Analyst: ISIS damaged, but still remains a threat

One of the difficulties in the battle against terrorism is that both Republicans and Democrats treat it as war against individual terrorists, instead of  a threat from a broader campaign, especially ISIS, which remains a large terrorism threat to the nation, according to an analyst for the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS).

ISIS is still active in several countries, including Iran and Syria, Anthony H. Cordesman wrote. 

"Changing the name of the threat in Iraq from Al Qaeda to ISIS or ISIL was scarcely a victory," Cordesman wrote. "The same was true of U.S. efforts to defeat terrorism and extremism from 2002 to 2011. Even containment has been all too uncertain in a county like Afghanistan, where the U.S. has been forced to seek a peace where it must try to use a terrorist movement like the Taliban to help defeat the spread of another terrorist movement like ISIS in the same country."

The U.S. has helped break up the proto-state of ISIS, but hasn't defeated the terrorist group, he wrote.. Even if the group was driven out of Iran and Syria, this doesn't mean it was  defeated. 

"This makes it critical to understand what the U.S. government has actually reported about the level of continuing ISIS activity in Iraq and Syria," Cordesman said. "The U.S. Central Command (USCENTOM) has regularly reported on the fact that ISIS continues to be a threat, but the best unclassified official reports that cover the entire pattern of ISIS activity in Syria and Iraq come from the reporting to Congress by the Lead Inspector Generals of the Department of Defense, the Department of State and the U.S. Agency for International Development."

The most recent reports from these three inspector generals shows that ISIS is indeed still active, injured and not defeated, Cordesman said.

 However, these reports don't give estimates on how long the U.S. should stay to fight the terrorist groups, when it will be addressed in politics or the impact it will have on the U.S. 

"These omissions are critical, given the dangers in rushing out of Syria and Iraq too quickly." Cordesman said. "ISIS clearly remains a major threat in both countries. The U.S. has scarcely 'won' the fight against ISIS decisively in either country, and ISIS has spread far beyond Iraq and Syria. Moreover, the U.S. has not succeeded in reducing any aspect of the threats that state terrorism by the Assad and Khamenei regimes now pose to Syria, Iraq and the region."