US special forces to be deployed to Syria very soon
The President's Special Envoy spoke about the future plans against ISIS.
Special Presidential Envoy for the Global Coalition to Counter ISIL said that "very soon" it will send dozens of soldiers of American Special Forces to Syria who will cooperate with the Arab forces attempting to isolate the self-proclaimed capital of the Caliphate and put an end to the terrorist groups` conspiracies. As stated by Brett H. McGurk on Sunday, speaking on CBS, in recent weeks the coalition has managed to achieve noticeable results, restoring control over a number of territories and killing hundreds of extremist fighters.
McGurk stated that due to the secrecy of the operation he will not name specific dates, but, according to him, at least 50 soldiers will go to the north of Syria "very soon". Their mission, announced at the end of last month, focuses on training and advising the Arab forces fighting against ISIS. As noted by McGurk, it will be done on the background of the "very successful operation" of these forces.
"Just in the last two weeks they have taken control of about 1000 square kilometers. They killed about 300 ISIS militants and focused on trying to isolate the capital of ISIS, Raqqa, where presumably conceived terrorist plot," he said.
According to McGurk, the goal is to regain control over the territories, to destroy the leaders of ISIS, to block the financing and contacts with global networks supplying fighters to the "Islamic sect". He referred to the resolution adopted on Friday at the United Nations Security Council resolution, due to the attacks of the “IG” in Tunisia, Turkey, Beirut and Paris, along with the crash of the Russian airliner over the Sinai Peninsula, called "the global and unprecedented threat to international peace and security".
Before leaving Malaysia after the East Asia summit, the US President Barak Obama promised that the international coalition led by the US will destroy ISIS: "We will intensify our strategy on all fronts together with local partners. We will continue to weaken the position of ISIS in Iraq and Syria and destroy all the new leaders and the commanders of the group that are threatening human lives, and we will destroy this terrorist organization."
However, the Democratic Senator and the member of the Committee on Intelligence, Dianna Feinstein said on the Sunday program “Face the Nation” on CBS that she does not consider the Obama administration's approach is quite effective for this problem.
"I am concerned that we have very little time. One has to be aggressive, because ISIS is a quasi – state. It has 30,000 soldiers, civilian infrastructure, public financing, it spreads to other countries and it is a very serious problem. In other places, there is competition between the various terrorist organizations, but ISIS stands alone. This group is incredibly strong and we must act very decisively," said the Senator.
Feinstein suggested that it may require a stronger presence of the US special force units in the region, noting that dozens of military in Syria will not solve the problem.
McGurk insists that the international coalition against ISIS is not slow to fulfill its promise to destroy the group.
"In the last year, we had to do something to create special conditions to accelerate our efforts. So, for example, in just the last two weeks alone we have conducted simultaneous operations in Syria and Iraq in cooperation with Kurdish and Arab forces to block the main supply route between Mosul and Raqqa. These operations were very successful. Our special forces will go to the north of Syria, put the forces in place - the coalition forces to attack Raqqa city. Six months ago it was impossible to do so but now we’ve achieved all the necessary conditions," he explains.
According to him, the strategy is to squeeze the “Islamic state” in Iraq and Syria, blocking the passage to Turkey, cutting off the road from Raqqa to Mosul, holding the left flank near Tigris River and together with the Iraqi security forces conducting the operation to liberate the capital of Anbar Province, Ramadi. In addition, it also plans to strengthen international cooperation in the fight against global networks that supply foreign fighters to the “ISIS”.