Dheyaa Alwakeel
The landing preformed by the American Forces in the Syrian Der El-Zor at 6th of April 2017 then announced it at the 21th of the same month and during which it arrested several ISIS elements and killed Abdul Rahman Al-Uzbek who is one of the leaders close to ISIS’s leader according to the description of the American statement. This mission reveals to us that the US’s strategy to fight terrorism is not yet complete and it needs more information about the ideology, strategy, and tactics of the extremist organization, and I believe that the goal of the landing was to capture and kill leaders, confiscating computers, mobile phones and important documents, and subjecting them to analysis to evaluate them, determine their importance, and employ what is useful for American plans, and this explains the delay in announcing the operation. It can be said that the US is still cautious in dealing with the ISIS and terrorism file especially on the Syrian lands, and it won’t exceed in its missions remote bombing or guaranteed landing with the use of maximum possible power in addressing the target to avoid any potential losses, and this situation shows us an important fact which is that Trump’s management still adopts the previous strategy in assigning the task of war against terrorism to the local forces while the allied countries handle the cost while America continues to provide air, logistical and advisory support and intelligence sharing to allies. While waiting the developments and a clearer picture of the new American strategy, the war against ISIS and Al-Qaeda remains unresolved, or in another words; the death certificate of terrorism is not yet written as war against terrorism requires an enemy on land and not a dead enemy!! And waiting is the best advisor as Arabs say.
(*Media Adviser and former Spokesman for the Iraqi Armed Forces, Ministry of Defense and Baghdad Operations)
