Departing U.S. Commander Says Islamic State Losing, But Still Dangerous More than 25,000 enemy fighters have been killed; swaths of territory reclaimed in Iraq and Syria By Gordon Lubold
http://www.wsj.com/articles/departing-u-s-commander-says-islamic-state-losing-but-still-dangerous-1470865142
WASHINGTON—The U.S. commander overseeing the coalition fighting Islamic State in Iraq and Syria said it has made progress but cautioned that the extremist group continues to pose a danger.
The U.S., Iraq and its allies have killed more than 25,000 enemy fighters and reclaimed swaths of territory from the militant group in Iraq and Syria, trained nearly 14,000 Iraqi forces and struck at Islamic State’s oil and gas assets, said Lt. Gen. Sean MacFarland.
But, he added, Islamic State persists as a threat.
“Military success in Iraq and Syria will not necessarily mean the end of Daesh,” Gen. MacFarland told reporters at the Pentagon, using an Arabic acronym for Islamic State. “We can expect the enemy to adapt more into a true insurgent force and terrorist organization, capable of horrific attacks, like the one here on July 3 in Baghdad and those others that we’ve seen around the world.”
Gen. MacFarland is completing a year as commander of the Combined Joint Task Force-Operation Inherent Resolve, the name the military has given the fight against Islamic State in Iraq and Syria. His departure amounts to an inflection point for the fight against Islamic State, as forces both in Iraq and Syria prepare for difficult campaigns against two Islamic State strongholds—Mosul in Iraq, and Raqqa in Syria. CONTINUE AT SITE
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