On Tuesday, March 19, the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces captured the village of Baghouz in Syria. Following the victory, they celebrated with a large parade and a bright yellow flag — after more than four years, ISIS has finally lost all of its territory in Iraq and Syria.
The Syrian Democratic Forces have been battling the militant and terrorist group ISIS for years in efforts to capture its territory. At the peak of the group’s reign in 2014, the Islamic State laid claim to an area the size of Great Britain and to an army of around 100,000 people. However, since then, ISIS has witnessed its downfall in Iraq and Syria. On March 22, Syrian Democratic Forces’ spokesman Mustafa Bali tweeted, “Syrian Democratic Forces declare total elimination of so-called caliphate and 100% territorial defeat of ISIS.”
For now, the world finds hope and solace in what seems to be the end of the war against ISIS, but in reality, taking the group’s territory in Iraq and Syria is only the first step in eradicating the Islamic State.
The battle in Baghouz, for instance, displayed ISIS’s remaining military capabilities. While U.S. Pentagon officials had predicted some 2,000 ISIS troops in the village, the Syrian Democratic Forces said it had killed a shocking 12,000 fighters and detained several hundred more. And, as U.S. military officials have surmised, nearly 30,000 ISIS troops could still be lurking in the region. Some of these militants have already regrouped in small insurgent groups. Hassan Hassan, who studies the Islamic State at the Center for Global Policy, cautioned, “ISIS isn’t going to launch any big surprises anytime soon, but what remains of it after the caliphate will still be a huge challenge.”
What’s more, ISIS has truly become a global presence. As scary as it sounds, the Islamic State has spread far beyond its original center in Iraq and Syria. In Afghanistan, for example, ISIS continues to grow. In the Philippines as well, many youth are pledging their loyalty to the Islamic State. ISIS’s territory in Syria and Iraq is only one piece of the much larger network the group has created, and the U.S. needs to recognize that if we truly want to win the war against ISIS.
Finally, beyond the war, let us not forget the psychological impact that the ISIS soldiers will leave on the civilians in Iraq and Syria. Mahdiya, a 28-year-old Yazidi woman who lived under the group’s oppressive rule, shared her lingering doubts and fears with the Washington Post: “They come to me in my dreams; they come to me when I close my eyes. They took so much from all of us that I wonder if we’ll ever feel truly free here.”
She echoes the sentiments of countless people who have been oppressed by ISIS. While the militant group may have been forced to flee its former home, those who have had to suffer under its iron grip must still figure out a way to heal.
This begs the question: what next? If ISIS members are still at large, will the war ever be over? Will we ever find all of its militants? The answers to these questions seem bleak, but there is much hope as well. For one, despite the fact that ISIS troops are still at large worldwide, they have lost their solid foundation. Without a region to call their own, the caliphate’s stability and even legitimacy has been challenged. Additionally, President Donald J. Trump P ’00 pledged in a statement to remain “vigilant by aligning counter-terrorism forces,” reminding nations to unite in their efforts to destroy ISIS. Looking forward, it truly does seem that countries are willing to invest in and dedicate time to eradicating the extremist group.
Although there is still much work to be done in the war against ISIS, the victories of the Syrian Democratic Forces and supporting U.S. troops should not go unnoticed or uncelebrated.
