{"id":53185,"date":"2019-08-06T22:19:45","date_gmt":"2019-08-06T22:19:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/uncategorized\/2019\/08\/06\/report-isis-has-been-rebuilding-as-us-troops-withdraw-from-syria\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T09:07:47","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T09:07:47","slug":"report-isis-has-been-rebuilding-as-us-troops-withdraw-from-syria","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2019\/08\/06\/report-isis-has-been-rebuilding-as-us-troops-withdraw-from-syria\/","title":{"rendered":"Report: ISIS has been rebuilding as US troops withdraw from Syria"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Late in 2018, President Donald Trump announced that he was ready to withdraw troops from Syria<\/a> after a long and successful campaign taking back territory from ISIS. The move, decried by national security experts<\/a> as premature, was said to have provoked then-Defense Secretary James Mattis<\/a> to resign days later, and now, the Defense Department has reported the results.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since about half of 2,000 special operations and other train-advise-assist<\/a> forces returned to the U.S. in the spring, ISIS has been staging a comeback<\/a>, according to an inspector general report from DoD, the State Department and U.S. Agency for International Development released Tuesday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis quarter, ISIS continued is transition from a territory \u2015 holding force to an insurgency in Syria, and it intensified its insurgency in Iraq,” Pentagon Principal Deputy Inspector General Glenn Fine, who has been filling in as DoD IG, wrote in a memo topping off the report.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Members
Members of the Syrian Democratic Forces stand in formation during a victory announcement ceremony over the defeat of the Islamic State group’s so-called physical caliphate March 23, 2019, at Omar Academy, Deir ez-Zor, Syria. (Staff Sgt. Ray Boyington\/Army)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The quarterly review compiled congressional testimony, think tank research and media reports, as well as official written responses from DoD, State and USAID, from the beginning of April to the end of June.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During that period, U.S. troops began their ordered withdrawal. As a result, the report found, there has been less support for local partner forces on the ground, and they haven\u2019t been able to keep up with ISIS\u2019s resurgence<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe can all certainly be proud of the progress that has taken place since 2015 \u2026 in terms of clearing ISIS from Mosul, from Raqqa, from Fallujah and so forth,\u201d Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Joseph Dunford told reporters in July. \u201cBut we also know there is still a fairly vibrant insurgency that has reverted to guerilla tactics, and so there is still a threat.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After taking territory back from ISIS<\/a>, the report said, local forces need more support than ever, to help build credibility with local populations and collect on-the-ground intelligence to get ahead of any insurgent activity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For now, about 1,000 U.S. troops are set to remain on the ground.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Drawdown could cause U.S.-backed forces in Syria to look for \u2018alternate partnerships and resources\u2019 to replace the reduced U.S. support, and that in its assessment such an outcome could be \u2018detrimental to the United States\u2019 mission in Iraq and Syria,’ ” Fine wrote.<\/p>\n\n\n\t