The Pentagon says it has sent the White House a preliminary plan to defeat Islamic State extremists in Iraq and Syria, and says Defense Secretary Jim Mattis will brief senior administration officials on the draft later Monday.
Pentagon spokesman Jeff Davis described the document as a framework for a broader plan aimed at countering the extremist group beyond Syria and Iraq, where Islamic State is seeking to establish a religious state.
Davis did not provide details.
But Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman General Joseph Dunford said last week the strategy will also target al-Qaida and other extremist groups in the Middle East and elsewhere. He also emphasized that the plan would reach beyond military force, calling it a “political-military plan.”
Dunford said U.S. estimates show Islamic State has drawn about 45,000 recruits from more than 100 nations.
“Our plan, to be successful, needs to, number one, cut the connective tissue between regional groups that now form a trans-regional threat,” he said.
“What we don't want to do is bring [President Trump] options that solve one problem only to create a second problem,” he said.
