." 
 
 In her request, Rhoades Ha added: "Neither the staff at Fox & Friends, nor the writers of a related story on Foxnews.com, appeared to make any attempt to confirm relevant facts, nor did they reach out to The New York Times for comment." 
 
 Later Sunday, Fox attached the New York Times letter to its original story and issued this statement: "The FoxNews.com story was already updated online and Fox & Friends will also provide an updated story to viewers tomorrow morning based on the FoxNews.com report. For all of their concern about accuracy, the New York Times didn't reach out to anyone at Fox News until Sunday afternoon for a story that ran Friday night." 
 
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 A U.S. raid in May 2015 led to the death of Abu Sayyaf — a close associate of ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi — as well as the capture of his wife, Umm Sayyaf, and a trove of documents and laptops. 
 
 The raid in eastern Syria was disclosed the next day by Defense Secretary Ash Carter. “This is very useful, very important intelligence that we were able to collect,” a Defense official told POLITICO at the time. 
 
 Rhoades Ha pointed out that Fox News' Catherine Herridge reported on the raid on May 17, 2015. 
 
 Additional details were reported in a New York Times article in June 2015. 
 
 Fox's claim that the Times sabotaged U.S. efforts with its reporting originated with a statement from Gen. Tony Thomas, who told Fox that the published report caused a lead to the ISIS leader's whereabouts to go dry. "That was a very good lead. Unfortunately, it was leaked in a prominent national newspaper about a week later and that lead went dead,” said Thomas, who leads the U.S. Special Operations Command. 
 
 A Fox News spokesperson said "There is absolutely no comparison between Herridge's brief report on Fox News Sunday" and the Times "reported much more compromising details than Herridge did, in revealing revealing specific details about how Baghdadi communicated and who played a role delivering those communications. Also, [the Times] reported the terrorist's wife was cooperating and how an informant led to the target." 
 
 The Times claims the pertinent material was actually disclosed by Carter in his public statement and stated that the Pentagon did not object to its more detailed June article. 
 
 Speaking on background, a Fox News executive slammed Rhoades Ha for seeking the apology only on Sunday afternoon and for alerting reporters at the same time. 
 
 "NYT PR VP Danielle Rhoades Ha did not contact Fox News until Sunday afternoon — a day and a half AFTER the FoxNews.com story was published. She sent a letter to the reporter on the story — Catherine Herridge — at 3:30 pm on Sunday while being too cute by half and sending it to the press simultaneously — likely bcc’ing reporters," the executive said. (The Times directly emailed POLITICO a copy of the letter that was sent to the "Fox & Friends" weekend executive producer on Sunday at 3:33 p.m.) "Herridge interviewed General Thomas at the Aspen Security Forum on Friday and did a wrap-up story on the panel for FoxNews.com, which was published on Friday night. Seems like an awfully long time to wait to correct something if they were so concerned about accuracy. And Ha did not reach out to Fox & Friends until 2 p.m. on Sunday for a story that aired Saturday morning. ... Why did it take them so long to reach out?" 
 
 The executive added: "If we notified the press every time the N.Y. Times had to update an online story or correct something, your inbox would crash." 
 
 In response, Rhoades Ha said she initially emailed the "Fox & Friends" weekend executive producer at 12:53 on Sunday, asking for a response by 3 p.m. Rhoades Ha also said she "sent a separate request to Catherine Herridge and her co-author to update their story, which I would have done with or without the Fox & Friends segment. I did not ask Catherine for an apology. She responded and updated her story." 
 
 Rhoades Ha said she has yet to receive a response from the "Fox & Friends" weekend executive producer. 
 
 "We asked them for an apology because the entire premise of their segment is false," Rhoades Ha said. "I find it curious they are focusing on the timing of my emails instead of whether or not their reporting if false." 
 
 On Saturday, the Times sought clarification from the White House after Trump's tweet: 
 
 "We have asked the White House to clarify the tweet. If the President is referring to this 2015 story, the Pentagon raised no objections with the Times before publishing the story in 2015 and no senior American official ever complained publicly about it until now, as noted in Peter Baker's story this morning." 
 
 UPDATE July 24, 2017: 
 
 “Fox & Friends” addressed the Times’ concerns in a segment Monday morning but did not apologize, saying, “The Times described its 2015 reporting to the Pentagon before publication and they had no objections, and no senior American officials have ever complained publicly – until now.” The show then directed viewers to read the full statement online. 
 
