IRAQ/SYRIA/TERRORISM: “The Islamic State has carried out nearly 1,500 attacks in 16 cities across Iraq and Syria after they were declared freed from the militants’ control in recent months, providing new evidence that the group is reverting to its insurgent roots and foreshadowing long-term security threats.
The information was compiled by the Combating Terrorism Center at West Point in a study made public on Thursday [6-29-17] that warns that any military gains will fall short without increased efforts to restore the security, governance and economies in territory once held by the Islamic State.
‘Pushing the Islamic State out as the formal governing party in a territory is not a sufficient development when it comes to ending the group’s ability to enact violence against individuals in Iraq and Syria,’ the 20-page report said.
American diplomatic and military leaders say an even greater challenge than ousting the Islamic State, or ISIS, from its self-declared religious state, or caliphate, in eastern Syria and northern and western Iraq may well be the daunting political and economic reconstruction in the years ahead.”
-Eric Schmitt, “ISIS Reverts to Insurgent Roots to Pose Long-Term Threat, Study Says,” The New York Times online, June 29, 2017