{"id":66460,"date":"2019-10-23T01:33:36","date_gmt":"2019-10-23T01:33:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/uncategorized\/2019\/10\/23\/what-trump-gets-wrong-about-war-against-the-islamic-state\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T14:27:53","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T14:27:53","slug":"what-trump-gets-wrong-about-war-against-the-islamic-state","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/flashpoints\/2019\/10\/23\/what-trump-gets-wrong-about-war-against-the-islamic-state\/","title":{"rendered":"What Trump gets wrong about war against the Islamic State"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

WASHINGTON \u2014 President Donald Trump has made several incorrect or misleading statements about the five-year battle against the Islamic State group as he seeks to end what he calls \u201cendless wars\u201d and explain an abrupt abandonment of America\u2019s Kurdish partners in the face of a Turkish offensive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He has gotten his facts wrong on at least five key points about the conflict. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

TRUMP: THE U.S.-LED EFFORT TO DEFEAT THE ISLAMIC STATE GROUP WAS \u201cA MESS\u201d BEFORE I TOOK OFFICE. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s true that he accelerated the military push in Syria, in part by giving U.S. commanders in the field more authority. But it was during the Obama administration that the Kurdish-led force was recruited, organized and trained to root out the Islamic State group. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Trump also incorrectly said on Monday that U.S. forces have been in Syria for 10 years. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The U.S. military under Obama began its push to counter the Islamic State group, sometimes referred to as the IS group or ISIS, starting in the summer of 2014. The effort started in Iraq, where the extremists had captured much of the northern and western parts of the country, including the key cities of Ramadi and Mosul. In Iraq, unlike in Syria, U.S. forces had a viable partner in the Iraqi government. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ash Carter, who headed the Pentagon from early 2015 until Trump was inaugurated in January 2017, has acknowledged, \u201cWe took longer than we should have to get our act together\u201d on an effective strategy to deal the Islamic State group a lasting defeat. But the campaign was hardly a \u201cmess\u201d when Trump took over. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In fact, Mosul in Iraq and Raqqa in Syria were on the verge of falling, and the elements for military success were largely in place. Iraq declared victory over the Islamic State group in December 2017, and the U.S.-backed Kurdish forces declared victory in Syria in March<\/a> of this year. It remains an open question whether those successes will prove lasting. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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TRUMP HAS ASSERTED THAT THE ISLAMIC STATE GROUP IS DEFEATED. \u201cWE KILLED ISIS,\u201d HE SAID ON OCT. 12. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

No one disputes that the Islamic State group has lost its \u201ccaliphate\u201d \u2014 the large swath of territory it once controlled in parts of Syria and Iraq. But the group remains a threat to reemerge if the conditions that allowed its rise, including civil war in Syria and a lack of effective governance in Iraq, are not corrected. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Republican Sen. Liz Cheney of Wyoming said when Turkey launched its offensive into northern Syria on Oct. 9 that it was \u201cimpossible to understand\u201d why Trump was abandoning the Kurds and \u201cenabling the return of ISIS.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another concern is that the chaos triggered by the Oct. 9 Turkish incursion, which followed Trump\u2019s decision to have about two dozen American troops step away from the attack zone, could allow larger numbers of Islamic State fighters to escape from prisons that have been operated by the Kurds now under attack. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

___<\/p>\n\n\n\n

TRUMP HAS SAID SEVERAL TIMES THAT U.S. TROOPS INVOLVED IN THE ANTI-ISLAMIC STATE CAMPAIGN ARE COMING HOME. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

For now, at least, that is not true. Most of the roughly 1,000 troops leaving Syria are going to Iraq, at least temporarily, or to other locations in the Middle East such as Jordan. The Pentagon says it is still working on plans for how to continue the anti-IS campaign in Syria and Iraq. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019re bringing our soldiers back home,\u201d Trump said Monday. <\/p>\n\n\n\t