Operation Inherent Resolve was launched in September 2014 to degrade and destroy ISIS. It combined an air campaign with ground forces from multiple nations and Iraqi and Kurdish partners.

The air campaign was extensive. Thousands of sorties by American and coalition aircraft. The strategy: stop ISIS's expansion, push back, recapture territory.

The battle for Mosul began in October 2016 and lasted nine months. Urban, intense, costly. American, Iraqi, and coalition forces cleared it neighborhood by neighborhood. Tens of thousands of civilians were killed or displaced. The city was severely damaged.

By July 2017, Mosul fell. The coalition then turned toward Raqqa, ISIS's capital in Syria. The Syrian Democratic Forces, Kurdish-dominated, assaulted with American air support. By October 2017, Raqqa fell.

With the loss of Mosul and Raqqa, the territorial caliphate ended. ISIS lost its statehood and population centers. But the organization didn't disappear. It dispersed, went underground, and returned to cells and franchises.

By 2019, ISIS as a territorial entity was defeated. As a terrorist organization, it persisted. Cells in Iraq and Syria continued attacks. ISIS franchises in other regions carried on. The destruction of the caliphate didn't defeat terrorism.