Early Withdrawal Will Lead to More Terrorism

A recent lull in attacks is welcome, but it seems to have made American leaders complacent.

Bruce Hoffman and

Seth G. Jones

Jan. 10, 2019 7:04 p.m. ET

America has a new counterterrorism policy: retrenchment. Declaring victory over ISIS, the Trump administration seeks to bring home the modest number of U.S. military personnel deployed to Syria, Somalia, Afghanistan and the Sahel region of Africa, and outsource what remains of the fight to others. This is a dangerous move that threatens to wipe out the administration’s hard-won progress on counterterrorism.

Proponents of U.S. withdrawal cite the destruction of ISIS’ caliphate and the loss of virtually all the territory it...