Perspective: Islamic StateWorried about an Islamic State Comeback? Here's Why That's Unlikely

When President Trump hastily decided to withdrew U.S. forces from northern Syria, giving a green light for Turkey to invade, many were outraged that in doing so he was abandoning the Kurdish-dominated Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), an important ally in the fight against the Islamic State.

Daniel Byman writes in the Washington Post that many, including those not typically critical of the president, worried that a U.S. withdrawal would give the Islamic State a chance to rise again.

“The Islamic State may make modest gains with the United States gone — but as the Baghdadi raid reveals, the U.S.-led counterterrorism campaign will not end and a full comeback is unlikely,” Byman writes.

He offers these reasons:

·  “[T]he Islamic State doesn’t have some of the advantages it did in 2011. The Iraqi regime is treating Sunni Muslims far better, and its military and intelligence services are more competent and aggressive. Moreover, Iraqi Sunnis who lived under the former caliphate are not eager for ISIS to return.”

·  “Nor is the Islamic State likely to have as much freedom in Syria as it had before. Turkey … has been attacked by ISIS, and is fighting instead of tolerating jihadists. … European countries have gotten better at preventing terrorist attacks. … Russia and Syria, now working with the SDF, oppose the Islamic State.”

·  “Meanwhile, the U.S. raid on Baghdadi suggests that the U.S. and its allies will continue to try to kill Islamic State leaders in Iraq and Syria … Social media platforms have become far more aggressive in removing ISIS propaganda and recruiting accounts and blocking jihadist content. The U.S. government has become more tech-savvy as well, monitoring suspected terrorists who used these platforms.”