On Jan. 28, President Donald Trump signed a memorandum to all the security services directing them to defeat the Islamic State.

"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," Trump wrote. "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."

Defense Secretary James Mattis is said to be working on just such a plan.

Special operators have been working with Syrian defense forces for quite a while now.

Most recently, Marines with the 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit left their ships to set up an outpost from which they could fire artillery to support Syrian forces fighting to oust militants from the Syrian city of Raqqa, the so-called "capital" of the Islamic State.

In addition, a team from the Army's 75th Ranger Regiment is now operating in Syria as American forces ramp up for the coming battle, and the U.S. military is sending an additional 2,500 ground combat troops to a staging base in Kuwait from which they could be called upon to back up coalition forces battling the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria.

In the continuing effort to defeat ISIS, do you think more U.S. troops should be sent to Syria? Do you have concerns about the recent increases in U.S. troops there now?

We'd like to publish your thoughts in our Letters to the Editor section. Please send to kmiller@militarytimes.com and include your name, rank, and the city/state (or base) where you are located.

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