Will US and Allies Beat ISIS?
With ISIS making headlines around the world for killing and kidnapping innocent civilians in Syria and Iraq, questions started to stir if the United States as a world leader is losing the battle in countering the terrorist group.
In an interview with Martha Raddatz of ABC, Secretary of State John Kerry addressed the question by saying that contrary to comments that ISIS is hard to contain, the US and its allies are on the road to success, and that begins in Iraq.
“We are growing in the capacity on the ground.” – Secretary Kerry
He said each time the Iraqis have now gone forward in an offensive effort together with allies, the coalition, they have routed ISIS.
To support this assertion, Iraq has gained back a fixed, significant percentage of the area that ISIS was controlling.
In addition, President Obama has put together a coalition of countries that have come together to counter ISIS.
The coalition is focused on the internet cyberspace battle also and there is a center that is being stood up in Abu Dhabi.
Situation In Syria
Saying that Syria is a different matter, because it is a bigger challenge. However, the US is working to collaborate with Arab countries in the region to step up their efforts.
“I am confident that over time we will beat, we will indeed degrade and ultimately destroy ISIS, yes.” – Secretary Kerry
ISIS Strikes Again
The notorious Islamic jihadist group ISIS once again launched a brutal rampage against the Assyrian Christian community in Syria where they kidnapped dozens of civilians, including women, children, priests, and the elderly.
ISIS militants also burned and destroyed homes and churches, and the attack displaced more than 3,000 people in the community of the religious minority.
The hostages were taken to Mount Abdulaziz southwest of Tal Tamir where ISIS controls a majority of Assyrian villages in the area.
ISIS Brings Terror In Iraq
The rebel fighters belong to the jihadist Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham.
The terroristic moves were not something new for ISIS – the group has been known for its insurgency operations in Nineveh and other provinces.
Mosul was the second city to be seized by ISIS militants in 2014. The Iraqi government lost control of Fallujah earlier in 2014.
With the raging aggression in Mosul, the International Organization for Migration estimated at that time, the number of people displaced by violence in Mosul and surrounding areas of Ninewa governorate reached 500,000.
See the report by Kimberly Jones: ISIS Has Moved Back To Iraq, But On Their Own Terms
Note that many in the west call this group ISIL, but that is a western name for them.
ISIS is composed largely of non-Syrian fighters and is believed to be made up of tens of thousands of fighters in Syria. The group gets its funding from oil revenue and wealthy donors in the Arab Gulf states.
In August 2014, Assyrians in the US were reporting that ISIS was killing their families and friends in Iraq. WGN TV in Chicago reported that “The largest group of Iraqi Christians outside of Iraq lives in Chicago.”
