Donald Trump Thinks Iraq Attacking ISIS in Mosul Is a Ploy to Help Hillary Clinton

It was just a brief moment between his remarks about "bad hombres" and threatening to not accept the results of the election. But one particular claim Donald Trump made during the third and final presidential debate on Wednesday night stood out to careful observers. He said that Iraq's ongoing military efforts to take back the city of Mosul from the Islamic State is being done solely to help his opponent, HIllary Clinton.

"The only reason they did it is because she's running for office of president and they want to look tough," Trump said, referring to the current Iraqi initiative to take back the city before attacking Obama's policy torward Syria. "They want to look good. He violated the red line in the sand, and he made so many mistakes. He made all mistakes. That's why we have the great migration, but she wanted to look good for the election."

"They" here seems to be the Obama administration. The reference to a "red line in the sand" is a nod to Obama's widely-criticized choice to turn to negotiation, rather than force, when Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad used chemical weapons in 2013.

The phrase "great migration," as Trump used it, does not have its usual meaning. In the United States, the phrase "Great Migration" normally refers to the movement of African-Americans out of the South during the 20th century. However, Trump seemed to be using the phrase to refer instead to the current Middle Eastern refugee crisis. Trump has often referred to refugees from Syria as a "Trojan horse," including at tonight's debate.