It's been weeks since the Islamic State (ISIS) has taken any new territory in Iraq or Syria, Gen. Jack Keane told Fox News' "America's Newsroom."
Not only have regional forces, aided by U.S. advisers, held back the Islamic State's attempts to conquer new land, they have also retaken some of the territory the militants previously seized, Keane said.
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"ISIS has not taken new territory in weeks. And, in fact, we have retaken some territory ourselves," Keane, a retired four-star Army general, said Friday.
The airstrikes the U.S. has conducted with allies in the region have had a "significant impact" against the Islamic State, he said, but suggested the effort could have greater success with heightened American participation.
"We're applying the minimal amount of assistance to the Iraqi security forces," he said. "I don't believe it's anywhere near what we could be providing."
Keane said it would "make this thing go faster" if the U.S. could apply more resources to assist indigenous ground troops. However, the decisions on how to use military forces were being made by the White House, when, in the past, Keane said "guys in the Pentagon and in the field decided what the resources are that are required."
The Free Syrian Army was having the hardest time, Keane explained, because it is battling the Islamic State as well as the military of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. He said it was a mistake not to target Assad directly, as allies continued to pressure the U.S. to do.
"Turkey, Saudi Arabia, United [Arab] Emirates, and Qatar, as well as Jordan, all want us to take on [the] Assad regime's military power. We have made a policy decision not to do that and to fight ISIS only. I think that has been a bad decision," he said.
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