The Perennial 'ISIS' Problem: A Never-Ending Story
The Fox News report is, to put it mildly, light on details, heavy on boilerplate. Five strikes against 'multiple ISIS targets' to 'ensure the enduring defeat of the terrorist network' – phrases so well-worn they practically hum with nostalgia for past interventions that achieved precisely the opposite of enduring defeat. FIRST INSTANCE: The 'Forever War' Begins (2014) The US began its airstrike
campaign against ISIS in Syria in September 2014, ostensibly to 'degrade and ultimately destroy' the group. President Obama declared at the time, "America will be leading a broad coalition to roll back this terrorist threat." (White House, 2014). The initial narrative painted ISIS as an existential threat requiring immediate and sustained military action. Curiously, this 'existential threat'
emerged with astonishing speed after years of destabilization efforts in the region. REPETITIONS: Mission Creep and the Endless Justification (2015-2023) Fast forward to 2015, and the narrative evolved to 'containment,' then to 'preventing resurgence.' Operation Inherent Resolve, the official name for the US military intervention against ISIS, continued under subsequent administrations. Data from
Airwars (2023) indicates that US-led coalition strikes have killed between 8,460 and 13,387 civilians in Iraq and Syria since 2014. These strikes, often described with the same vague terminology, rarely specify what 'targets' are hit beyond the generic 'ISIS facilities' or 'terrorist infrastructure.' The goal post for 'enduring defeat' has effectively become a mirage. In 2018, then-President Trump