US President Donald Trump is reportedly preparing to claim once again that Daesh has been defeated during the State of the Union address. However, a new Pentagon inspector general report says the group is on the verge of resurging within six to 12 months.
University of Ottawa professor Kamal Dib, the author of “Syria in History” and “The Damnation of Cain: The Natural Gas Wars From Russia, Iran, and Qatar, to Lebanon and Syria,” tells Sputnik that “short of an unequivocal and clear statement” from US officials declaring an end to the war in Syria, “anything else is part of the diplomatic and media arsenal, as more military efforts are prepared to carry on with the war.”
“The Iraqi and Turkish frontiers are fully open to such military efforts to force a change of government in Syria,” explained Dib, who has written extensively about the region.
The Defense Department’s inspector general for Operation Inherent Resolve, the name of the military engagement against Daesh elements in Syria and Iraq, said Daesh “remains a potent force of battle-hardened and well-disciplined fighters” in a report published Monday.
