Not defeated

President Trump’s decree that Islamic State extremists in Syria had been vanquished, issued to justify an abrupt decision to withdraw forces from the country, was provably untrue the moment it appeared on Twitter. Less than a month later, its falsehood has been horrifically underscored by a deadly attack on American troops.

The suicide bombing Wednesday of a restaurant in the northern city of Manjib was being claimed by Islamic State, which despite extensive losses retains an estimated 2,000 militants and remnants of its former territory in Syria. Two service members, a civilian Defense Department official and a military contractor were among an estimated 16 killed, according to U.S. Central Command, and three service members were injured, making it the worst loss suffered by U.S. forces since they were deployed to Syria in 2015.

Hours after the attack, Vice President Mike Pence nevertheless repeated Trump’s lie in a speech at the State Department, inexplicably declaring, “The caliphate has crumbled and ISIS has been defeated.”

Trump blindsided allies and subordinates last month by claiming that the United States had “defeated ISIS in Syria” and would therefore withdraw 2,000 troops leading a coalition that controls about a third of the country. That precipitated the resignations of Defense Secretary Jim Mattis and the U.S. envoy to the coalition, Brett McGurk, while national security adviser John Bolton and other administration officials labored, to uncertain avail, to slow or stop the pullout.

The administration’s incoherent approach to the conflict benefits not only Islamic State terrorists but also Syria’s bloodthirsty strongman, Bashar alAssad, and his patrons, Russia and Iran. It further threatens to betray our stalwart Kurdish allies to their enemies in neighboring Turkey while putting our own forces in more danger. Trump and his administration must devise a single, consistent strategy that is based on facts, not asserted in the face of grim and contrary realities.