{"id":20325,"date":"2019-02-14T18:59:50","date_gmt":"2019-02-14T18:59:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/uncategorized\/2019\/02\/14\/us-forces-have-1000-isis-detainees-and-dont-know-what-to-do-with-them\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T02:18:16","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T02:18:16","slug":"us-forces-have-1000-isis-detainees-and-dont-know-what-to-do-with-them","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/news\/your-marine-corps\/2019\/02\/14\/us-forces-have-1000-isis-detainees-and-dont-know-what-to-do-with-them\/","title":{"rendered":"US forces have 1,000 ISIS detainees \u2014 and don\u2019t know what to do with them"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The Islamic State\u2019s physical territory <\/a>has dwindled to a ramshackle camp only a few square kilometers <\/a>wide in eastern Syria\u2019s Deir Ez Zor province. But as the so-called caliphate\u2019s end nears, questions remain about what will become of the roughly 1,000 ISIS fighters who have been detained by U.S. troops and local allies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While some of the ISIS detainees<\/a> are front-lines troops and untrained cannon fodder, a significant cohort of them are also more capable militants trained as external operation planners and master bomb makers who pose a threat to the U.S. and its allies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s closer to a thousand than it is hundreds already in detention, with more to potentially come,\u201d Army Gen. Raymond Thomas, III, who helms U.S. Special Operations Command<\/a>, said at a Senate hearing Thursday. \u201c[It\u2019s] a huge area of concern for us, especially because they\u2019re being detained by the non-nation state that\u2019s otherwise known as the Syrian Democratic Forces<\/a>.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

U.S.-backed SDF troops, who fought to clear ISIS out of the eastern portion of Syria, have been in limbo ever since the Trump administration announced that U.S. forces would eventually depart the country after ISIS\u2019 defeat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Early on in the anti-ISIS campaign, some within the SDF hoped to create their own nation. But Syrian reunification looks more likely at the moment, potentially creating a chaotic transition phase during which detained ISIS fighters can slip through the cracks and plot attacks abroad.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHow we reduce that threat and keep those people properly detained and handled over time is of paramount importance right now,” Thomas said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Most of these detainees are foreign fighters from roughly a dozen different countries, he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The U.S. State Department has been calling on the origin nations of foreign ISIS militants to repatriate and prosecute the detainees.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019ll give kudos right now to some of the countries that have stepped up, particularly some of the smaller countries that have capacity challenges, but nevertheless have started to assume the burden,\u201d Thomas said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Members of Syrian partner forces approach a target objective to conduct clearance operations during a final combat assessment in the Dayr Az Zawr Province, Syria, Dec. 6, 2018. (Sgt. Arjenis Nunez\/Army)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe have empty beds at Guantanamo Bay, don\u2019t we?\u201d Arkansas Sen. Tom Cotton asked during the hearing. \u201cMaybe we should consider that for some of those really bad guys in Syria.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A U.S. official told the Associated Press<\/a> that the American base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, is the \u201coption of last resort.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Speaking on condition of anonymity, the official said that roughly 50 detainees in Syria have been identified as \u201chigh value\u201d suspects that could be held at Guantanamo if they are not repatriated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thomas was hesitant to call the end of ISIS\u2019 physical caliphate a \u201cvictory\u201d when probed by senators. Instead, he characterized ISIS\u2019 loss of land as a great accomplishment but one that will transition the terror proto-state into an insurgency movement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe [counter-terrorism] threat between 2001 and 2011 wasn\u2019t measured in territory, it was measured in terrorist threat, and that\u2019s still there, isn\u2019t it?\u201d Maine Sen. Angus King asked during the hearing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cCorrect,\u201d Thomas said. \u201cThe [counter-terrorism] threat is in the throws of transformation. … They\u2019re still very dangerous.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\t