Aymenn al-Tamimi, a researcher for the right-wing, and generally hawkish Middle East Forum, has faulted new statements this week from the Pentagon as having greatly exaggerated the number of foreign ISIS fighters, and the number still joining ISIS, in an attempt to try to justify the continued US military presence in Syria.
Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman Gen. Joe Dunford told a conference on Tuesday that ISIS remains “resilient, determined and adaptable,” and claimed that 100 new foreign fighters are recruited by the ground every single month.
Though ISIS was wildly successful at attracting foreign fighters during its prime, when it established a “caliphate” spanning much of Syria and parts of Iraq. With no real territory left, however, it is hard to imagine recruitment is anywhere near so high for them.
Tamimi noted that ISIS’ distance from the Turkish border means that’s no longer a place to get recruits, and getting in through Iraq would be no easier. These claims seem to be built around the need to keep using ISIS to justify keeping troops in Syria, and Tamimi noted that it would “be much harder for the US to explain its presence as an official counter-Iran mission.”
The Dunford types would still have OBL “alive” if they had their way.
They did the same with al Qaeda, even when Dunford let is slip that there were only fifty AQ in country. Anyhow, the Pentagon has had so much “success” against ragtag ISIS in the past five years it’s ready to take on Russia and China. Maybe they won’t be so “resilient, determined and adaptable.” Dunford — another stupid general.
The chatter on numbers matters only in a limited way. The real question is — where EXACTLY is ISIS and what villages, roads, hills does it control? Along Euphrates east bank ISIS is comfortably nested within territory controlled by SDF (Kurds)’and US. Or to be more precuse, US. In that region Kurds are tiny minority, and ISIS is controlling Syrians. There are many escapes across Euphrates into government territory. There are daily defections from SDF, as Syrians that joined them understand that ISIS is protected. But there is a problem that surfaced recently — ISIS us not gdtting supplies, and they kidnapped many people to extort supplies from US. Maps should be provided with such texts so we can see that ISIS cannot get supplies from Iraq or from Turkey. Syddenly, fhere is a reauest that UN bring supplies to Ruqban refugee camp inside US territory. And to make spin more effective, Syrian government permission was sought to deliver UN aid! As if US ever cared to get permission to do anything in territory it controls. Why then this one? Because this refugee camp is the place where ISIS members are, and where they get supplies from. In the past, Saudi supplies through Jordan kept the supply route going. Apparently Saudis stopped paying, and supplues dried up. The problem us — ISIS gets aid they sell it to refugees and other population in US controlled territory, then buy anything else UN will not bring jn. Afms are always awailae, and hostages come un handy for ransom, fir fighters and fighters’ brides. Slavery is back in practice in these ISIS areas that nobody is touching. It is not like they are lurking somewhere in deserts or mountains. They are hiding in plain view. And we are debating numbers!!