Washington Post : ISIS "Rapidly Diminishing" In Iraq And Syria
BEIRUT — As European governments scramble to contain the expanding terrorist threat posed by the Islamic State, on the battlefield in Iraq and Syria the group is a rapidly diminishing force.
In the latest setbacks for the militants on Thursday, Syrian government troops entered the outskirts of the historic town of Palmyra after a weeks-old offensive aided by Russian and U.S. airstrikes helped Iraqi forces overrun a string of Islamic State villages in northern Iraq that had been threatening a U.S. base nearby.
These are just two of the many fronts in both countries where the militants are being squeezed, stretched and pushed back. Nowhere are they on the attack. They have not embarked on a successful offensive in nearly nine months. Their leaders are dying in U.S. strikes at the rate of one every three days, inhibiting their ability to launch attacks, according to U.S. military officials.
Front-line commanders no longer speak of a scarily formidable foe but of defenses that crumble within days and fighters who flee at the first sign they are under attack.
“They don’t fight. They just send car bombs and then run away. And when we surround them they either surrender or infiltrate themselves among the civilians,” said Lt. Gen. Abdul-Ghani al-Assadi, commander of Iraq’s counterterrorism forces, who is overseeing the latest Iraqi offensive to capture the town of Hit in the province of Anbar.
“Their morale is shaken. We listen to them on their communications devices. Their leaders are begging them to fight, but they answer that it is a lost cause. They refuse to obey orders and run away.”
[ New ISIS recruits have deep criminal roots ]
The group still controls big swathes of territory and could potentially prove as deadly in defeat as it was when it was on the offensive. Strikes in Belgium, Turkey and France may herald the tip of an iceberg of militant networks already infiltrated into Europe, law enforcement officials fear. Recent weeks have also seen a revival in Iraq as well as Syria of the suicide bombings and hit and run assaults that don’t win ground but are deadly to people otherwise living beyond their reach.
But U.S. military officials say they believe that after more than 18 months, the military campaign has found its stride.
“As time goes on, as our systems mature, we’re becoming more effective,” said Col. Steve Warren, the U.S. military’s spokesman for the campaign in Baghdad. “We’ve become much better at spotting them. Anytime they try to move we’re able to find and finish them. They can’t move, haven’t won any battles for a long time, and they’ve got difficulty leading because we’re hitting their leaders.”
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Don't hear this much in the media which would rather report the bad news.
It sounds promising indeed.
I saw a report that the Iraq army has started an offensive to retake Mosul yesterday.
I think I saw a similar report five years ago.
Then there was the same story nine months ago.
An Iraqi General’s ‘Plan’ To Retake Mosul Is A Fantasy
They all migrated to Europe.
Great news! But too late.
ISIS, which consisted of a few guys in tents in the desert a few years ago, now has bases in 9 countries beside Iraq and Syria, including Libya which Obama so kindly opened up for them.
They've now metastasized and are now carrying off separate terror operations in the different continents in the same week.
Iraq and Syria are just a small part of the problem now.
I believe ISIS theology requires an apocalyptic battle in Syria. If Syria and Iraq are taken away from them the ideology will shrivel.