The fight against terrorism will continue to be one of the main engines of US policy and its interventions in the Middle East.
Violent Islamic extremism will not disappear anytime soon, as long as these country’s are being occupied by foreign army’s.
It is not an organization, but a mentality, a response to grievances, a refuge for the marginalized and young people without work, and, according to some, an aspiration to a better world.
Maybe the concrete organizations disappear; today Al Qaeda is a shadow of what it was, while the IS triumphs, other groups will appear.
The underlying problem will remain.
This means that the army will continue to play a leading role in political action in the Middle East.
There’s even the possibility that it will be even bigger under the Trump rule, which is a real problem.
Certainly, stopping a brutal movement such as the Islamic State, equipped with purchased or captured weapons and that has shown its ability to conquer and preserve territories, “requires military intervention” say US Government officials.
The illusion that the battle against ISIS can be won with economic and political reforms and reeducating Syrians and Iraqis, as well as foreign fighters who join the struggle, in the authentic values of Islam can not be made.
The problem, as Iraq and Syria make clear, is that “it is easier to take military action, especially if it does not involve the presence of troops on the ground”, that define a viable political strategy.
However, without the latter, the impact of the military intervention in the Middle East will fall on deaf ears.
