WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — The US and coalition efforts to destroy Daesh in Iraq and Syria have been unsatisfactory, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Joseph Dunford said on Monday.
"Let me just say up front, I am not satisfied with our progress to date and I won’t be until ISIL [Islamic State or Daesh] is defeated," Dunford stated at a national defense conference in Washington, DC.
The "most difficult challenge" for the United States in countering Daesh has been the lack of allied ground forces in Syria, Dunford said.
"In Iraq we have a partner on the ground, but there it is obviously complicated by several factors to include the political landscape, sectarianism and Iranian influence," Dunford said of the US-Iraqi partnership.
The United States and 65 coalition countries have been engaged in efforts to destroy Daesh in Iraq since August 2014, and in Syria since September 2014 but without the approval of the Syrian government or the UN Security Council.
Since September, Russia has been involved in its own military campaign against Daesh in Syria at the invitation of the Syrian government. Russia has also coordinated the fight against the terrorist group with the Iraqi government.
