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President Obama has pledged that the US military will 鈥渄estroy鈥� the Islamic State, but retired Gen. John Allen, who has been appointed Washington鈥檚 special envoy on the matter, says that perhaps 鈥渄estroy鈥� is a bit ambitious and, in any case, it is not quite what the president meant.

鈥淚 don鈥檛 believe that the president intended to imply the 鈥榓nnihilation鈥� 鈥� of IS, Mr. Allen, who is charged with building a global anti-IS coalition, said in an interview with the German news magazine Der Spiegel. 鈥淭hat is far beyond our thinking in this regard.鈥�

Indeed, 鈥渄estroy鈥� is a 鈥渧ery specific鈥� military term, says Jessica Lewis, research director at the Institute for the Study of War and a former Army intelligence officer who served in Iraq and Afghanistan.

As outlined in an Army field manual, it鈥檚 鈥渁 tactical mission task that physically renders an enemy force combat ineffective.鈥� In other words, Ms. Lewis adds, 鈥渋t is to damage it so badly that it cannot perform its primary function.鈥�

There are other military terms that Pentagon strategists use 鈥� to include 鈥渄egrading鈥� and 鈥渄ismantling,鈥� for example 鈥� that offer possibilities that are less ambitious than 鈥渄estroying.鈥�

Still, Mr. Obama appeared to emphasize his intent to annihilate the group as recently as last month while speaking with hundreds of troops at Fort Dix, N.J.

鈥淢ake no mistake,鈥� he told the soldiers. 鈥淥ur coalition isn鈥檛 just going to degrade this barbaric terrorist organization. We鈥檙e going to destroy it.鈥澛�

But if the US is at war with the Islamic State, then isn鈥檛 鈥渄estroying鈥� the terrorist group the logical goal? Why aim for anything short of that?

Allen offered his own thoughts as to why he believes that the goal of 鈥渄estroying鈥� IS might not be the best choice.聽

鈥淎nnihilation requires a great deal of investment, resources, and time,鈥� he told Der Spiegel. He then took another tack.

鈥淭he defeating, dismantling, and degrading鈥� of IS will result in 鈥渦ltimately destroying the idea.鈥澛�

Destroying the聽idea聽of IS 鈥渋s the long-term objective,鈥� he said.

So what is the difference between this and destroying the organization itself?

鈥淲e can only destroy [IS] when we destroy the attractiveness of the brand itself,鈥� Allen said. 鈥淲hen you can defeat the idea, then you have destroyed the organization.鈥�

This involves the need 鈥渘ot only to expose [IS] for the darkness that it is, but also to celebrate the values within countries that help defeat the attractiveness of [IS],鈥� Allen said. 鈥淲e want to build capacity in countries in the region and the coalition to reduce its attractiveness for recruiting.鈥�

Currently, the Islamic State consists of three key parts, Lewis says: a caliphate that controls physical territory inside Iraq and Syria, a military 鈥渢hat behaves like an army in a ground war," and its own troops that can revert back to 鈥渓ess formal styles of warfare鈥� if the IS military is destroyed.

鈥淲hat we are destroying is a very important question,鈥� Lewis says. 鈥淭he mission to 鈥榙estroy鈥� is actually a huge task.鈥