Trump orders plan to beat IS
Executive decrees also formalize new restrictions on lobbying
WASHINGTON - President Donald Trump signed executive orders on Saturday afternoon formalizing new lobbying restrictions on administration officials and directing the Joint Chiefs of Staff to draft a plan to destroy the Islamic State.
One executive order institutes new lobbying rules for administration officials. It stipulates that administration officials can not register as lobbyists for a full five years after leaving the government - and can never lobby on behalf of a foreign government. The lobbying rules are in keeping with Trump’s campaign promise to “drain the swamp.”
“Most of the people standing behind me won’t be able to go to work or do anything adverse to our wonderful country,” Trump said, as the aides standing around his desk in the Oval Office laughed.
Another of Trump’s directives orders the Joint Chiefs to submit a strategy within 30 days to defeat the Islamic State, signaling that the new president hopes to make good on his campaign promise to more aggressively confront global terrorism than his predecessor.
“I think it’s going to be very successful,” Trump said. “That’s big stuff.”
Both Trump and his new defense secretary, retired Marine Gen. James Mattis, have expressed a desire to expedite an end to the battle against the Islamic State. Iraqi forces, backed by U.S. air power and American advisers, have cleared half of the city of Mosul, but they have taken heavy losses and could require additional outside support. In Syria, the United States is struggling to recruit sufficient Arab fighters to recapture the city of Raqqa, an offensive that American officials hope can begin within several months.
Even before Saturday’s order, military officials had been at work developing a series of potential actions for Mattis and Trump’s entire national security team to consider. Those include potentially deploying additional advisers to Iraq and Syria, allowing U.S. military personnel to accompany local forces closer to the front lines, and delegating greater decision-making power to field commanders.
Changes to the existing campaign are expected to be modest adjustments to the existing strategy. U.S. ties with Turkey are already strained in Syria over U.S. support for Kurdish fighters there, and any move to expand that support is sure to inflame existing tensions.