Julia Manchester:
Sec. of Defense James Mattis says the fight against ISIS has shifted to "annihilation tactics" pic.twitter.com/4xIcaGUPOr
— Face The Nation (@FaceTheNation) May 28, 2017
Defense Secretary James Mattis said in an interview broadcast Sunday the U.S. is accelerating its military strategy against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS).
“The bottom line is we are going to move in an accelerated and reinforced manner, throw them on their back foot. We have already shifted from attrition tactics where we shove them from one position to another in Iraq and Syria, to annihilation tactics where we surround them,” Mattis said on CBS News’s “Face the Nation.”
Mattis said the U.S.’s goal is to prevent ISIS fighters from escaping strongholds in North Africa and the Middle East in order to prevent lone future attacks in western nations.
“Our intention is that the foreign fighters do not survive the fight to return home to North Africa, to Europe, to America, to Asia, to Africa. We’re not going to allow them to do so. We’re going to stop them there and take apart the caliphate,” he said.“Attrition is where you keep pushing them out of the areas that they’re in.
Finally, we have the leadership in place that realizes what we are up against. They are not going to change their minds and go live a normal life. They are going to have to be killed, and thanks to their vile, evil indoctrination, so will most of their women and children. There is no possible way to avoid it.
It wasn’t our fault, it wasn’t our choice but to ensure our own safety, it must be done.