2LT International News

WASHINGTON, U.S. – The December 2018 declaration by the U.S. President Donald Trump is set to go down in history as a potentially significant moment in America’s fight against the Islamic State Militant group (ISIS). 

The declaration, which has sparked warnings from several countries and groups, shocked not only America’s allies but also alarmed the country’s lawmakers.  

Now, the U.S. Department of Defense has issued a gloomy warning, claiming that Trump’s decision to withdraw U.S. forces from Syria is a “disaster waiting to happen.”

The U.S. Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats released the Worldwide Threat Assessment, which has stated, “ISIS will seek to exploit Sunni grievances, societal instability, and stretched security forces to regain territory in Iraq and Syria in the long term.”

Even as the Pentagon continues to implement Trump’s order to withdraw all U.S. troops from Syria, its latest assessment reveals fears that ISIS could re-emerge.

Coats warned in the report that ISIS could take back territory in Syria within months if the U.S. does not maintain military pressure on the terror group.

In its quarterly report, the Department of Defense Inspector General contradicted Trump, who has repeatedly claimed that ISIS has been defeated. 

The report about Operation Inherent Resolve claims ISIS is determined to rebuild a physical caliphate in the absence of military pressure from the U.S.

While some military and intelligence officials have raised concerns that ISIS could reclaim land in Syria sooner, Coats categorically told the Senate Intelligence Committee, “ISIS is intent on resurgence and still commands thousands of fighters in Iraq and Syria.”

The report warned, “The group will exploit any reduction in [counterterrorism] pressure to strengthen its clandestine presence and accelerate rebuilding key capabilities, such as media production and external operations.”

Coats also warned, “ISIS will continue to be a threat to the United States. This terrorism threat is going to continue for some time.”

Last week, the acting U.S. Defence Secretary Patrick Shanahan said that ISIS is expected to lose the final bits of its territory in Syria to U.S.-backed forces within the next couple of weeks, 

Currently, the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces are making preparations for a final showdown with ISIS in eastern Syria.

Figures released by the Pentagon show that the number of foreign fighters being held by the U.S.-backed Syria Democratic Forces has surpassed 800 for the first time.

The Department of Defense spokesman Cmdr. Sean Robertson has said that there are more than “800 foreign terrorist fighters” in SDF custody from “over 40 countries.”

In his December announcement on withdrawing troops, Trump has declared in a video released on Twitter, “We have won against ISIS. We’ve beaten them and we’ve beaten them badly. We’ve taken back the land and now it’s time for our troops to come back home.”

He also tweeted separately, “We have defeated ISIS in Syria, my only reason for being there during the Trump Presidency.”

Figures show that there are more than 3,000 U.S. troops in Syria now and around 1,000 extra troops have been sent to help provide security and transportation for the U.S. withdrawal.

Last week, the Senate voted to advance an amendment that is critical of Trump’s push to remove troops from Syria and Afghanistan.

U.S. officials have said that they expect the U.S. troop withdrawal to be completed within three to four months.