Trump's Too-Tidy Plan to Defeat Islamic State

Come Jan. 20, President-elect Donald J. Trump will start carrying out his agenda. How does he expect to turn his promises into policy? Do his plans make sense? If not, what should he do? Finally, given the political realities of Washington, what’s most likely to happen? This is part of a series of editorials that try to answer these questions.

What he says he’ll do: Trump has frequently spoken of a “foolproof” plan for a “total victory” over Islamic State, but he has refused to divulge it. He has hinted, however, that he intends to fight Islamic State in Syria by sending in a significant amount of U.S. forces, quickly wiping out the terrorists, then bringing the troops back to the U.S. He also told the Pentagon leadership that they will have 30 days to send him their own proposal, and said the fight to retake the Iraqi city of Mosul from the terrorists was “a disaster.”