By refusing to eliminate the ISIS contingent, while also not impeding the fighters fleeing westward, the anti-ISIS coalition, who profess their dedication to preventing ISIS from exporting their terror around the world, have not only not been helping to mitigate this outcome but have actually helped to enable it.
EUPHRATES RIVER VALLEY, SYRIA (Analysis) — While President Trump has recently hailed the defeat of ISIS, the group has been able to stave-off a complete defeat by retreating to a few, small remaining pockets in Syria.
One of these pockets, located east of the Euphrates along Syria’s border with Iraq, is surrounded by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), a grouping of Kurdish militias that are trained and armed by the U.S., and who act as the U.S.-led anti-ISIS coalition’s leading partner in the fight against ISIS. And while the SDF and the coalition engage in battle with ISIS further south near Abu-Kamal, that is not the case in this pocket to the north. The fighters operating within this area do not have to fear coalition attacks or SDF assaults. Instead, they have been free to conduct their activities unimpeded, despite being surrounded by U.S. allies on the ground and U.S. aircraft overhead.
This is because the coalition has left this ISIS contingent alone — for months — as virtually no airstrikes have been carried out in the region since at least as far back as November of 2017. The few airstrikes that have been conducted since then, few enough to count on one hand, have not targeted ISIS fighters – save one.
This is the curious situation on the ground, which, despite a telling lack of reporting, has been maintained for months now. After the U.S.-backed SDF had encircled one of the last remaining pockets of ISIS fighters, the U.S. at the same time announced to Syria and its allies that it would prevent the Syrian Army from crossing into the U.S.’ self-declared “zone-of-control.” While actively blocking the Syrian Army – which was fighting ISIS on multiple fronts – from reaching this swath of territory, the coalition themselves have refused to attack it — for months. The picture that then emerges is one of an anti-ISIS coalition – one that has routinely expressed steadfast commitment to “annihilate” and “bring a lasting defeat” to ISIS – which has instead been effectively safeguarding one of the last ISIS strongholds still standing, as well as the ISIS fighters within it.
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