Efforts to Thwart ISIS Could Get Costlier.

Efforts to defeat the Islamic State and stabilize Iraq and Syria could continue indefinitely and potentially become more expensive, one analyst said.

The U.S. military campaign, known as OperationInherent Resolve, recently entered its fourth year. The fighting has intensified in recent months, with Pentagon leaders calling for the "annihilation" of the terrorist group. In August, coalition air forces launched more than 5,000 weapons, the most of any month of the war up to that point, U.S. Air Forces Central Command said in an operations summary.

More than $24 billion has already been spent on the war effort, according to recently released Defense Department estimates. For fiscal year 2018, President Donald Trump requested an additional $13 billion for the campaign.

"If you define the mission and the cost broadly enough to also include security assistance and foreign assistance... the Iraq part is probably likely to stay comparably expensive indefinitely," said Michael O'Hanlon, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution's Center for 21 st Century Security and Intelligence.

Iraqi government coffers have taken a hit due to the drop in oil prices. The country also has a history of sectarian fighting. That could make it difficult for the Iraqis to rebuild and thwart militant groups, he noted.

To avoid squandering military gains, the United States would need to leave a sizeable force in Iraq and continue to provide billions of dollars in aid for years to come, he said.

"There's not really any...

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