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IS resurgence possible if US leaves Iraq: general
WASHINGTON, Jan 23, 2020 (BSS/AFP) – The Islamic State group is weakened
but a resurgence is possible if the United States leaves Iraq, US Major
General Alexus Grynkewich, the number two commander for the international
anti-jihadist coalition in Iraq and Syria, said Wednesday.
The group “certainly still remain a threat,” he said. “They have the
potential to resurge if we take pressure off of them for too long.”
The general said he did not see the threat of an immediate IS comeback.
“But the more time we take pressure off of them, the more of that threat
will continue to grow,” he said.
At a Pentagon press conference, he said the structural weakness of IS is
shown by their failure to take advantage of demonstrations in Iraq calling
for political reforms since October.
More than 460 protesters have been killed, and demonstrators are angry that
few Iraqi security personnel have been charged for the violence.
The allies at the heart of the international coalition have over the last
few months been evaluating the position of the jihadist movement whose self-
declared “caliphate” once spanned parts of Iraq and Syria. It collapsed last
March after years of battle with coalition-backed forces.
IS went underground and reverted to well-honed guerrilla tactics that
continued to do damage.
The coalition wanted to determine whether the group is “executing some sort
of strategic patience, waiting for an opportunity that they can exploit, or
are they truly on the ropes a bit more and lacking in capability and
capacity?” Grynkewich said.
He said the Iraqi protests helped the coalition to refine its assessment
“that it’s actually ISIS is a little bit more on the lack of capability and
capacity side, than strategically patient,” using another acronym for the
jihadists.
Tensions between Washington and Tehran boiled over onto Iraqi soil this
month. The US killed top Iranian general Qasem Soleimani in Baghdad and
Tehran retaliated against an Iraqi base hosting American soldiers, some of
whom were hurt.
Furious at the US hit, Iraq’s parliament voted January 5 to oust all
foreign troops, including about 5,200 American soldiers deployed alongside
local forces.
Coalition troops have ostensibly reduced their operations in Iraq since
then, even if cooperation with the Iraqi army continues discreetly, according
to several US military sources.
US President Donald Trump and his Iraqi counterpart Barham Saleh agreed
Wednesday in Davos, Switzerland on the need for a continued US military role
in the country, the White House said.
“That’s really kind of a government-to-government discussion on when we get
back to full restoration of that partnership. They certainly have an interest
in it, as do we,” Grynkewich said.
BSS/AFP/FI/ 0742 hrs