Trump orders military chiefs to devise plan in 30 days to defeat Daesh

US President Donald Trump has signed yet another executive order directing the military’s Joint Chiefs of Staff to devise a plan within 30 days to destroy the Daesh (ISIL) terrorist group.

Trump signed the military directive on Saturday, along with two other executive orders, including one imposing restrictions on highly lucrative lobbying for foreign governments by administration officials.

In remarks following the order to military commanders, Trump said, “I think it’s going to be very successful. That’s big stuff.”

The move was apparently aimed to signal that the new US president was serious about delivering on his campaign pledge to tackle “global terrorism” more aggressively than his Democratic predecessor, former President Barack Obama, whom he has accused of establishing the notorious terror group that has taken over large swathes of territory in Iraq and Syria and engaged in exporting their oil reserves.

This is while both Trump and his defense secretary, retired Marine General James Mattis, have expressed a desire to expedite an end to the battle against ISIL. US military advisers and air power have reportedly been engaged in helping Iraqi forces in recapturing the city of Mosul. In Syria, the US is struggling to recruit enough local militants to facilitate its own plan to recapture ISIL stronghold of Raqqah, in continued efforts to undermine the authority of the Syrian government.

Even before Saturday’s order, US military authorities had been at work developing a series of potential actions for Mattis and Trump’s entire national security team to consider, according to The Washington Post, which added that the plans include possible deployment of additional advisers to Iraq and Syria.

Changes to the existing campaign are expected to be modest adjustments to the existing strategy rather than any radical departure. How far the new measures go “would depend upon the political risk that the president is willing to take when we do certain things that could exacerbate things with Russia or Turkey."

The proposals will seek to make sure that commanders in the field “have the wherewithal and the leeway to do what they have to do to successfully prosecute the campaign,” the report added, citing a US defense official speaking on condition of anonymity.

Deployment of more combat power, however, may come with serious drawbacks, including risking additional American lives and adding to the already significant cost of military operations overseas.

The daily further added that Trump also signed an executive order restructuring the National Security Council “and streamlining procedures in a way that the White House believes would be more adaptive to modern threats.”

It also quoted Trump as saying that the change would bring “a lot of efficiency and, I think, a lot of additional safety,” adding: “People have talked about doing this for a long time."

However, it was not immediately clear on Saturday what impact Trump’s executive order halting entry of migrants and legal US residents from Iraq and other Muslim-majority nations would have on Washington’s partnership with the Iraqi government in the battle against ISIL. Iraqi lawmakers have urged the country’s Foreign Ministry to explain how the measure will affect Iraq.

Daesh terrorists, who were initially trained by the CIA in Jordan in 2012 to destabilize the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, now control large parts of Syria and Iraq. They have been engaged in crimes against humanity in the areas under their control.

Press TV’s website can also be accessed at the following alternate addresses:

www.presstv.co.uk