isis is different because it has territory. to keep it defeated, someone would have to rule its territories or else isis would just come back. isis draws its supports from sunnis in iraq and syria who fell persecuted by the non-sunni governments in both countries. in this sense isis is more akin to taliban than al qaeda. the taliban itself is a local group with support in the community. this local support explains why the u.s. has not defeated it after 14 years of warfare and tens of thousands of americans soldiers and now many more afghan troops. keep in mind that in afghanistan the u.s. has decent local ool lie in the government. in syria, it has no local ally.