Pentagon seeks $2 billion cut for Islamic State fight
The new US defense budget would cut funding to defeat IS by 20% as President Trump targets a withdrawal from Syria by the end of April.
The Donald Trump administration is asking Congress for a $2 billion cut in the US-led fight against the Islamic State as the Pentagon looks toward the exits in the five-year campaign.
The funds will “ensure an enduring defeat of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria [IS, also known ISIS] and allow flexibility for a deliberate, coordinated, disciplined withdrawal from Syria,” the Pentagon said in budget documents released today.
The request would pare back the US effort to train Iraq’s fledgling security forces and US-backed forces in Syria by $400 million to just over $1 billion, down nearly 30% from last year. It also calls for spending $250 million to help partner countries tighten up their borders to handle the lingering threat of IS.
Interestingly, this year’s budget is based on a higher troop number for the US-led campaign against IS: 7,200 versus 5,765 last year. The Pentagon has recently estimated it has 2,200 troops in Syria and 5,200 troops in Iraq, but it does not release regular updates, citing operational security requirements.
