Gen. Townsend: U.S. Has Role In Iraq ‘Long After ISIS’

The commander of anti-ISIS operations in Iraq and Syria, Lt. Gen. Stephen Townsend, in an interview with the Fayetteville Observer said he hopes American troops have a role in Iraq long after ISIS is driven from that country.
Townsend, the head of the CJTF-OIR, or ‘Operation Inherent Resolve,’ said the Islamic State was well on its way to defeat, and that he expects the total liberation of Mosul – once the Islamic State’s primary Iraqi stronghold – to be long complete by September, when the 18th Airborne Corps is expected to return to Fort Bragg and officially end its year-long mission participating in the fight to defeat ISIS.
The 18th Airborne, also commanded by Townsend, had a ‘significant presence’ in Iraq, where it fought alongside, as well as trained and advised, Iraqi troops.
Townsend says it was the American withdrawal from Iraq in 2011 that left the country defenseless to ISIS (apparently in spite of the fact that the U. S. shelled out a cool $25 billion training and equipping the Iraqi Army and police force), and that he would like to not repeat that mistake.
‘We’ve seen that movie before,’ Townsend told the Observer. ‘My thought is to try something different.’

This post was published at The Daily Sheeple on July 3, 2017.