U.S. Counterterrorism Efforts in Syria: A Winning Strategy?

On September 10th, 2014, President Obama announced that the United States would "degrade and ultimately destroy ISIS." The terrorist group keeps on moving across the Middle East killing those who stand in its way by raping, pillaging, and murdering those who disagree with ISIS. ISIS controls half of Syria and large parts of Iraq. Despite the U.S. spending billions in a counterterrorism strategy, the terrorist groups numbers have not decreased; in fact, ISIS has grown in size with affiliates now all over the world, including Indonesia, Yemen, Egypt, and Libya. The U.S. $3.7 billion air strike campaign has been plagued with little measurable successful results. Our intelligence estimates that ISIS' numbers are the same as they were when the air strikes started. The reality is just as bleak on the online battlefield. ISIS has 30 to 40,000 social media accounts. It uses the internet to spread its propaganda, raise money, and find recruits as far away as Washington State. In 2011, the administration promised a strategy to combat terrorists' use of social media. Four years later, the administration still has not shown us that strategy; no plan, no degrading of ISIS, no defeating of ISIS.