A report released this week by the Department of Defense’s Inspector General indicates that ISIS continues to pose a significant threat in the Middle East.
“Despite losing its territorial ‘caliphate,’ the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) solidified its insurgent capabilities in Iraq and was resurging in Syria” from April through June, the report said.
During that time period, U.S. forces in Syria fulfilled the Trump administration’s directive to partly withdraw from the country. Military officials told the inspector general’s office that “the reduction of U.S. forces has decreased the support available for Syrian partner forces at a time when their foces [sic] need more training and equipping to respond to the ISIS resurgence,” Principal Deputy Inspector General Glenn A. Fine wrote in the opening of the report.
