In a break from his predecessor, President Donald Trump is giving more power to the military in carrying out the campaign against the Islamic State, and counterterrorism more broadly.
Military and national security experts say Trump seems to be largely following President Barack Obama’s strategy to defeat the Islamic State, also known as ISIS or ISIL, and other terrorist groups — relying on American Special Operations to assist local forces who do the bulk of the fighting in countries like Iraq, Syria, and Afghanistan.
But critics of Obama’s approach to fighting ISIS say he and his political aides were too involved with operational and tactical issues, and that Trump’s decision to delegate decisions to the military could allow for faster defeat of the terrorist group.
“I seen a dramatic shift in a very positive way — away from the political micromanaging of the Obama years to freeing up generals and troops to destroy ISIL and help our partners,” Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said in an interview with The Daily Signal.
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