President Trump on Wednesday hailed the US-led coalition’s efforts to eradicate ISIS in Iraq and Syria — but acknowledged that there would always be “dangerous remnants” who could launch violent attacks.
“I want to applaud the outstanding men and women of the United States military, incredible people, for their remarkable skill and precision throughout this entire campaign,” the president told a gathering of leaders and top officials from countries who signed on to the coalition.
“Now as countries in the region and across our coalition step up their commitments and we continue to destroy the remnants, that’s all they have, remnants. But remnants can be very dangerous. You have to remember that. A remnant can be very dangerous,” Trump said in remarks intended to reassure US allies that America was not abandoning the fight against the terror group.
Trump’s announcement in December that ISIS had been defeated and that he was pulling troops from Syria shocked allies and led to the resignations of Defense Secretary Jim Mattis and the top US envoy to the 79-member, coalition, Brett McGurk.
Since then, other military brass and a number of GOP lawmakers have pushed back, warning the president that an abrupt withdrawal would only increase the chances of an ISIS resurgence.
The commander-in-chief touted the impressive gains against ISIS, noting that their caliphate has been recaptured, their top leaders eliminated and tens of thousands of their fighters killed on the battlefield.
“We’ve eliminated almost every one of them,” he said, referring to their leaders while acknowledging the terrorists’ ability to bounce back from adversity.
“Now they reform. We know that, but they’re having a hard time reforming and I wouldn’t say it’s a great job to have because of us,” he said, referring to prospective recruits.
But, Trump added, even if they do reform, the coalition would seek them out and destroy them.
“They’ll be around. They’re sick. They’re demented. You’ll always have them no matter how well we do militarily. You will have people that will be around and we’ll search them out and you’ll search them out and we’ll find them and hopefully they won’t be around very long,” he said.
And in an apparent reference to the grisly execution videos ISIS released online, the president praised their Internet skills but said they were eroding fast.
“We’re working very hard on the Internet. They used the Internet better than we did for a period of time. They used the internet brilliantly but now it’s not so brilliant and now the people on the Internet that used to look up to them and say how wonderful and brilliant they are [are] not thinking of them as being so brilliant because they’ve been decimated,” he said.
Earlier, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo also reassured the coalition that America will not cede leadership of the fight against ISIS.
Pompeo said that the planned withdrawal “is not a change in the mission” but a change in tactics against a group that should still be considered a menace.
“In this new era, local law enforcement and information sharing will be crucial, and our fight will not necessarily always be military-led,” he said. Trump’s announcement “is not the end of America’s fight. The fight is one that we will continue to wage alongside of you.”
With AP