 In response, The Times said the updated segment "wasn't an apology, nor did it begin to address the larger issues with the Fox & Friends Weekend segment, one of which was sheer hypocrisy. The host railed against The New York Times for covering a raid stating that the U.S. government 'would have had al-Baghdadi based on the intelligence that we had except someone leaked' to The New York Times when Fox News had covered the same raid three weeks earlier in a segment in which their correspondent said, 'The newly recovered intelligence may bring U.S. closer to Baghdadi's kill or capture,'" a Times spokesperson said. "According to the curious logic of the Fox & Friends host, Fox News itself was unpatriotic." 
 
 In an updated statement on Monday afternoon, Fox said that "Neither Fox News’ report nor the subsequent on-air coverage was inaccurate." The network then links to a recent piece the Times wrote, explaining why it decided to name a CIA operative in one of its recent stories as something the Times is trying to distract people from by seeking an apology from Fox. "We find it beyond disappointing that the New York Times, in an attempt to distract from their recent debacle, decided to blame Fox News for comments made publicly by General Thomas during a widely viewed panel at the Aspen Security Forum. It might behoove the Times to actually check in with their reporter Eric Schmitt to see whether Gen. Thomas’ comments have merit and whether Schmitt’s reporting in 2015 revealed intelligence that allowed ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi to slip away.” ||||| The New York Times is asking Fox News' morning show "Fox & Friends" to apologize for what the newspaper calls a "malicious and inaccurate segment" about the newspaper, intelligence leaks and the Islamic State that aired Saturday. 
 
 New York Times spokeswoman Danielle Rhoades Ha said Sunday that she requested an "on-air apology and tweet." The paper, she wrote, took issue with a Fox host on the segment saying that Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi "was able to sneak away under the cover of darkness after a New York Times story" in 2015 and a host's comment that the U.S. government "would have had al-Baghdadi based on the intelligence that we had except someone leaked information to the failing New York Times." 
 
 The segment referred to comments by a top military official noted in a Friday Fox story . In the Fox story, Gen. Tony Thomas, the head of U.S. Special Operations Command, said his team was "close" to al-Baghdadi after a 2015 raid but the "lead went dead" after it "was leaked in a prominent national newspaper." The Fox story connected Thomas with the Times, saying that Thomas "appeared to be referring to a New York Times report in June 2015 that detailed how American intelligence agencies had 'extracted valuable information.'" 
 
 The FoxNews.com story was updated online Sunday with a Times statement. "Fox & Friends" will "provide an updated story to viewers tomorrow morning based on the FoxNews.com report," the company said in a statement emailed by Fox spokeswoman Caley Cronin Sunday. 
 
 The Times wrote a story Sunday saying President Donald Trump was wrong when he tweeted Saturday morning that the "failing" New York Times "foiled" a government attempt to kill al-Baghdadi, apparently a reaction to Fox's story. The Times also pushed back against Fox's story, noting that the Pentagon issued a news release more than three weeks before the Times article that could have tipped off al-Baghdadi. The paper also said the Pentagon "raised no objections" with it before the 2015 article on the intelligence gleaned from the raid was published.
– There's a media storm brewing between President Trump's favorite news outlet and one of his most hated, but it concerns a story that unfolded long before he took office. On Sunday, New York Times VP of Communications Danielle Rhoades Ha demanded an on-air apology from Fox and Friends and asked the Fox News morning show to retract its claim that a 2015 Times story enabled Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi to elude capture by the US government, ABC News reports. Fox and Friends' segment on Saturday referred to a story on FoxNews.com the day before, in which US Special Operations Commander Tony Thomas claimed his team was close to al-Baghdadi but that their lead on him disappeared after it "was leaked in a prominent national newspaper" in 2015. The controversy took on extra weight when Trump, a devoted Fox and Friends viewer, tweeted on Saturday, "The Failing New York Times foiled U.S. attempt to kill the single most wanted terrorist,Al-Baghdadi. Their sick agenda over National Security." Politico reports that a Fox News executive contacted the site to condemn the Times for its request, and for the fact that it did not make said request until Sunday—when the original FoxNews.com story was published two days prior—and alerted other media outlets to the request at the same time. "If we notified the press every time the New York Times had to update an online story or correct something, your inbox would crash," the executive said. Rhoades Ha says the newspaper has yet to hear back from Fox about its request. She also says the Times has sought a clarification from the White House regarding Trump's tweet.