The much publicized withdrawal of all American troops from Iraq resulted in the influx of al~Qaeda influenced terrorist groups. But they weren't al~Qaeda. They fell under the general titles of ISIS (Islamic State of Iraq and Syria) and ISIL (Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant), as known by the West and Daesh as known by the Arabs. [It should be noted that the Levant consists of the Sinai part of Egypt, Israel, the western part of Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine's West Bank and Gaza Strip, the western part of Syria and portions of Turkey. Despite the fact that nearly all of the West referred to Daesh as ISIS, President Barack Obama insisted that his administration call it ISIL, so as to include Israel, which he apparently despised. By calling Daesh by the name ISIL, Obama was able to include Israel in the 'terrorist' group.]
Abu Musab al~Zarqawi established this new terrorist organization in 1999. Initially, Daesh was known as Jama'at al~Tawhid wal-Jihad. In October 2004, by becoming affiliated with Osama bin Laden, the group became known as AQI, or al~Qaeda in Iraq. The group eventually took the name Daesh, or Da'esh, which was short for Dawlat al~Islamiyah f 'al~Iraq wa al~Sham. The aim of the group was to take over Iraq and establish an Islamic Caliphate in its place.
The United States joined with seventy-four other countries to form the Combined Joint Task Force, variously known as the Global Coalition, with the aim of supporting the Iraqi Security Forces in their attempt to prevent Daesh from taking over all of Iraq. Kinetic operations, meaning actual warfare, not just troop deployment, began on 08 August 2014.
Before discussing the Operation Inherent Resolve, it is important to note that Russia did not join the Global Coalition. In fact, because of its intervention in the Ukraine, Russia was not invited to join the Coalition. Russia did, however, maintain an association with the Syrian government under the control of President Bashar al Assad. The Syrian government and Russia engaged in its own war against ISIS / Daesh.
Operation Inherent Resolve was comprised of two campaigns: against Daesh in Iraq and against Daesh in Syria. From its inception in December 2014, the Global Coalition concentrated on air strikes to assist the ISF (Iraqi Security Force) on the ground. On 04 July 2015, sixteen airstrikes were reported to have destroyed vital Daesh controlled structures and transit routes in Syria. By 23 September, it was reported that Coalition airstrikes had destroyed key portions of the Daesh IED (improvised explosive device) network near Mosul, Iraq. Two important VBIED (vehicle-borne IED) production facilities were destroyed in the strikes. The city of Fallujah was liberated from the grip of ISIS on 27 June 2016. On 10 August 2016, in what was called the 'turning point in Operation Inherent Resolve's fight against ISIS', the city of Ramadi was liberated by the Coalition forces. Through 2017 hundreds of towns were freed from Daesh control throughout both Iraq and Syria. Airports were rebuilt and opened and infrastructure, including bridges and roads were reconstructed. The city of Raqqah in Syria was considered to be the Daesh caliphate's capital city. It fell to Syrian Democratic Forces supported by Coalition airstrikes on 20 October 2017. On 06 December 2017, Valery Gerasimov, the Syrian Armed Forces Chief of Staff, announced that ISIS had lost all of its territory within Syria. On 10 December 2017, the Government of Iraq was able to announce the liberation of Iraq from Daesh. By the end of the month of December, the ISF was able to report that it had made multiple sweeps of the desert regions to rout out and exterminate Daesh holdouts. By 30 April 2018 the Global Coalition was able to report that the Combined Joint Forces Land Component Command Headquarters was being deactivated, signifying the end of major combat operations against ISIS in Iraq.
During the first two years of this operation, there were 64 total deaths with seven killed in action. There were also 64 wounded.
