Under Trump, gains against ISIS have 'dramatically accelerated'
By Karen DeYoung August 4
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world...304_story.html
Nearly a third of territory reclaimed from the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria since 2014
has been won in the past six months, due to
new policies adopted by the Trump administration, a senior State Department official said Friday.
Brett McGurk, the State Department's senior envoy to the anti-Islamic State coalition, said that steps President Trump has taken, including delegating decision-making authority down from the White House to commanders in the field, have
"dramatically accelerated" gains against the militants....
...Although the Trump administration has yet to announce its new strategy for the campaign against the Islamic State,
McGurk cited "key changes" under Trump. In addition to the delegation of decision-making authority, which he said
has allowed much greater responsiveness to opportunities and changing circumstances, he cited
a "campaign of annihilation" that has concentrated on surrounding cities held by the militants
before launching offensives, to
ensure that no militants will escape....
...McGurk, who held the same job in the Obama administration, also cited renewed administration efforts to
"increase burden sharing from the coalition" among what he said were 73 countries. Most of them do not contribute to the warfighting but are
expected to help with stabilization efforts in cleared areas, including in the Iraqi city of Mosul, where U.S.-backed Iraq security forces declared
victory over the Islamic State
last month.
Some U.S. lawmakers have criticized what they have said is a lack of post-conflict plans, while others have said —
as Trump emphasized during his presidential campaign — that
the United States should not be involved in "nation-building" overseas.
McGurk described extensive preparations, while emphasizing that the United States is not interested in reconstruction or nation-building. Instead, he said, U.S. and partner nations are removing mines, clearing rubble and making sure that basic services — electricity, sewage and water — are operational
to allow displaced residents to return under the leadership of local councils....