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The troops withdrawal from Syria and Iraq releatedly announced by US President Donald Trump is silently turning into a decades-long military operation to “defeat ISIS”.
According to a new report released by the Pentagon, a total defeat of ISIS take “years, if not decades.”
“Systemic weaknesses remain, many of which are the same deficiencies that enabled the rise of ISIS in 2014,” Military Times quoted the quarterly Department of Defense Inspector General report on the US-led operation against ISIS in Iraq and Syria.
The report adressed the gaps in capabilities among the Iraqi forces and that a “resurgence” of ISIS in the region will be likely if the US withdraws its military efforts. The report reasonably notes that the security situation in Iraq remains complicated and while the security in big cities is more or less acceptable, the situation in their countryside is much more complicated.
“In effect, this means that the Iraqi senior leadership is dependent on the Coalition for information about their own military’s operations,” the report claimed. “This strategy risks an enduring coalition presence in Iraq for years to come.”
This very report is synchronized with Washignton’s efforts to keep defeat ISIS in the Euphrates Valley in the Syrian province of Deir Ezzor. However, it seems that these efforts are not very effective. So, ISIS openly controls a large chunk of the area on the eastern bank of the Euphrates Valley, in the US-led coalition zone of responsibility.
Earlier this year, the Trump adminstration already declared that it needs to keep forces in Syria in order to deter the growing Iranian influence in the country. However, this reason found little public support in non-Israeli media and diplomatic circles. So, the remaining “ISIS threat” will continue to play an important role in the US public justification of its military actions in Syria and Iraq.
