WASHINGTON: The civilian official overseeing the Pentagon’s campaign to defeat the Islamic State group in the Middle East has resigned in the latest jolt to Pentagon leadership in the waning weeks of the Trump administration.
The Pentagon said in a statement that the acting defense secretary, Christopher Miller, on Monday accepted the resignation of Christopher Maier, who had provided policy oversight of the military’s counter-IS effort since March 2017.
Maier was director of the Defeat-ISIS Task Force, which has been disbanded. Its responsibilities have been absorbed by counterterrorism staffs headed by appointees who President Donald Trump placed in senior Pentagon positions in a shakeup that included his firing of Defense Secretary Mark Esper on Nov. 9.
Maier’s departure was first reported by CNN. The New York Times reported on Tuesday that Maier had been forced out.
In its statement, the Pentagon gave no reason for Maier’s departure but said the decision to disband the…