Putting on a full-court press, 66-year-old Defense Secretary of State James Mattis acknowledged that the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria [ISIS] is now on the run in Iraq and Syria. Driven out of Mosul July 12, Iraq’s second largest city, Iraq’s army with U.S. backing proved that the once feared terrorist juggernaut now scrambled for survival. U.S. backed Kurds and Arab fighters AKA Syrian Democratic Forces [SDF], are getting closer to evicting ISIS from Raqqa, ISIS’s de facto capital. When you consider former President Barack Obama’s Dec. 15, 2011 decision to pull U.S. troops out of Iraq, it’s no wonder that the power vaccum gave rise to ISIS. Comprised to Saddam Hussein’s old dead-enders and new jihadist recruits, ISIS swept across Iraq and Syria in 2014, capturing some 30% of sovereign territory. Without U.S. forces, Saddam’s former military was able to seize chunks of Iraq and Syria.
Syria’s military was consumed with defending the Saudi-funded insurgency, once called the Arab Spring, unable to go after ISIS while it seized Mosul and Raqqa in 2014. After beating back ISIS in Aleppo Dec. 14, 2016, it was a matter of time before the U.S.-backed SDF made its way to Raqqa. Constant U.S. air strikes on Raqqa has allowed the SDF to move closer to Old Town in City Center but not without civilian casualties. U.S. bombardment has left ISIS fleeing from the battlefield as it becomes more obvious that the terrorist’s days are numbered. “ISIS is on the run,” Mattis told reporters with Iraq’s Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi. “They have been shown to be unable to stand up to our team in combat,” said Mattis. Mattis admitted that operations are difficult in Raqqa, where ISIS uses some 30,000 civilians as human shields to defend key positions in Raqqa’s Old City.
New reports of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad receiving chemical weapons from North Korea proves, beyond any doubt, that it wasn’t a bad idea to get al-Assad out of Damascus. But with Russia joining the battle to save al-Assad, Sept. 30, 2015, getting rid of him has become more difficult. “The fighting is tough,” said Lt. Gen. Stephen Townsend, the top U.S. commander in Iraq. Townsend thinks “but the momentum is with our partners,” believing the U.S. was making progress toward defeating ISIS. Mattis traveled to Baghdad to recognize Iraq’s battle against ISIS in Mosul, pledging no stone would remain unturned when it came to driving ISIS out of Raqqa. Former President Obama couldn’t agree what to call the world’s most deadly terror group, often referring to ISIS as ISIL, an acronym called the Islamic State.of Iraq and the Levant, imposing an even larger territory.
U.S.-backed Kurdish forces stepped up attacks on ISIS since Trump took office. Visiting Iraq, Mattis confirmed the new strategy of hitting ISIS from all sides. “You see, ISIS is now caught in-between converging forces,” said Mattis. “So, ISIS’s days are certainly numbered, but it’s not over yet and it’s not going to over anytime soon,” referring to the fierce battle going on approaching ISIS strongholds in Raqqa’s City Center. After hitting ISIS with unending air strikes in Raqqa, Brig. Gen. Andrew A. Croft confirmed that ISIS has lost much of its command-and-control. “It’s less coordinated that it was before,” said Croft. “It appears more fractured—flimsy is the word that I would use,” point to Mattis call Raqqa “ISIS last stand.” Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad or, its foreign protector Russia, hasn’t acknowledged U.S.-backed SDF progress in Raqqa.
Speaking to the public in a primetime address yesterday, Trump outlined an overhaul of U.S. policy in Afghanistan, agreeing to add some 4,000 more troops to beat back a Taliban advance. Trump’s had a change-of-heart in Afghanistan after speaking with Mattis and Afghan Commander John Nicholson, believing that withdrawing now would repeat the mistakes in Iraq when Obama ended U.S involvement Dec. 15, 2011. Military experts believe the U.S. withdrawal gave rise to ISIS. Unlike Iraq where the army has loyalty of both Sunni and Shiite soldiers, Afghanistan’s military has struggled with divided loyalty. Many Afghan army recruits have cousins fighting on the side of the Taliban, making military loyalty difficult. When it comes to defeating ISIS in Iraq and Syria, there’s no disloyalty, only a determination to rid Iraq and Syria of the world’s most deadly terror group.
Battling ISIS in Raqqa, the U.S.-backed SDF militia has faced opposition from Turkey, claiming the Kurd’s YPG forces battling ISIS are part of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party [PKK], recognized by Turkey as a terror group. When the YPG Kurdish-led SDF topple Raqqa, it’s difficult to say what the Kurds get from the battle. Spilling their blood to liberate Raqqa, there’s no reward in sight for the Kurd’s YPG, which like the PKK, seeks an independent Kurdush state. Fore centuries, the Kurds have been stateless, something guaranteed by Turkey, Iraq, Syria and Iran. With the U.S. close to defeating ISIS with Kurdish help, it’s difficult for the U.S. to not back the Kurdish wish for an independent state. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has warned the U.S. and Kurds about an independent state. Ridding Raqqa of ISIS promises a new set of problems for the U.S. and the Kurds.
