David Haselwood | How US is planning the final war against Islamic State. It wants Russia's support

The United State is preparing plan to launch the final war against the Islamic State. It has proposed to Russia the plan set to be fought on a 100-mile stretch of the IS controlled land.

The United States has proposed to Russia a plan for managing an increasingly complex battlefield in Syria's main oil-producing region, where US-backed forces fighting Islamic extremists are in conflict with Russian-backed Syrian forces.

Marine Gen. Joseph Dunford declined to describe the proposal in detail, but said the Russian military is eager to find ways to avoid an armed US-Russian conflict in the area around Deir el-Zour on the Euphrates River.

The US sees that area, from Deir el-Zour down the Euphrates River Valley to al-Qaim on the Iraqi side of the border, as the next major battleground in the evolving coalition campaign to destroy the Islamic State group.

"We have a proposal that we're working on with the Russians right now," Dunford said at a news conference with Defense Secretary Jim Mattis. "I won't share the details, but my sense is that the Russians are as enthusiastic as we are to de-conflict operations and ensure that we continue to take the campaign to ISIS and ensure the safety of our personnel."

WORKING WITH RUSSIA
Asked whether the proposal to Russia would address the problem of a Syrian army presence in Deir el-Zour, Dunford said, "It will. It will. And we've talked about that as a specific area that requires" avoiding US-Russian conflict.

Russia's support for the Syrian government is a complicating factor in the battle to rid Syria of IS. That was demonstrated on Thursday when the US bombed a contingent of pro-Syrian government forces in southeastern Syria that Mattis said were advancing in a threatening way toward a rebel camp near the Jordanian border where US advisers were present.