ISIS will be defeated before US leaves Syria

“I know more about ISIS than the generals do, believe me...” -- President Donald J. Trump

disciple Clint said:

and now ISIS knows something about Trump, when he told them your days are numbered we will defeat you, he was not kidding.

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Unfortunately ISIS hasn't been defeated and it's not going to be defeated anytime soon.

disciple Clint said:

Better let the General know that he is wrong then. CENTCOM’s Votel: ISIS will be defeated before US leaves Syria

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That headline is misleading and the article is actually a rebuke of President Trump and the way he prematurely announced a withdraw of American troops from Syria. If you read the transcript of the entire hearing where General Votel testified, you will see that he says that the fight against ISIS is not over and will continue.

"In Syria and Iraq the unrelenting work of the 79-member Defeat ISIS Coalition, the determination and bravery of our Iraqi security forces and Syrian Democratic Force partners and the support of multiple international government organizations has largely liberated the so-called physical caliphate of ISIS, an area of 34,000 square miles of territory which they once controlled is now reduced to an area less than 20 square miles. The successful partnership with the Syrian Democratic Forces and the Iraqi security forces was instrumental in these gains against ISIS but it is important to understand that even though this territory has been reclaimed the fight against ISIS and violent extremists is not over and our mission has not changed.

The coalition's hard-won battlefield gains can only be secured by maintaining a vigilant offensive against a now largely disbursed and disaggregated ISIS that retains leaders, fighters, facilitators, resources and the profane ideology that fuels their efforts. As the Defeat ISIS Campaign in Syria transitions from liberating territory to enabling local security and addressing the ISIS clandestine insurgency U.S. ground forces will depart Syria in a deliberate and coordinated manner while we concurrently consult with allies and partners to implement stabilization efforts. These details are being developed now and will ensure campaign continuity and capitalize on the contributions of the international community to prevent a resurgence of ISIS in Iraq and Syria...

We are adjusting our military posture in Syria, planning and executing a deliberate, safe and professional withdrawal of personnel and equipment while preserving sufficient power in the region,” -- Gen. Joseph Votel

The entire transcript can be found here ARCCSPANSenate CommitteeUS Withdrawal Syria Afghanistan-457559-1

The US and its allies in the war against terror are fighting ISIS on many fronts and in other parts of the world. Taking back territory once held by ISIS doesn't equal its defeat.

disciple Clint said:

Better let the General know that he is wrong then. CENTCOM’s Votel: ISIS will be defeated before US leaves Syria

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Trump's most senior Middle East general says ISIS is NOT defeated and he would have told the president to stay in Syria

The top U.S. general in the Middle East says he would have counseled President Trump against pulling forces out of Syria had the president consulted him in advance – and that the terror group is not yet defeated.

Gen. Joseph Votel, an Army four-star who heads U.S. Central Command, made comments that were at odds with Trump's December assertion that the U.S. and its allies had 'defeated ISIS' in Syria.

Votel has said previously the president did not consult him before announcing the decision to withdraw troops via Twitter.

'It would not have been my military advice at that particular time,' Vogel said of the withdrawal Trump ordered.

'I would not have made that suggestion, frankly.' He said the ISIS-proclaimed caliphate 'still has leaders, still has fighters, it still has facilitators, it still has resources, so our continued military pressure is necessary to continue to go after that network.'

But Votel indicated he would follow the orders of the commander-in-chief.

On Thursday General Raymond Thomas, head of US Special Operations Command, was reluctant at a Senate hearing to say what would constitute winning in Syria.

'I'd be hesitant to use the term winning, as opposed to the objective,' Thomas told the Armed Services Committee, AFP reported.

He said the 'objective is to reduce the threat in that area and to be able to maintain persistent capabilities so that an external threat cannot emanate from that in the future,' he added. But when asked if that had happened, Thomas said: 'I do not think we're there yet.'

Trump's most senior Middle East general says ISIS is NOT defeated | Daily Mail Online

It is apparent that there’s a split in the US ruling elites. Call it globalists versus nationalists.

The globalists saw overthrow of Assad government as more in line with their goals than defeating ISIS. ISIS was, alongside al-Nusra (aka al-Qaeda in Syria) the biggest threat to the Syrian State, so had to be allowed to grow at least until regime change accomplished.

LtGen Michael Flynn who was chief of the Defense Intelligence Agency at the Pentagon, in a very long interview on al-Jazeera, clearly stated the above to be true and said it was a “wilful decision of the [Obama] administration” to “allow the rise of ISIS”.

Flynn later became close adviser to Trump. Both would seem to represent a the nationalist faction in US elites. This is evidenced by Trump administration getting out of the globalist TPP, TTIP, NAFTA and the tariffs on China.

Trump’s election victory meant a change in policy in Syria. It was defeat ISIS because they’re bad and if they did take Damascus all hell would’ve broken loose. The globalists didn’t care about the Syrian people, nor about the cannon fodder of Western servicemen and women who’d have been thrown in to liberate Syria from ISIS and establish globalist ultimate control.

This split probably goes through the military as well. If you’ll recall there were media reports at the height of the Syrian war of CIA backed Islamist rebels fighting against Pentagon backed Kurdish SDF. So when Trump says he “knows more than the generals in Syria” it may be because he has classified info from the DIA.