The civilian official overseeing the Pentagon’s campaign to defeat the Islamic State
...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that they were al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're really very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling
Allaharound with every other sentence, but to hear western pols talk they're not
reallyMoslems....
group in the Middle East has resigned in the latest jolt to Pentagon leadership in the waning weeks of the Trump administration.
The Pentagon said in a statement that the acting defense secretary, Christopher Miller, on Monday accepted the resignation of Christopher Maier, who had provided policy oversight of the military’s counter-IS effort since March 2017.
Maier was director of the Defeat-ISIS Task Force, which has been disbanded. Its responsibilities have been absorbed by counterterrorism staffs headed by appointees whom US President Donald Trump
...The tack in the backside of the Democratic Party...
placed in senior Pentagon positions in a shakeup that included his firing of Defense Secretary Mark Esper on November 9.
Maier’s departure was first reported by CNN
...formerly the
Cable News Network, now who know what it might stand for...
. The New York Times
...which still proudly displays Walter Duranty's Pulitzer prize...
reported on Tuesday that Maier had been forced out.
In its statement, the Pentagon gave no reason for Maier’s departure but said the decision to disband the task force he led was a recognition of the "success of the military fight to destroy" the Islamic State’s grip on territory in Iraq and Syria. Critics say that while the Death Eater group has lost its physical empire, it remains a threat and has been biding its time in search of ways to regroup and re-emerge.
"The Department of Defense will continue to engage with our partners and allies to ensure the lasting defeat of ISIS and encourage the repatriation of foreign terrorist fighters for prosecution," the Pentagon said.
Nearly 900 US troops are still in Syria to work with local groups aiming to prevent an IS resurgence. The US also has about 3,000 troops in neighboring Iraq working with local security forces toward the same goal.
The counter-IS campaign began during the B.O. regime and in some respects was accelerated by Trump.
Related: Christopher P. Maier’s DoD page