POTUS, Mattis let loose the dogs of war

Baghdad -- Hundreds of terrorized black-clad terrorists from the "JV Team" had just been chased out of a northern Syrian city fleeing through the desert in long convoys and providing U.S. A-10 "Warthogs" with target practice. 

But the orders to bomb the jihadists didn't come and they disappeared back into their caliphate, living to fight another day.

That was back in August 2016 when President Trump was not yet president. He had vowed to allow his military leadership crush ISIS that, under Obama, had grown from the "jayvee team" to the world's most feared terrorist organization.

Trump told America, "I will . . . quickly and decisively bomb the hell out of ISIS." He then chose legendary USMC General James Mattis as his Secretary of Defense (SecDef) and Trump added "We will not have to listen to the politicians who are losing the war on terrorism." 

A year later, ISIS was kicked out of Iraq and Syria that made Obama's leadership look like a ferret driving a clown car. The speed with which it was done even surprised the top brass. Trump kept his campaign promise, something unheard of in the past. Obama's rules of engagement that helped getting Americans killed, we dumped and he allowed his generals make the military decisions rather than politicians.

So while ISIS once ruled 8 million people and controlled the oil fields, refineries, agriculture, huge arsenals and smuggling routes, Trump allowed the military to win.

But I disagree with the notion that we will actually get tired of winning.

Now ISIS only controls 3 percent of Iraq and less than 5 percent of Syria. The "caliph," Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, is believed to be injured and holed up somewhere along the border of Iraq and Syria. 

ISIS is still a danger--their jihadists live among civilians in the region, Europe and probably even the U.S. They will likely remain a danger for years unless we can convince those who harbor them to turn them in.

Some ISIS cells are trying to regroup in the Philippines, Sinai Peninsula and Libya.

But the tough job of taking back ISIS's land is largely completed.


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