Donald Trump 'to scrap Barack Obama's months-old plan' to retake Raqqa from Isis
‘They provided the information, but we found huge gaps in it, it was poor staff work,' senior Trump administration official reportedly says
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.US President Donald Trump has reportedly thrown out the existing plans drawn up under his predecessor Barack Obama on how to oust Isis from their de facto capital of Raqqa in Syria.
A detailed roadmap on how to proceed in the conflict, which is expected to be a gruelling fight lasting several months, was handed over to the new administration when Mr Trump took office last month, The Washington Post reported.
However, the plans were dismissed by Mr Trump’s team, which worried the framework was “poor staff work” with “huge information gaps” and no “plan B.”
It was also dissatisfied that the possibility of working with Russia and Turkey, two other major proxy players in Syria’s complex war, was not adequately addressed.
The report was too “incremental and risk-averse,” the new administration allegedly found. The Washington Post noted that Mr Obama’s plan, which was worked on for the better part of a year, contained advisories on minimising civilian casualties and troop numbers.
It advocated providing further training and arms for the mostly Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), which are currently making gains on the city.
The new president said on the campaign trail he would defeat Isis “quickly” after taking office, in the past referencing a “top secret plan”.
Last week it emerged that Mr Trump’s administration had asked the US military’s chiefs of staff to draw up new strategies for defeating the group, as well as the possibility of establishing safe zones for civilians in Syria.
A senior official who served in the Obama administration countered the Trump team’s criticism, telling the post that the the former president had been well aware of his plan’s shortcomings, and that further arming the Kurds was a ‘plan B’ option after it became clear Turkish forces could not be used to carry out the operation.
Meanwhile, in Raqqa, US-led coalition aircraft destroyed the main water pipeline supplying the city, as well as two bridges, amid heavy fighting on Friday, the Associated Press reported.
The US and its allies, as well as Russia and the Syrian government, have been fighting to remove Isis from their territory in Syria and Iraq since the group blitzed across the region in the summer of 2014.
Subscribe to Independent Premium to bookmark this article
Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Start your Independent Premium subscription today.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments