Plan presented on how to defeat ISIS quickly

WASHINGTON — Defense Secretary Jim Mattis on Monday gave the White House a plan to “rapidly defeat” the Islamic State group, a Pentagon spokesman said. The secret strategy includes significant elements of the approach President Donald Trump inherited, while potentially deepening U.S. military involvement in Syria.

Navy Capt. Jeff Davis said Mattis, who traveled to Iraq last week, presented the results of a 30-day strategy review at a Cabinet-level meeting of the National Security Council. It’s unclear whether the meeting included Trump, who said last week his goal is to “obliterate” ISIS.

“It is a plan to rapidly defeat ISIS,” Davis said, using the Pentagon’s preferred acronym for the group, which has proven resilient despite losing ground in its strongholds in Syria and Iraq.

Officials familiar with the review have said it likely will lead to decisions that mean more U.S. military involvement in Syria, and possibly more ground troops. The U.S. currently has about 500 special operations forces in Syria helping to organize, advise and assist local forces. The officials weren’t authorized to speak publicly and demanded anonymity.

Davis described the Mattis report as “a framework for a broader discussion” of a strategy to be developed over time, rather than a readyto-execute military plan. In a Jan. 28 executive order, Trump said he wanted within 30 days a “preliminary draft” of a plan to “defeat ISIS.” Davis said the report defines what it means to “defeat” the group.

“This is a broad plan,” he said. “It is global. It is not just military. It is not just Iraq/Syria.”

The officials said the report increases emphasis on nonmilitary elements of the campaign already underway, such as efforts to squeeze IS finances, limit recruiting and counter propaganda that is credited with inspiring violence in the U.S. and Europe.