2020 FactCheck: on War & Peace

Dan Crenshaw: Fact Check: Claims ISIS defeated; Pentagon says otherwise

"While ISIS no longer has the ability to hold ground, the terrorist organization isn't completely defeated," reads an article published by the Pentagon which quoted Marine Gen. Kenneth F. McKenzie Jr., commander of U.S. Central Command.

Joe Biden: FactCheck: removed troops from Iraq, but they went back

It's true that in 2009 Biden chaired a committee that oversaw the troop withdrawal, while also keeping an eye on economic and political issues in Iraq. The Biden committee included representatives from the Defense Department, the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the Treasury Department and other agencies.

But what Biden fails to mention is that later--in Obama's second term, with Biden still vice president--the U.S. sent troops back into Iraq to combat the Islamic State fighters who had occupied much of the country. Near the end of the Obama administration, in late September 2016, the number of U.S. troops deployed exceeded 5,000.

Tom Steyer: Obama got Iran to give up its nuclear ambitions

The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, or JCPOA, was implemented in 2016. Its aim was to prevent Iran from developing a nuclear weapon. It attempts to do this by requiring Iran to reduce the number of operating centrifuges and its stockpile of uranium, while allowing International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors to monitor Iran's declared nuclear facilities. In exchange, Iran won relief from international sanctions and the ability to continue to enrich uranium for peaceful purposes.

Under Trump, the U.S. has withdrawn from the nuclear agreement and re-imposed sanctions on Iran. The president and other Republicans have criticized the deal for allowing Iran to continue to enrich uranium and giving it access to billions of dollars in frozen assets.

Donald Trump: Fact-Check: Trump has sent more troops to MidEast

Fact -Check: Notwithstanding Trump's desire to shrink American commitments in the Middle East, he has been sending more troops to the region and keeping in place many of those already posted there. Trump also has sent thousands more troops to the region as a hedge against a potential conflict with Iran following the U.S. killing of its top general and in the aftermath of re-imposed U.S. sanctions.

Joe Biden: FactCheck:No, didn't oppose Iraq War right after war started

But a review of Biden's public statements about Iraq in the lead up to the invasion shows he was never entirely opposed to military action against Saddam Hussein:

• "Nine months ago, I voted to use force and I would vote that way again today," Biden said in a July 2003 speech at the Brookings Institution.
• In early January 2003, ahead of Secretary of State Colin Powell's presentation to the UN Security Council, Biden said war with Iraq appeared near inevitable.
• In a speech to the New Castle Chamber of Commerce in February 2003, Biden said. "I supported the resolution to go to war. I am not opposed to war to remove weapons of mass destruction from Iraq."