The United States is winning the war against ISIS.

Iraqi civilians celebrate ISIS' defeat in Mosul. AP/Defense One.

The United States strategy in Iraq and Syria is working to defeat the ISIS terrorist movement. Defense One. Bret McGurk, a defense official that worked in both the Obama and Trump White Houses claims that ISIS is being defeated in many key areas due to changing strategies in the Trump Administration. First, the supply of foreign fighters for ISIS has been completely cut off. Second, the Iraqi Army has been built up from the force that broke in 2014 and has been transformed into a highly effective fighting force that hasn't lost a battle against ISIS. Third, in Syria, McGurk claims that the battle for the ISIS capital of Raqqa is 40% finished.

A major reason for that victory is because Trump has given local commanders much more leeway, allowing them to take more risks, such as the surprise attack on the Tabqa dam. Defense Secretary Mattis has also implemented a surround and destroy ISIS fighters instead of letting them flee. Other effective measures by the Trump administration are continuations of Obama policies, such as encouraging other coalition members to increase funding and severing financial links between core ISIS groups and their affiliates. The coalition against ISIS has liberated over 70,000 square kilometers of territory and rescued 5 million people. 

My Comment:

One of the things that President Donald Trump gets zero credit for is the victories he has had against ISIS. Though the Obama Administration had begun to turn the tide against ISIS even before Trump got elected and deserve some credit for reversing course, since he was, the pace of collapse has increased. This is one of the most obvious victories in a young Trump administration and given how hostile the media is against Trump, it's little wonder why he isn't getting credit for it. 

I generally agree with Bret McGurk's assertions. We are winning the fight against ISIS due to how we have changed course. Our new strategies are working and it's clear that ISIS is on the verge of defeat. They are no longer on the offensive and have lost major defensive battles, with the battle of Mosul being the most substantial. 

Though Trump deserves a lot of credit for most of the victories, we can't take too much credit for the fact that foreign fighters have been kept out of Syria and Iraq. That wasn't us, it was Turkey and they did it for their own reasons. Namely, the ISIS fighters they essentially supported turned on them and started to conduct terrorist attacks inside Turkish territory. Plus they wanted an excuse to punish the Kurds so they decided to close the border to Syria. This was a huge factor in why ISIS is failing. They no longer have any reinforcements. Turkey didn't do it to help us though, they did it for selfish reasons.

Other than that though, I do think that Trump and his administration deserves a lot of credit. The difference between the Obama admin and this one is clear. For one thing it really is important that Trump has released his local commanders to actually fight in the way they see fit. Obama was a famous micro manager to the point where every descion had to go through him. That slowed down operations and let ISIS terrorists survive situations they really shouldn't have. Loosening up the rules of engagement and letting his generals actually fight has greatly helped things. The Taqba dam victory is just one example of this working out. 

Another huge mistake that the Obama administration committed was allowing hundreds of ISIS fighters to flee battles. The idea was that doing so would reduce civilian casualties, but in the long run it didn't because those fighters would just end up fighting in other battles. Utterly destroying the vast majority of fighters in more recent battles like Mosul will prevent them from regrouping. Civilian casualties are up, but the war is going to end much sooner. 

One thing that McGurk left out is ending our failed efforts in training Syrian rebels. This was a major course change and one that was very overdue. Only one group, the Syrian Democratic Forces, led by the Kurds, has had much success and has earned continued support. Other groups were either defeated in battle, surrendered to terrorist groups like al-Nusra or, worst of all, switched sides and supported the enemy. The Trump administration has ended those efforts that were doing nothing to hurt ISIS and were a complete waste of money. 

Trump has also attempted to work with Russia and Syria to fight ISIS as well. Things aren't going as good on that front as they could be, after all the Obama administration and the media's Russian election interference conspiracy theory have greatly damaged relations with Russia. That being said it's amazing that there is any cooperation at all and I think Trump realized something that Obama never did. Whatever sins Bashar al-Assad committed, he's still the best possible outcome left for Syria. With that in mind Trump has supported limited cooperation with Russia and has supported cease fire deals as well. 

It's fairly clear that ISIS as a state is doomed. Raqqa will fall soon and after that there is only Dier ez Zor remaining for major cities under ISIS control. After that ISIS will remain a threat as a terrorist insurgency. It is critical that we don't make the same mistakes that the Obama administration, and the Bush admin before them, made in Iraq. We must continue to support the Iraqi government and anyone else who is fighting ISIS to make sure that they do not return from defeat...