{"id":827016,"date":"2025-02-14T11:14:20","date_gmt":"2025-02-14T17:14:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2025\/02\/14\/questions-about-syria-and-potential-for-an-isis-resurgence-loom-for-trump\/"},"modified":"2025-02-14T11:14:20","modified_gmt":"2025-02-14T17:14:20","slug":"questions-about-syria-and-potential-for-an-isis-resurgence-loom-for-trump","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2025\/02\/14\/questions-about-syria-and-potential-for-an-isis-resurgence-loom-for-trump\/","title":{"rendered":"Questions about Syria and potential for an ISIS resurgence loom for Trump"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

At a news conference this month, President-elect Donald Trump bragged, \u201cWe defeated ISIS.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

It has been a point of pride for him, and it is true. In the first year of Trump\u2019s first term,\u00a0U.S. forces, working with Syrian Kurdish allies,\u00a0defeated\u00a0the Islamic State\u2019s self-proclaimed \u201ccaliphate\u201d and liberated\u00a0its capital. But the fall of the Assad regime has left Syria at risk of coming apart under pressure from a variety of terrorist groups, local militias and Israeli airstrikes. And Syria\u2019s interim leaders, while proclaiming moderate intentions, have roots\u00a0in Al Qaeda and\u00a0another terrorist group, Hayat al Sham (HTS). The\u00a0nightmare scenario for many experts is that\u00a0ISIS could re-establish its stronghold in the fledgling state and export more terrorism to the West or inspire it, as it did the New Year\u2019s Day attack in New Orleans.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The situation means that, once he is in office,\u00a0Trump will\u00a0most likely\u00a0have to make some hard choices \u2014\u00a0insist on withdrawing all or some of the 2,000 U.S. troops in Syria, in line with his previous positions,\u00a0or leave them in place to prevent an ISIS resurgence and a tarnishing of what he sees as his accomplishment in his first term. U.S. withdrawal\u00a0could easily re-create Syria as a base of operations for terrorist attacks\u00a0in\u00a0Israel, the United States and Europe.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The United States has been relying on fighters from the\u00a0Syrian Defense Force (SDF),\u00a0an alliance led by Kurds\u00a0in northeast Syria,\u00a0to guard thousands of\u00a0captured\u00a0ISIS\u00a0fighters and their families\u00a0there. At the height of the war\u00a0against ISIS, Gen. Joseph Votel, a former commander of U.S. Central Command,\u00a0told NBC News<\/a>\u00a0that the SDF\u2019s fighters were among the best he has ever led.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But the SDF\u2019s commander in chief, Gen. Mazloum\u00a0Abdi,\u00a0told The Guardian this\u00a0month<\/a>\u00a0that ISIS is growing in strength after it seized weapons from the collapsed\u00a0Syrian\u00a0regime. He\u00a0also\u00a0said the Kurdish forces are coming under increased pressure from\u00a0Turkish\u00a0President Recep Tayyip Erdo\u011fan, who views them, along with\u00a0Kurdish separatists based in Syria\u00a0known as the PKK,\u00a0as threats\u00a0to his regime.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Outgoing Secretary of State Antony Blinken said\u00a0Monday in an interview with NBC News that the U.S. role in helping guide and shape what is happening in Syria is \u201cessential.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Blinken described the situation on the ground as \u201cincredibly fragile,\u201d warning that \u201cwhat happens inside of Syria doesn\u2019t stay inside of Syria,\u201d with the potential for terrorism that goes well beyond its borders.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The United States has a stake in the \u201cextraordinary opportunity that is now before the Syrian people to actually control their own lives and their own destinies,\u201d\u00a0he said. \u201cThat means, I believe, keeping some presence, but it also means being very engaged in all of the efforts to help support a Syrian-owned, Syrian-led transition to get the country to a better place.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Theodore\u00a0Kattouf,\u00a0a career diplomat who was the U.S. ambassador to Syria under President George W. Bush,\u00a0told\u00a0NBC News\u00a0recently\u00a0that even if Trump were to continue bombing campaigns and targeted operations against the terrorist group, removing U.S. troops would leave the Kurdish coalition vulnerable and ultimately lead to an expanded footprint for ISIS.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith those troops out of there, we\u2019re putting a lot of U.S. interests at risk,\u201d\u00a0Kattouf\u00a0said. \u201cI don\u2019t see\u00a0[HTS]\u00a0or other allied rebel forces able to take on that issue right now.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

