In The Conflict with ISIS: Operation INHERENT RESOLVE, June 2014-January
2020, Mason W. Watson chronicles how a U.S.-led coalition fought against
the Islamic State (ISIS)-a terrorist organization that, at its height,
controlled a span of territory in Iraq and Syria the size of Kentucky. A
campaign of targeted airstrikes, beginning in August 2014, slowed ISIS's
offensive momentum and gave U.S. military advisers a chance to help
rebuild the shattered Iraqi Security Forces. With coalition assistance,
the Iraqis then liberated their country in a series of major operations
that culminated in the battle for Mosul (2016-2017), one of the largest
urban battles in recent history. Watson's narrative further describes
how U.S. Army conventional and special operations forces enabled local
partners, including the Syrian Democratic Forces, to retake ISIS-held
areas of eastern Syria. By January 2020, Iraqi and Syrian
forces-supported by U.S. airpower, armed with U.S. equipment, and
trained and assisted by U.S. military advisers-had defeated ISIS on the
battlefield and ended its pretentions to statehood.