--- title: James Mattis: U.S. Using 'Annihilation Tactics' Against ISIS description: Defense Secretary James Mattis said U.S. forces have entered a more aggressive phase in the fight against the Islamic State: “annihilation” canonical: https://time.com/4797075/james-mattis-islamic-state-annihilation/ author: Feliz Solomon article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-05-29T04:38:39.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T05:09:09.187Z article:section: Politics og:title: Mattis Says U.S. Using 'Annihilation Tactics' Against ISIS og:description: Foreign fighters who joined the Islamic State will "not survive," Mattis said og:url: https://time.com/4797075/james-mattis-islamic-state-annihilation/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5a4b52dee77d0872/6988cf48cf40a8fa1dc47e53/gettyimages-681829942.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3400 og:image:height: 1913 og:image:alt: BRITAIN-SOMALIA-DIPLOMACY-SECURITY og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Mattis Says U.S. Using 'Annihilation Tactics' Against ISIS twitter:description: Foreign fighters who joined the Islamic State will "not survive," Mattis said twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5a4b52dee77d0872/6988cf48cf40a8fa1dc47e53/gettyimages-681829942.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Defense Chief James Mattis Says the U.S. Is Now Using 'Annihilation Tactics' Against ISIS > Sponsored content. 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Brief is TIME's Washington newsletter, written by senior correspondent Philip Elliott. It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. It reaches 85,000 subscribers with a 37.0% open rate as of August 2026. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. by [Feliz Solomon](https://time.com/author/feliz-solomon/) ## Feliz Solomon May 29, 2017 4:38 AM UTC  U.S. Defense Secretary James Mattis in London on May 11, 2017. U.S. Defense Secretary James Mattis in London on May 11, 2017. Justin Tallis—AFP/Getty Images by [Feliz Solomon](https://time.com/author/feliz-solomon/) ## Feliz Solomon May 29, 2017 4:38 AM UTC Defense Secretary James Mattis said Sunday that U.S. forces have entered a new, [more aggressive phase](http://www.cbsnews.com/news/face-the-nation-may-28-2017-transcript-secretary-mattis/) in the fight against the Islamic State (ISIS), which he termed “annihilation tactics.” Speaking on CBS’ _Face the Nation_, Mattis said the U.S. military has shifted its strategy from attrition, whereby enemies are moved around and denied access to vital supplies, to annihilation, where they are surrounded and unable to escape. “Our intention is that the foreign fighters do not survive the fight to return home to North Africa, to Europe, to America, to Asia, to Africa, we are not going to allow them to do so,” Mattis said. “We are going to stop them there and take apart the caliphate.” Asked by host John Dickerson whether the acceleration in fighting was responsible for a rise in civilian deaths, Mattis replied that such casualties “are a fact of life in this sort of situation,” adding that the U.S. military will “do everything humanly possible consistent with military necessity, taking many chances to avoid civilian casualties at all costs.” An airstrike by the U.S.-led coalition targeting the city of Mosul in March killed more than 100 people, drawing attention to a [rise in civilian deaths in Iraq and Syria](http://time.com/4713476/isis-syria-iraq-casualties-us-airstikes/) since President Donald Trump became commander-in-chief in January. Mattis said the fatal explosion may have been caused by munitions stored by ISIS in a residential area, based on residue he says was found at the site. **Read More:** [_The Next War for Iraq: A Look Inside the Country’s Fight With ISIS_](http://time.com/isis-mosul/) The defense chief also commented on North Korea, where [tensions have escalated](http://time.com/4797043/north-korea-missile-japan/) between Washington and Pyongyang as the later progresses toward developing a nuclear-tipped missile capable of reaching the U.S. Mattis warned that conflict with North Korea “would be probably the worst kind of fighting in most people’s lifetimes,” but he declined to elaborate on what circumstances could cause an escalation into military conflict. \[[_CBS_](http://www.cbsnews.com/news/face-the-nation-may-28-2017-transcript-secretary-mattis/)\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4797075/james-mattis-islamic-state-annihilation/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4797075/james-mattis-islamic-state-annihilation/"},"headline":"Defense Chief James Mattis Says the U.S. Is Now Using 'Annihilation Tactics' Against ISIS","datePublished":"2017-05-29T04:38:39.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T05:09:09.187Z","description":"Foreign fighters who joined the Islamic State will \"not survive,\" Mattis said","url":"https://time.com/4797075/james-mattis-islamic-state-annihilation/","keywords":["Military","Iraq","Islamic State","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5a4b52dee77d0872/6988cf48cf40a8fa1dc47e53/gettyimages-681829942.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Feliz Solomon","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/feliz-solomon/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5a4b52dee77d0872/6988cf48cf40a8fa1dc47e53/gettyimages-681829942.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"BRITAIN-SOMALIA-DIPLOMACY-SECURITY","caption":"BRITAIN-SOMALIA-DIPLOMACY-SECURITY","creditText":"Justin Tallis—AFP/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/military/","name":"Military"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4797075/james-mattis-islamic-state-annihilation/","name":"Defense Chief James Mattis Says the U.S. Is Now Using 'Annihilation Tactics' Against ISIS"}}]}] ```