Is Repatriating ISIS 'Foreign Fighters' to their Countries of Nationality Wise?
By Dan Cadman on February 21, 2019
The Trump administration has been lauding the seizure of virtually all of the previously held territory of the ISIS "caliphate" — the remnants of which are now holed up in a single town in Syria, fighting a fierce street-by-street battle to the death. The administration cites it as evidence of the functional demise of ISIS as an entity, although some experts have disputed this, pointing to a diaspora of thousands of fighters who have dispersed, choosing instead to flee and fight another day.
As the administration winds down military involvement in Syria, most of which has involved U.S. special operations forces working with allies, predominantly the Kurdish Free Syrian Army forces, an issue has arisen with the potential to adversely affect U.S. homeland security: We have been the Kurds' main supporters in the area, and they have reason to be concerned over the pullback of U.S. forces, which leaves a vacuum into which Iran, Turkey, or Syria might attempt to enter, given that all three are hostile to Kurds, Syrian or otherwise, and might seek to annihilate them as the chance offers.
https://cis.org/Cadman/Repatriating-ISIS-Foreign-Fighters-their-Countries-Nationality-Wise