The fear among Biden administration counterterrorism officials\u00a0is that\u00a0a Trump withdrawal of U.S. forces would leave the Syrian Kurds guarding the ISIS prisoners vulnerable to attacks from other factions \u2014 or the looming presence of Turkey, just across the border.\u00a0Both\u00a0Trump in his first term and President Joe Biden\u00a0have worked hard to restrain Erdo\u011fan,\u00a0whose country remains\u00a0a NATO ally, from attacking America\u2019s Kurdish allies. Trump said\u00a0at his news conference last week that\u00a0he had asked Erdo\u011fan\u00a0not to\u00a0go\u00a0after \u201ccertain people,\u201d clearly referring to the Kurds. Trump added, \u201cPresident Erdo\u011fan\u00a0is his friend of mine, he\u2019s a guy I like, respect. I think he respects me also.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Beyond serving as a base for operations and planning, any Syrian territory that falls to ISIS could help it project an image of power and resistance and inspire others around the world. The group has already been\u00a0expanding its global\u00a0reach through social media, sponsoring attacks and\u00a0influencing followers worldwide, including so-called lone wolves,\u00a0through what anti-terrorism experts say is a surge of sophisticated online propaganda. CIA Director William Burns\u00a0told NPR<\/a>\u00a0last\u00a0week\u00a0that\u00a0the agency is \u201cquite concerned\u201d about the rising threat posed by ISIS, particularly its \u201cability to inspire people.\u201d\u00a0And in July, FBI Director Christopher Wray warned the House Judiciary Committee that \u201cthe greatest terrorism threat to our homeland has been posed by lone actors or small cells of individuals who typically radicalize to violence online and use easily accessible weapons to attack soft targets.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Image:<\/picture>
An Islamic State fighter waves a flag while standing on a captured government fighter jet in Raqqa, Syria, in 2015.<\/span>Universal Images Group via Getty Images file<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The U.S. intelligence community\u00a0and the FBI have been sounding those alarm bells for more than a year.\u00a0A senior administration official\u00a0told\u00a0NBC News\u00a0on Friday, \u201cThere is a heightened focus on ISIS,\u201d pointing to the cancellation of three Taylor Swift Eras Tour shows in Vienna in August after warnings from U.S. intelligence of ISIS terrorist plots targeting the venues. And in March, gunmen from ISIS-K, an affiliate of ISIS based in Afghanistan, killed more than 130 people at the Crocus City Hall, a well-known concert venue outside Moscow, despite warnings from U.S. intelligence, according to U.S. officials.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cSyria could provide the group with the momentum that it\u2019s long sought to kind of spill back onto the headlines, whether that\u2019s ISIS K in Afghanistan, ISIS core, ISIS Central and Syria and parts of Iraq, and again, the homegrown violent extremists that live in the West that ISIS is attempting to push over the edge conduct the types of attack that we saw in New Orleans,\u201d counterterrorism\u00a0expert\u00a0Collin Clarke\u00a0of the Soufan Group\u00a0told NBC News\u00a0after the New Orleans attack.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Clearly alarmed by the possibility of the collapsed state\u2019s exporting terrorism to Europe,\u00a0two weeks ago\u00a0the foreign ministers of France and Germany, representing the European Union, traveled to Damascus to meet Syria\u2019s interim leader, Ahmed al-Sharaa,\u00a0who was\u00a0known by his nom de guerre, Abu Mohammad al-Jolani, before he disavowed his connections with\u00a0HTS.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

American boots?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

\u201cSyria is a mess, but is not our friend,\u201d Trump said on X<\/a> in the hours before the collapse of the Assad regime, adding, \u201cThe United States should have nothing to do with it. This is not our fight. Let it play out. Do not get involved!\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Trump\u2019s pick for national security adviser,\u00a0Rep. Mike Waltz,\u00a0R-Fla.,\u00a0echoed Trump\u2019s reluctance for the United States to intervene in Syria but underscored the incoming administration\u2019s commitment to combating ISIS. \u201cWe do not need American boots running around Syria in any way, shape or form, but we\u2019re keeping an eye on those things, ISIS, Israel\u2019s border, and kind of the broader dynamic with our Gulf allies,\u201d Waltz said on a podcast late last month.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But experts question the ability to continue the fight against ISIS in Syria without a U.S.\u00a0military\u00a0presence.\u00a0<\/p>\n

During the transition, a senior Biden administration official said, the current administration has been briefing Trump\u2019s national security team on the need for a continued U.S. military presence to prevent Russia, Turkey or Iran from gaining dominance. The outgoing Biden administration has itself been treading carefully, sending its top Middle East diplomat, Assistant Secretary of State Barbara\u00a0Leaf, to Damascus only after European counterparts had already visited and only after\u00a0public pressure\u00a0from the mother of Austin Tice, the American journalist believed to be imprisoned in Syria,\u00a0who said\u00a0the United States should be more engaged.\u00a0To even meet with the new interim leader, the State Department first\u00a0had to lift\u00a0the\u00a0$10\u00a0million bounty\u00a0it\u00a0had\u00a0put\u00a0on\u00a0his\u00a0head\u00a0when he led\u00a0HTS.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But now the critical question of whether the United States should play a role in preventing Syria from again harboring terrorists or permitting power plays from U.S. regional adversaries will be on Trump\u2019s doorstep as he arrives at the White House. That and the challenge of combating the online propaganda that spreads ISIS\u2019 terrorist philosophy far and wide.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n
<\/picture><\/a><\/div>\n

Andrea Mitchell<\/a><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

Andrea Mitchell is chief Washington correspondent and chief foreign affairs correspondent for NBC News.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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<\/picture><\/div>\n

Abigail Williams<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Abigail Williams is a producer and reporter for NBC News covering the State Department.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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<\/span>Julie Cerullo<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Julie Cerullo is a producer for NBC News based in Washington, D.C.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

At a news conference this month, President-elect Donald Trump bragged, \u201cWe defeated ISIS.\u201d\u00a0 It has been a point of pride for him, and it is true. In the first year of Trump\u2019s first term,\u00a0U.S. forces, working with Syrian Kurdish allies,\u00a0defeated\u00a0the Islamic State\u2019s self-proclaimed \u201ccaliphate\u201d and liberated\u00a0its capital. But the fall of the Assad regime has<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":827017,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[357,3631],"tags":[7336,12173],"class_list":{"0":"post-827016","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-questions","8":"category-syria","9":"tag-questions","10":"tag-syria"},"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/827016","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=827016"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/827016\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/827017"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=827016"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=827016"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=827016"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}