Envoy: ISIS' allure still threat to West

Lone wolf acts hard to stop, panel told

U.S. Special Presidential Envoy Brett McGurk, the U.S. representative to the anti-Islamic State coalition, testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, June 28, 2016, before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
U.S. Special Presidential Envoy Brett McGurk, the U.S. representative to the anti-Islamic State coalition, testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, June 28, 2016, before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

WASHINGTON -- The threat of "lone wolf" acts of terrorism inspired by the Islamic State will persist in the West, a senior U.S. official said Tuesday, even as the extremist group loses battles and territory in the Middle East.

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Brett McGurk, the U.S. envoy to the anti-Islamic State coalition, told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee that the Islamic State has always sought to strike the U.S. and other Western nations. But the group is now acknowledging it may be unable to hold its ground in Iraq, Syria and Libya, blunting its quest for an Islamic caliphate and causing it to change its message and recruiting tactics, he said.

"'We're still going to be around, still join us,'" said McGurk, describing what he called the Islamic State's propaganda. "And they're trying to inspire these lone wolf attacks around the world."

McGurk's testimony came two weeks after a gunman who pledged solidarity with the Islamic State killed 49 people and injured 53 at an Orlando, Fla., nightclub. McGurk said no direct link has been found between the gunman, Omar Mateen, and the Islamic State. He also said these types of attacks are extraordinarily difficult to prevent.

McGurk offered a bullish assessment of the coalition's efforts to dismantle the Islamic State, responding to lawmakers' concerns over the pace of the operations. Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., seized on McGurk's statement that the anti-Islamic State coalition embarked on a three-year campaign to degrade and defeat the extremists.

"When did the three-year clock start?" Johnson said. "Because President [Barack] Obama declared our goal of degrading and ultimately defeating [the Islamic State] 22 months ago."

McGurk said the campaign started in September 2014. He said it took a significant amount of time to pull together local forces capable of taking on what was then "the most formidable military force on the ground."

"We're not going to defeat them within 14 months, are we?" Johnson asked.

"I wanted to go a lot faster than that," McGurk replied.

McGurk said the Islamic State's days in Mosul, Iraq's second-largest city, are "numbered." The Islamic State remains firmly in control of Mosul, which was once home to 1 million people. Iraqi leaders have pledged to liberate Mosul this year, though McGurk said the U.S. won't put a timeline on the operation.

Morale inside the extremist group is plummeting, McGurk said, as the forces arrayed against it are gaining momentum.

"Whereas [the Islamic State] once promised lavish pay for recruits, and free services in its 'caliphate,' it is now slashing pay, cannot provide services, and is facing internal resistance," McGurk said. "We know from other sources, as well, that fighters are panicking on the battlefield, foreign recruits are now looking to return home, and leaders are struggling to maintain discipline, even despite the threat of execution for disobedience."

Five weeks into a military operation to recapture the Iraqi city of Fallujah, a senior Iraqi commander on Sunday declared that the city had been "fully liberated" from the Islamic State. Fallujah was the first city to fall to the militants more than two years ago.

McGurk said that stabilizing areas after the Islamic State has been removed can be even more important than removing the militants in the first place. He said it's encouraging that no significant territory liberated by coalition-backed forces has been reclaimed by the extremists.

A Section on 06/29/2016

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