March 10, 2017

Will More American Troops Finally Finish ISIL?

Trump is listening to his military advisers; Obama never did.

In 2014, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi stood at Mosul’s Great Mosque and declared himself the “caliph,” the ruler of all Muslims. His bold assertion came at a time when the Islamic State had taken the city as part of an offensive that expanded its reach from the center of Syria to the outskirts of Baghdad, with the Syrian city of Raqqa acting as its capital. While it had no set borders, at the time the Islamic State caliphate controlled much of the desert frontier that composes the eastern sections of Syria and northern region of Iraq, with Mosul being its largest population center.

After a long run-up to battle, late last year Iraqi forces — with American logistical assistance — began to retake Mosul, and they now control the eastern half of the city. As the Iraqi regulars work their way westward, American observers are beginning to feel optimistic that Mosul will soon fall. “The game is up,” said Air Force Brig. Gen. Matthew Isler. “They have lost this fight and what you’re seeing now is a delaying action.” Mosul’s capture would effectively wipe out the Iraqi portion of the Islamic State, leaving Raqqa as their last, most heavily fortified stronghold.

That battle for Raqqa may be joined by a limited number of American troops. In a drastic departure from Barack Obama’s methods of political agenda first, last and always, Donald Trump is deferring more to his military experts in the field. They’ve already made one key strategic decision in preparation for taking the Syrian city and are weighing the benefits of a second.

Currently underway is the introduction of a “couple hundred” Marines to the region surrounding Raqqa, in order to pre-position heavy artillery assets. Those Marines don’t count against the Obama administration’s limit of 503 total troops in Syria, because they’re only there on a temporary basis. That arbitrary limit may be the reason for considering the second strategic move: placing about 1,000 troops in Kuwait as a reserve force that can rotate in and out of the region as needed.

A strategic move that’s not being considered is a hunt for al-Baghdadi, who has left his Islamic State fighters in the field and is reportedly on the run in northern Iraq, hiding out among Sunni tribal sympathizers in a widespread region of desert along the Iraqi-Syrian frontier. His last public communication, urging the Islamic State irregulars fighting for Mosul not to surrender but to fight to the death, was released in early November, before the election. Yet al-Baghdadi seems somewhat more hesitant to meet his 72 virgins in paradise, apparently preferring to lead from behind.

One thing President Trump may find regarding his vow to defeat the Islamic State, though, is that few of his strategic decisions will escape the notice of the press. For example, the Marines’ entry to Syria was first reported (with great detail) by the Washington Post, an outlet that will certainly make sure all interested parties are aware of any American strategy they learn about. The old admonition that “loose lips sink ships” doesn’t seem to hold any water with the media these days, and apparently there are plenty of unnamed “defense officials” who don’t mind sharing this information.

Also of newfound interest to the press, now that we have a Republican commander in chief, will be the re-introduction of body counts, particularly as the fighting moves from the remoteness of rearward air support and logistics to house-to-house fighting like that in Iraq and Afghanistan a decade ago. Despite our best efforts to minimize casualties, and despite President Trump’s moving tribute to the widow of Navy SEAL Ryan Owens during his address to a joint session of Congress last week, our jihadist enemies can now count on the American media to exploit our nation’s weak stomach for a bloody and extended asymmetrical fight.

Still, as an entity, the so-called Islamic State will be lucky to make it much beyond the third anniversary of al-Baghdadi’s pronouncement of its establishment. But the impact of the fight to suppress it — as the latest phase of a generation-long foray into the Middle East that began with Desert Storm a quarter-century ago and has continued nearly unabated since the 9/11 attack — will surely affect our foreign policy for decades.

Who We Are

The Patriot Post is a highly acclaimed weekday digest of news analysis, policy and opinion written from the heartland — as opposed to the MSM’s ubiquitous Beltway echo chambers — for grassroots leaders nationwide. More

What We Offer

On the Web

We provide solid conservative perspective on the most important issues, including analysis, opinion columns, headline summaries, memes, cartoons and much more.

Via Email

Choose our full-length Digest or our quick-reading Snapshot for a summary of important news. We also offer Cartoons & Memes on Monday and Alexander’s column on Wednesday.

Our Mission

The Patriot Post is steadfast in our mission to extend the endowment of Liberty to the next generation by advocating for individual rights and responsibilities, supporting the restoration of constitutional limits on government and the judiciary, and promoting free enterprise, national defense and traditional American values. We are a rock-solid conservative touchstone for the expanding ranks of grassroots Americans Patriots from all walks of life. Our mission and operation budgets are not financed by any political or special interest groups, and to protect our editorial integrity, we accept no advertising. We are sustained solely by you. Please support The Patriot Fund today!


The Patriot Post and Patriot Foundation Trust, in keeping with our Military Mission of Service to our uniformed service members and veterans, are proud to support and promote the National Medal of Honor Heritage Center, the Congressional Medal of Honor Society, both the Honoring the Sacrifice and Warrior Freedom Service Dogs aiding wounded veterans, the National Veterans Entrepreneurship Program, the Folds of Honor outreach, and Officer Christian Fellowship, the Air University Foundation, and Naval War College Foundation, and the Naval Aviation Museum Foundation. "Greater love has no one than this, to lay down one's life for his friends." (John 15:13)

★ PUBLIUS ★

“Our cause is noble; it is the cause of mankind!” —George Washington

Please join us in prayer for our nation — that righteous leaders would rise and prevail and we would be united as Americans. Pray also for the protection of our Military Patriots, Veterans, First Responders, and their families. Please lift up your Patriot team and our mission to support and defend our Republic's Founding Principle of Liberty, that the fires of freedom would be ignited in the hearts and minds of our countrymen.

The Patriot Post is protected speech, as enumerated in the First Amendment and enforced by the Second Amendment of the Constitution of the United States of America, in accordance with the endowed and unalienable Rights of All Mankind.

Copyright © 2024 The Patriot Post. All Rights Reserved.

The Patriot Post does not support Internet Explorer. We recommend installing the latest version of Microsoft Edge, Mozilla Firefox, or Google Chrome.