President Trump Signs Memorandum to Defeat Islamic State of Iraq and Syria

January 28, 2017

Presidential Memorandum Plan to Defeat the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria

NATIONAL SECURITY PRESIDENTIAL MEMORANDUM – 3

MEMORANDUM FOR THE VICE PRESIDENT

               THE SECRETARY OF STATE

               THE SECRETARY OF THE TREASURY

               THE SECRETARY OF DEFENSE

               THE ATTORNEY GENERAL

               THE SECRETARY OF ENERGY

               THE SECRETARY OF HOMELAND SECURITY

               THE ASSISTANT TO THE PRESIDENT AND CHIEF OF STAFF

               THE DIRECTOR OF NATIONAL INTELLIGENCE

               THE ASSISTANT TO THE PRESIDENT FOR
                  NATIONAL SECURITY AFFAIRS

               THE COUNSEL TO THE PRESIDENT

               THE DIRECTOR OF THE CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY

               THE CHAIRMAN OF THE JOINT CHIEFS OF STAFF

SUBJECT: Plan to Defeat the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria

The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, or ISIS, is not the only threat from radical Islamic terrorism that the United States faces, but it is among the most vicious and aggressive.  It is also attempting to create its own state, which ISIS claims as a "caliphate."  But there can be no accommodation or negotiation with it.  For those reasons I am directing my Administration to develop a comprehensive plan to defeat ISIS. 

ISIS is responsible for the violent murder of American citizens in the Middle East, including the beheadings of James Foley, Steven Sotloff, and Peter Abdul-Rahman Kassig, as well as the death of Kayla Mueller.  In addition, ISIS has inspired attacks in the United States, including the December 2015 attack in San Bernardino, California, and the June 2016 attack in Orlando, Florida.  ISIS is complicit in a number of terrorist attacks on our allies in which Americans have been wounded or killed, such as the November 2015 attack in Paris, France, the March 2016 attack in Brussels, Belgium, the July 2016 attack in Nice, France, and the December 2016 attack in Berlin, Germany.

ISIS has engaged in a systematic campaign of persecution and extermination in those territories it enters or controls.  If ISIS is left in power, the threat that it poses will only grow.  We know it has attempted to develop chemical weapons capability.  It continues to radicalize our own citizens, and its attacks against our allies and partners continue to mount.  The United States must take decisive action to defeat ISIS. 

Sec. 1.  Policy.  It is the policy of the United States that ISIS be defeate Read Entire

(d)  The Secretary of Defense is hereby authorized and directed to publish this memorandum in the Federal Register

                              DONALD J. TRUMP