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President Donald Trump delivered a powerful speech Monday evening regarding his new strategy for emerging victorious in Afghanistan, sending a direct message in the process to neighboring Pakistan, as well as — to a lesser extent — India, China and the United States’ own NATO allies.
But that message of commitment and determination in Afghanistan wasn’t the only message being sent to America’s enemies, rivals and allies, as mere hours after Trump’s speech concluded, Defense Secretary James Mattis set down a tough marker in regards to the fight against the Islamic State group, according to the Independent Journal Review.
During a media briefing in Baghdad on Tuesday, Mattis made it as clear as could be that the Islamic State group, whom he labeled “cowards,” had lost ground that they would never reclaim, were essentially trapped in a slowly closing vice, and were near the point of making a “last stand” in their soon-to-be non-existent “caliphate.”
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“We in the coalition will remain steadfast with our Iraqi allies — all the way through the defeat of ISIS,” Mattis vowed, according to a Department of Defense news release. “It’s not over yet. There’s hard fighting ahead.”
Mattis gave a nod to the increased security most Iraqi people felt, as well as the increased capabilities of the Iraqi security forces, and noted that the Islamic State group is “on the run” with increasingly limited options on where to run to.
Encouragingly, those jihadists “have been shown to be unable to stand up to our team in combat and they have not retaken one inch of ground that they’ve lost.”
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“You see, ISIS is now caught in between converging forces,” Mattis explained, according to Fox News. “So ISIS’s days are certainly numbered, but it’s not over yet and it’s not going to be over any time soon.”
However, even as the defense secretary conveyed the idea that a special brand of “fire and fury” was in store for the terrorist organization, he wasn’t about to get specific, nor does it seem likely that he will do so anytime soon, as he instead revealed that he preferred generals and senior officials to “just go silent” ahead of impending military activities.
“I’d prefer just to let the reality come home,” Mattis told reporters traveling with him. “There’s nothing to be gained by forecasting something that’s fundamentally unpredictable.”
And by saying nothing — he said everything.
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Just like that, Mattis has shaken up the Middle East by letting them know in no uncertain terms that the Islamic State group has entered its final days, much like Trump shook up central and southern Asia with his strong remarks on Afghanistan.
As everyone knows by now, President Trump is all about “winning,” and it sure seems that he has the military leadership by his side to bring about victory after eight years of being near defeat.
The “Mad Dog” has been unleashed, and our enemies will live to regret it … if they even live at all.
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