Individuals take a look at the stays of an exploded car that the Islamic State used as a suicide bomb, on show in Iran in September 2020. Morteza Nikoubazl/NurPhoto by way of Getty Pictures

One widespread declare by President Donald Trump’s reelection marketing campaign has been that his administration beat IS, or what’s formally often known as the Islamic State terrorist group.

It got here up most just lately within the vice presidential debate, when Mike Pence boasted, “We destroyed the ISIS caliphate. … You realize when President Trump got here into workplace, ISIS had captured an space of the Center East the dimensions of Pennsylvania. President Trump unleashed the American navy, and our armed forces destroyed the ISIS caliphate and took down their chief al-Baghdadi with out one American casualty.”

Comparable victory claims have been made by Trump himself relationship again to October 2017 and embrace him saying “We’ve accomplished extra in opposition to ISIS in 9 months than the earlier administration has accomplished throughout its complete administration – by far, by far.” Different statements in March 2018 and February 2019 embrace Trump’s boast “on terrorism, in Iraq and Syria, we’ve taken again nearly 100%, in a really quick time frame, of the land that they took. And all of it passed off since our election.”

I’m a scholar who tracks the Islamic State group and its associates. I pay cautious consideration to the place the group is lively and holds territory as a part of a College of Massachusetts-Dartmouth venture I lead referred to as MappingISIS.com.

Knowledge I’ve collected – together with from official reviews issued by the State Division, the International Anti-ISIS Coalition, the Pentagon, IHS Battle Monitor, a assume tank that gives information on wars, and different assume tanks – present that the president’s claims are false: The Trump administration principally completed the job, however the Obama administration launched the profitable marketing campaign in opposition to the Islamic State, and did roughly half the work the president is making an attempt to say credit score for.

Utilizing these sources, I’ve created a map that for the primary time delineates territory liberated from the Islamic State below Obama and below Trump. The map makes clear that the Obama administration liberated roughly 50% of ISIS territory earlier than handing the profitable battle effort off to Trump.

On this map, mild inexperienced territory was taken again from the Islamic State group below the Obama administration; darkish inexperienced territory was taken again below the Trump administration.

Brian Glynn Williams/MappingISIS.com, CC BY-ND

Taking territory

In 2014, the Obama administration launched a navy marketing campaign referred to as Operation Inherent Resolve to make use of U.S. and allied troops and supply support to different teams to struggle the Islamic State group.

Navy, authorities and out of doors analysts agree that the marketing campaign was profitable on all fronts earlier than Trump took workplace in January 2017. As an illustration, the U.S. envoy to the worldwide anti-ISIS coalition testified in June 2016 – seven months earlier than Trump grew to become president – that the Islamic State “has misplaced 47% of its territory in Iraq, and 20% in Syria.”

The 72-nation coalition said “by November 2016 Islamic State had misplaced 62% of its mid-2014 ‘peak’ territory in Iraq, and 30% in Syria.” And the British assume tank IHS Markit reported that by the ultimate months of Obama’s presidency, Islamic State territory in Iraq had shrunk from 40% of the nation to simply 10%.

A Pentagon map of progress in opposition to the Islamic State by October 2016 exhibits the group had already misplaced the territory marked in inexperienced.

U.S. Division of Protection by way of U.S. Institute of Peace

On this U.S. State Division map dated December 2017, mild inexperienced exhibits the realm the Obama administration took from the Islamic State. Darkish inexperienced is the realm the Trump administration took in its first yr in workplace. Purple areas had been nonetheless below IS management in late December 2017.

U.S. State Division

Pentagon and State Division maps additional show that within the two and half years the battle was fought below Obama, the Islamic State misplaced its solely worldwide border (with Turkey) and huge swaths of territory. They clearly present that roughly half of the Islamic State’s territory had been liberated by the point Obama left workplace.

For Iraq particularly, I’ve used Pentagon and State Division reviews to create a map exhibiting how a lot of the nation the coalition liberated from the Islamic State below the Obama administration, together with half of Mosul, the biggest metropolis that had been below the group’s management.

Beneath the Obama administration, the Islamic State was pushed out of most of Iraq.

Brian Glynn Williams/MappingISIS.com, CC BY-ND

Killing IS fighters

The Islamic State group additionally misplaced massive numbers of fighters below Obama. In December 2016, a month earlier than Obama’s time period ended, CNN reported that the Pentagon stated it had killed 50,000 militants in airstrikes since 2014, leaving not more than 15,000 Islamic State fighters to defend their collapsing state. Simply weeks after Obama left the White Home, Gen. Raymond Thomas, head of U.S. Particular Operations Command, instructed a symposium in Maryland, “We now have killed over 60,000 [ISIS members].”

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Along with dropping territory and fighters below Obama, the Islamic State misplaced most of its oil-producing capability in 2015, on account of a large bombing marketing campaign often known as Tidal Wave II, which drastically restricted the group’s capability to fund its operations.

Beneath Obama, the Islamic State additionally misplaced its backup headquarters metropolis, the Libyan city of Sirte.

Trump’s claims of conquering “nearly 100% [of the Islamic State] … since our election” are false. Goal historical past information that Obama launched and oversaw a lot of the victorious battle that the present president claims for himself.

Brian Glyn Williams doesn’t work for, seek the advice of, personal shares in or obtain funding from any firm or group that might profit from this text, and has disclosed no related affiliations past their educational appointment.